Show notes
At the close of each year, I engage in an energy audit. It is one of the simplest practices I have for reclaiming my time, my joy, and my focus as a a leader, entrepreneur and and working mom.This post is a written version of an the podcast episode, where I walk through how I do my own energy audit, why it matters, and how I am turning this into a micro-course for leaders who want more intention and focus in their days. I always recommend the podcast over the blog version. You also can subscribe to the podcast on whatever podcast app you use. Why I Conduct an Energy AuditAt the end of the year and into the new one, I spend time reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and what I want more (and less) of in the year ahead. I don’t really set classic New Year’s resolutions, but I often have personal and professional OKRs (objectives and key results) for each quarter.Before I set any goals or intentions, I like to look at the reality of how I spent my time: what truly energized me and what quietly drained me. This gives me clarity and context for how to reshape my schedule, set priorities, and protect my energy in the months ahead.What an Energy Audit IsAn energy audit, in my world, is not about your home utilities or some woo-woo ritual. It is simply an intentional review of your past year (or month or week) to see which activities, meetings, people, and commitments have energized you and which have drained you.I usually do a big energy audit at least once a year and then mini-audits when I start to feel overwhelmed. Sometimes I do it at my desk, but recently I did mine on a plane to Austin while traveling to co-facilitate a training.How I Conduct My Energy AuditHere is the basic structure I use, which you can adapt to your own life and work.* Timebox it: Choose a time window: 25, 45, or 60 minutes depending on how deep you want to go. Treat it like a focused work sprint so you actually finish the pass you’ve committed to.* Gather your “evidence”: Open your calendar (work and personal, if possible) and your photos from the period you’re auditing. Optionally pull in things like journals, project lists, or even the backlog of your own content (for me, past podcast episodes).* Create your simple framework: On a piece of paper (or a doc), draw two columns: energizes and drains. If you want, add a small “dig deeper” section at the bottom for things that feel mixed or confusing.* Scan and sort: Start at the beginning of your chosen timeframe (often January for me) and move forward through your calendar.For each meeting, event, or commitment that stands out, tune into your gut: did it energize you or drain you? Add energizing items (like a great virtual coffee or a workshop you loved delivering) to the energizes column. Add draining items (like certain recurring meetings, obligations, or even social time that left you depleted) to the drains column.* Use your photos for emotional recall: Scroll back through your photos and notice where there was genuine joy or aliveness. Also notice the memories where everyone looks “fine” on camera, but you remember feeling awful or misaligned in the moment.If something feels both energizing and draining, you can drop it in the “dig deeper” area rather than getting stuck in analysis paralysis. This is meant to be a quick, intuitive pass—not a perfectionist spreadsheet.What My Energy Audit RevealedLooking back at my year, I saw a lot of travel and work that genuinely lit me up: visiting AJ&Smart, being part of Fullstack Facilitator, joining Voltage Control’s Facilitation Lab Summit, and making memories on family and friend trips. Those moments reminded me just how much joy is actually present in my life, often captured quietly in my camera roll.I also saw the other side:* Certain recurring meetings at work that felt like they slowly drained me over time.* Social situations where, even though I like the people, I left feeling heavy or misaligned.* A specific family outing to an apple farm where I was in a terrible mood, powered more by obligation and fear than intention.Even in my reading and content creation, there were patterns. I realized how forced I felt pushing myself through the book Co-Intelligence for the podcast, compared with how naturally energized I felt reading books like Everything is Figureoutable, The Six Types of Working Genius, and The Coaching Habit. That contrast told me a lot about the kind of transformation work I truly want to be doing with people.Using the Audit to Make ChangesAn energy audit is most effective to help you uncover the changes that you want to make. Once I have my energizes and drains lists, I start asking: what do I want more of, what do I want less of, and what can I change at a micro level?Here are some ways this shows up for me:* Rethinking recurring commitments - A single meeting might be tolerable, but as a weekly recurring block, it can compound into a major energy drain. Sometimes that means renegotiating my role in the meeting, how it is run, or whether it needs to exist at all.* Micro energy audits throughout the year - If a full-year audit feels like too much, I often look back just a month or a quarter when I feel overwhelmed. Simple prompts like “What energized me this week?” and “What drained me this week?” help me course-correct in real time.* Accepting necessary drains and changing how I show up - There are meetings and responsibilities that, at least for a season, I choose to keep even if they drain me. Parenting is a big example: I love being a working mom, but many aspects of parenting are genuinely draining, and that is okay to admit.Where I do have choice, I try to adjust how I show up, lower unrealistic expectations of how I “should” feel, or redesign the container (timing, format, boundaries) so it costs me less energy. Over time, these micro changes add up to big shifts in how my days feel.Why This Matters Even More in 2026This year, my energy audit landed differently. My sister is living with terminal cancer, and I honestly do not know what that will mean for my time and capacity in 2026.Given that context, I decided I will not sustainably commit to a packed year full of large, in-person or remote workshops beyond what I already do for my current company. At the same time, my purpose—to help leaders, especially busy working parents, reclaim their time and joy—feels more important than ever.So I asked myself: how might I support leaders in a meaningful way without overcommitting my energy and time? The answer: create smaller, focused experiences that meet you where you are.Big News! A New Micro-Course to Help You Reclaim Your Time and JoyOut of this reflection, I decided to create a micro-course designed to help you reclaim your time, your focus, and your energy—starting with exercises like the energy audit. The goal is to help you get at least 5+ hours of focused time back on your calendar each week, so your personal strategy drives your calendar, not just Slack notifications or other people’s priorities.Here is what you can expect from this new offering:* Bite-sized, asynchronous lessons - You can go through facilitation-style prompts and exercises on your own time, without needing to show up live. I will guide you through practices like energy audits, calendar cleanups, and strategic focus blocks.* Optional live touchpoints - I plan to host live Q&A sessions and workshops as a free complement to the micro-course, as my schedule allows. If I need to cancel for family reasons, I can do so with less guilt, because the core value sits in the self-paced material you already have.If you’re living in calendar chaos, constantly drained, or feeling like your days are run by everyone else’s urgency, this is built with you in mind. I will share more details and how to join in an upcoming post…tomorrow! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit facilitationartist.substack.com