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Writer's pictureElise Tan Yee Ling

Living a fulfilling life starts with good time and energy management




Time flies indeed, I realise it's been more than two months since I blogged about my testimony about finding God.


My life has changed rather drastically in the last two months. I've joined Vertex Ventures as the director in communications and community and gotten more introspective about life and the trials and tribulations that life has dealt me.


It probably sounds like a non-statement but it dawns on me that to live my life to the fullest, it starts with good time and energy management. Being careful on how I spend my time and energy.


As Singapore President Halimah has pointed out last Sunday, the pandemic certainly has more drastic impact on women. I feel really drained having to work from home and care for my toddler, even with the help of a part time helper.


Having a toddler definitely absorbs much of my energy and for the past months, I have been experimenting and thinking about how to avoid feeling drained all day as well as how to spend meaningful, quality time with her.


Allocating resources for specialised tasks


I started to also think about whether I'm the best person to do certain things with her. For example, if it's a generic activity such as feeding her dinner, I would ask my part time helper to do it, because she would be able to do it as well as I do. But when it comes to bedtime stories, I would need to be the one who does it.


Eating well


You might have heard of "Junk in Junk out". It's so true. When I start to eat well (cooking my own meals and eating more balanced meals) and making sure to drink warm water, I notice that I'm lethargic less often. I also started to make overnight oats and do meal preps comprising healthy stuff like salmon, broccoli etc.


Exercising!




It's so difficult to find time to properly exercise with a toddler in tow. The only way I could do it is to exercise together with her. We would cycle with her on my bicycle 3 times a week and play with her at the pool once a week. Weighing 14kg now, she's also "a good weight" for me to lift but my back aches so much after that.


I also try to hike and try out new sports with my friends :)


Sleeping well and develop routines


Sleeping well to me means going to bed by 11pm and sleeping on good quality mattress. It's wonderful how my circadian clock has adjusted to wake me up at 7.30am everyday naturally. I would begin the day stretching my back (it's always aching), making a bottle of milk and breakfast for myself.


Routines are so important because the body simply takes over, even when you feel lazy or tired in the morning. I also started to do planks while waiting for my toddler to finish her milk :)


Getting massaged and stretching


This is usually overlooked. Recently, I had help from a friend to 'decompress' my spine/ back and then after I went for a massage. What happened next was that I felt my back feeling so warm, as in blood is finally pulsing through the vessels. The effect lasted for at least 12 hours and ever since then, I feel so much more energetic throughout the day.


Knowing thyself


It's helpful to find out what energizes you and apply it to maintain high energy levels. I'm an extrovert (as you may have already guessed) so I make sure to chat (verbally!) with someone (a business client/ partner, colleague or family member or friend). That energizes me and lift the positive energy level.


Having balance and peace in our life



Having balance = dynamic equilibrium, it takes consistent effort to stay there. Between my zoom meetings, I learnt to take a break and sometimes even do 2 mins of mindfulness practices and really helps to centre my mind. Whenever I feel like that balance is disrupted, I also turn to God, such as listening to christian sermons or music from Every Nation (Beautiful Love is my favorite :)) or reading the bible to regain the feeling of peace.


Managing the energy levels is so important because without that, it is so easy for negativity and lethargy to take over. I experienced periods of procrastination as well, when my energy levels decline. Having high energy also leads to creativity and feeling positive, leading to high productivity levels. Life is too short -- spend it wisely :)



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