I recall when my two oldest sons were competing at swimming at a high level. They trained over well over 20 hours a week, then had university studies to do. Aside from that they mostly ate and slept. I learned from them that this was not aimless, it was planned out. Recovery is part of training, or as they say in Swimming, “Eat, Sleep, Swim, Repeat”.
Yesterday I went on a long bike ride, exploring London. It was not an intense training ride, yet at the same time I was out for five hours and my tracker tells me I burned nearly 2000 calories, plus the last hour was hard, both from being mostly uphill and also getting caught in a torrential downpour that dropped the temperature from summer to autumn conditions in moments.
Today it turns out I have a clear diary for the morning, then the rest of the week is full. I am absolutely in need of this quiet morning as I recover from that long ride. This is also what reminded me that my sons used to schedule recovery time into their training diaries.
I didn’t, so got lucky with my diary this morning, but would not have been at my best if I had the kind of day I had last Monday (up at 6 am for a 12 hour travel day to see a client) and, if not for the rest this morning, the rest of the week would have dragged as I would not have had time for recovery.
In summary, to manage your energy, remember that recovery is part of training and build recovery time into your schedule.
Oh, and the same applies to your work schedule and your mental energy. If you are a knowledge/wisdom worker, make sure (when you can!) that you have “headspace” for that work and are not overworking.