Latest / Work-Life Balance with Fexingo: Boundaries, Time Management, and Avoiding Career Overload / The Career Boundary of a Weekly Energy Audit
Transcript
- Lucas: So I've been doing this thing for about six months now — I call it a weekly energy audit — and it's genuinely changed how I think about my calendar. Luna: A weekly energy audit — I love that. Is that like tracking how you feel after each meeting? Lucas: Exactly that. But more structured. At the end of every week, I go through my calendar and I tag every block of work with one of three labels: energy gainer, neutral, or energy drainer. Luna: And you do this for everything? Even the half-hour email catch-up blocks? Lucas: Especially those. The small stuff is where the pattern hides. What I found in month one was that two of my recurring meetings — one was a weekly status update with a cross-functional team — I'd always assumed were necessary. But when I actually scored them, they were consistently in the drainer column, and the output from them was basically zero. Luna: Oof. Did you cancel them? Lucas: I proposed a async update instead. The team agreed within a week. And I got back about ninety minutes a month. Not huge, but the real gain was mental — I stopped dreading that meeting. Luna: That's the part that resonates with me. I think we underestimate how much a single draining task can colour an entire day. Lucas: Totally. And the audit makes that visible. Once you see that a particular task is a consistent drainer with low impact, you have permission to change it. Without the data, you just keep doing it because 'that's how it's always been done.' Luna: So how do you score something as a gainer? Is it just 'felt good' or is there more to it? Lucas: I use three criteria. One: did I feel more energised after than before? Two: did I learn something or create something valuable? Three: did it move a meaningful project forward? If I can answer yes to at least two, it's a gainer. Luna: I like that. It's not just about enjoyment — it's about whether the task actually fuelled your work. Lucas: Right. A gainer could be a tough feedback session that left me clearer on direction. It doesn't have to be fun. But I walk away with more energy, not less. Luna: I tried something similar last month, but I added a weekly energy score out of ten. Just a quick gut check every evening. Lucas: And what did you see? Luna: I noticed that my lowest scores consistently came on days with back to back meetings before lunch. If I had three meetings in a row before noon, I was basically useless in the afternoon. But if I scheduled a fifteen-minute buffer between them, my score jumped by two points on average. Lucas: That's huge. And the buffer is such a small change — it's not about working less, it's about structuring the day around your natural energy curve. Luna: Exactly. The audit helped me see that I wasn't just tired — I was mismanaging my sequence of tasks. I was putting high-drain items back to back and then wondering why I hit a wall at three PM. Lucas: That's the real insight of the energy audit versus a time audit. Time audits tell you where the hours went. Energy audits tell you how those hours felt — and that's what predicts whether you can sustain the pace. Luna: Yeah. And I think that's especially relevant in a world where many of us are still remote or hybrid. The boundary between work and home is blurry, and if your work hours are all drainers, you carry that into your evening. Lucas: One thing I've started doing is batching my gainers. I noticed that my highest-energy tasks — writing, deep thinking, one-on-one coaching — all cluster in the morning. So I protect that time ruthlessly. After lunch is for neutrals and the unavoidable drainers. Luna: That's a practical takeaway anyone can try. Don't fight your energy — work with it. Lucas: And the audit only takes about ten minutes at the end of the week. I use a simple spreadsheet, but even a notebook works. The act of reflecting is the point. Luna: I want to try this more formally. I think I've been doing an informal version without realising it. But writing it down might surface patterns I'm missing. Lucas: The first week, just tag tasks as gainer, neutral, or drainer. Don't try to change anything. Just observe. The changes will come naturally once you see the data. Luna: That's good advice. And it's low stakes — if it doesn't work, you've only lost ten minutes. Lucas: Exactly. Speaking of low stakes, I want to mention something quickly. This podcast — all of Fexingo — stays ad-free because of listeners who chip in a couple of dollars a month. If the show has helped you think about your career or set a boundary you were avoiding, that support genuinely keeps it going. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that makes a big difference. We don't have a big production budget or corporate backing, so every contribution helps us keep doing what we do. Lucas: If that sounds like something you want to be part of, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure at all — just a sincere thank you to everyone who already does. Luna: Alright, back to energy audits. So you mentioned you've been doing this for six months — has the pattern changed over time? Lucas: It has. In the first few months, I was still finding hidden drainers. Now the mix is more stable. I'd say my week is roughly forty percent gainers, forty percent neutrals, and twenty percent drainers. I'm trying to get that drainer number down to fifteen percent. Luna: Is there a task that's consistently a drainer that you haven't been able to change? Lucas: Expense reports. Absolutely. I've tried everything — batching them, doing them first thing, rewarding myself after. They still drain me. But at least now I know, and I don't beat myself up for feeling drained by them. Luna: That self-compassion piece is important. The audit isn't about eliminating all drainers — some are unavoidable. But knowing which ones are which helps you pace yourself. Lucas: Exactly. And sometimes the fix isn't to eliminate the task but to change its context. One listener wrote in saying she moved her most draining task — data cleanup — to Friday afternoon when her energy was already low, and paired it with a podcast she loved. That shifted it from drainer to neutral. Luna: That's smart. It's about pairing, not just removing. Lucas: Right. So if you're curious about starting your own energy audit, I'd say just try it for two weeks. See what you learn. And let us know — we'd love to hear what patterns you find. Luna: I'm going to start mine today. I'll report back. Lucas: Looking forward to it. That's all for this episode of Work-Life Balance with Fexingo. Take care of your energy, and we'll talk next time.