Energy Audit

What It Measures

The Energy Audit tool helps you understand what energizes and drains you at work:

• Energizing Activities - Tasks that leave you feeling engaged and vital
• Draining Activities - Work that depletes and exhausts you
• Energy Patterns - How your energy fluctuates through work
• Role Fit - How well your job matches your natural energy patterns

History & Research Foundation

Engagement Research

• Gallup's Q12: Decades of research on employee engagement
• Flow State: Csikszentmihalyi's work on optimal experience at work
• Job Demands-Resources: Bakker & Demerouti's model of burnout and engagement

Energy Management

• Full Engagement: Loehr & Schwartz's work on managing energy, not time
• Strengthsfinder: Clifton's research on using strengths for engagement
• Self-Determination Theory: Ryan & Deci's autonomy, competence, relatedness

Key Researchers

• Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz - Energy management
• Arnold Bakker - Work engagement research
• Marcus Buckingham & Don Clifton - Strengths and engagement

Scientific Validity

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Strong Evidence Base

• Engagement strongly predicts performance and wellbeing
• Working from strengths increases energy and effectiveness
• Energy management approaches improve productivity and satisfaction

What Your Results Tell You

Energy Balance Assessment

High Energy Balance

• More energizing than draining work
• Finish days feeling alive, not depleted
• Sustainable high performance

Moderate Balance

• Mix of energizing and draining
• Some days good, some challenging
• Room for improvement

Low Energy Balance

• More draining than energizing work
• Chronic depletion and fatigue
• Burnout risk

Energy Sources

• Strengths Use: Activities where your talents shine
• Interest Match: Work aligned with genuine curiosity
• Purpose Connection: Activities serving meaningful goals
• Autonomy: Self-directed work
• Mastery: Challenging but achievable tasks
• Connection: Collaboration with people you enjoy

Energy Drains

• Weakness Activities: Tasks requiring your weak areas
• Values Conflict: Work that contradicts what you believe
• Pointless Work: Tasks without clear purpose
• Micromanagement: Excessive oversight
• Isolation: Too little human connection
• Overload: More than you can realistically handle

Use Cases

Job Crafting

• Increase energizing activities
• Decrease or delegate draining activities
• Negotiate role adjustments
• Find ways to make draining tasks more engaging

Career Decisions

• Evaluate opportunities by energy match
• Understand why past roles worked/didn't
• Choose roles that play to strengths
• Avoid roles heavy in your drains

Performance Optimization

• Schedule important work during high energy
• Handle draining tasks strategically
• Build recovery into workday
• Maintain sustainable productivity

Burnout Prevention

• Identify imbalance early
• Address chronic energy drains
• Build energy reserves
• Know when to make changes

Key Insights

Manage Energy, Not Just Time: Having time for work doesn't help if you're depleted. Energy is the fundamental resource.

Strengths Energize: Activities using your natural talents feel effortless and energizing. Work in your strengths zone.

Draining Work Is Costly: Every draining task depletes reserves. Minimize, delegate, or transform them.

Energy Is Renewable: Unlike time, energy can be restored and expanded through proper management.

Energy Audit Process

Step 1: Track Activities

For 1-2 weeks, note:

• What you did
• How energized or drained you felt afterward (+3 to -3 scale)
• Any patterns you notice

Step 2: Categorize

Sort activities into:

• Strong Energizers (+2, +3)
• Mild Energizers (+1)
• Neutral (0)
• Mild Drains (-1)
• Strong Drains (-2, -3)

Step 3: Analyze

• What percentage of time is spent in each category?
• Are drains avoidable, reducible, or transformable?
• What energizers could you increase?
• What patterns explain the energy effects?

Step 4: Plan

• Create strategy for each drain (eliminate, reduce, delegate, transform)
• Look for opportunities to add more energizers
• Discuss potential changes with manager
• Set timeline for improvements

Energy Management Strategies

For Draining Tasks

• Eliminate: Stop doing if not essential
• Delegate: Give to someone it energizes
• Batch: Group drains together, recover after
• Transform: Find ways to make more engaging
• Reframe: Connect to larger purpose

For Energizing Tasks

• Protect: Schedule and defend time for them
• Expand: Take on more projects in this area
• Leverage: Use energized state for difficult work
• Share: Help colleagues find their energizers

Recovery Strategies

• Build breaks between draining tasks
• End day on an energizing note when possible
• Create transition rituals
• Manage energy, not just hours

Practical Tips

1. Track Before Changing: Understand patterns before acting
2. Start Small: One change at a time
3. Partner with Manager: They may not know your energy patterns
4. Accept Some Drains: Not everything can be energizing
5. Build Recovery In: Prevent cumulative depletion

Limitations

• Some draining work is unavoidable
• Energy patterns may not be changeable quickly
• Others' energy needs may conflict with yours
• Economic reality limits some changes

Complementary Tools

• Energy Tracker - Daily energy monitoring
• Strengths Application - Build on what energizes
• Burnout Prevention - Monitor overall work health
• Values Alignment - Ensure work serves what matters

Further Reading

• Loehr, J. & Schwartz, T. (2003). The Power of Full Engagement
• Buckingham, M. (2007). Go Put Your Strengths to Work
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow
• Bakker, A. & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources Model

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Your energy is your most precious work resource. Audit it, manage it, and invest it where it matters most.