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Here’s Mike’s latest awesome post:

How To Tackle Your To Do List When You’re Tired

By Mike Vardy

This summer has been fun…and tiring. Between travel and project work, I’ve been doing more than just resting over the past few months. I’ve not been as productive as I’d like, but I’m still making progress on all of the things I need and want to do.

I’m going to share how I’ve managed to do that with you today.

1. Working By Energy

The first way I’ve been able to tackle my to do list – even when I’m zonked – is by tagging my tasks with energy levels in as many instances as possible. Whether I use “High Energy” or “Low Energy” can help me quickly determine whether I can do a task at a particular moment or not. Most of my tasks are low energy ones during the summer, so I’m still able to accomplish them and by labeling them in Todoist(personal tasks) and Asana (team tasks). This allows me to sort tasks quickly and get them done as well.

2. Working By Time

Time is also measurable, just like energy. But it’s far easier to manage in that you can watch the minutes tick by far more than you can feel the energy well run dry. I’m not an advocate for using time-based modes as a driving force for your task management, but there are moments when assigning modes like “5 minute” or “25 minute” can make a whole lot of sense. If you know you only have 15 minutes between one meeting and another, having tasks with a time-based mode attached can help you quickly decide what to work on during that brief period of time. When you’re tired, knowing how much time you’ve have is one thing, but knowing what you can do within that timeframe can be a big boon for your productivity.

3. Working By Energy And Time

Now imagine partnering up these types of modes per task. Wouldn’t that be phenomenally effective? I mean, if you’ve got tasks that have both low energy and 5 minute modes attached to them, then you not only know you can do them within the time period, and they won’t be too taxing on you either. Even high energy tasks that you see can be done in 10 minutes is powerful. Whenever possible, adding both a time-based and energy-based mode to a task gives me two ways to tackle a task when I’m tired. And that, quite frankly, can be more than just valuable to know – it can be rejuvenating and propel you to accomplish more than you thought possible.

If you’re having difficulty tackling your to do list when you’re tired, try using energy and time-based modes. Whether you thrive in the mornings and see your energy wane in the later hours of the day or just need something to get you moving in the morning because you’re just not as “awake” as you need to be, these modes can really help you take your task and time management to a whole new level.