The Personal Energy Audit

An exercise to do this weekend. Takes 20 minutes. Pays for itself for years.

The Method

List every recurring activity in a typical week. Work meetings, specific projects, social commitments, hobbies, exercise, family time, alone time, the news, scrolling, particular coworkers, particular friends. Everything.

Then label each one:

• Plus (+) — restored energy;
• Minus (-) — drained energy;
• Zero (0) — neutral.

Be brutally honest. Some surprises are universal:

• The "fun" weekly happy hour with coworkers — often a minus;
• The dreaded grocery run — sometimes a plus, especially if you walk;
• The big strategy meeting — usually minus;
• Daily journaling — for some a plus, for some a minus because they don't actually like writing.

The point isn't to follow a prescription. It's to see your own pattern.

Two Questions After The Audit

1. What can I remove or reduce that drains me and isn't essential?

Not all draining things go — some are non-negotiable (chemo for a parent, the work meeting you can't escape). But many are negotiable and you've just been doing them on autopilot.

2. What can I add or expand that restores me?

Plus activities are often free or cheap. Walks. Real conversations. Hobbies you abandoned. Do more of them.

Maria

Maria ran the audit. Three biggest energy drains:

• Sunday evening anxiety about Monday;
• Scrolling LinkedIn;
• Weekly 1:1 with one specific coworker.

Three changes:

• Sunday evening → strict no-work walk;
• LinkedIn deleted from phone;
• Coworker 1:1 → monthly.

Result: 5 hours per week reclaimed. Energy noticeably better in two weeks.

Run It Again

Twice a year is enough. Things shift — jobs change, kids grow, friends move, hobbies evolve. The point is to stop sleepwalking through commitments that drain you.

You wouldn't accept a job that left you exhausted every week. Stop accepting weekly activities that do.