Is Your Calendar Overbooked?
Maybe you need an Energy Audit?
I’ve only met one CEO in 20+ years who didn’t seem overwhelmed. I find that fascinating. She was super-focused, got a lot done, held high expectations (but not unreasonable), and never acted like her hair was on fire. She took her vacations and encouraged others to have balance in their lives. She was very grounded, never treated anything like a seismic catastrophe (even when it was scary), and was beloved by her team and stakeholders. She was an anomaly, but maybe that shouldn’t be the case.
Most leaders I know aren’t short on time—they’re short on energy. They run from meeting to meeting, inbox to inbox, wondering why they’re exhausted even when their calendar looks “reasonable,” even though most of their calendars look pretty terrible.
Managing your leadership isn’t a time problem. It’s an energy problem.
If time is finite, energy is renewable—but only if we learn to manage it. An energy audit helps you see your work and your life through the lens of vitality: what gives, what drains, and what restores.
When I work with leaders and teams, I often use Vitality as one of the success metrics. It’s simple: Is this organization alive? Are its people thriving? Do they leave work depleted or inspired? The answers tell you everything about culture.
Step 1: Identify what gives energy.
These are the moments that feel expansive: meaningful conversations, creative problem-solving, mentoring, laughter. They feed purpose. Energy-giving work often aligns with your values and strengths. Energy generators also create a sense of spaciousness instead of stuckness.
Step 2: Identify what drains energy.
Energy drains aren’t always “bad” tasks—they’re mismatches. Endless status meetings, unclear expectations, avoidable rework, or emotional friction. List them. Patterns emerge. We often do a team exercise called “Clear the Swamp,” where we identify the issues, obstacles or challenges that are getting in the way of us doing our best work in the best ways. Identifying perceived (and real) obstacles helps us find solutions or pinpoint right actions.
Step 3: Identify what restores energy.
Restoration isn’t just rest—it’s recovery. For some, that’s solitude or movement; for others, collaboration or play. Restoration is what allows the next surge of creativity or focus. Greater American work culture is not great at this—most organizational norms value productivity over presence and busyness over rest. But work without restoration isn’t sustainable. It’s burnout and turnover and missed opportunities.
Once you’ve mapped these, make one small shift in each category:
Do more of what gives—what nourishes you.
Do less—or differently—what drains.
Schedule what restores.
Teams can do this together, too. Ask, “What gives this team energy? What drains us? What restores us?” You’ll hear truths that time-based planning never surfaces.
Leaders who manage energy build resilient systems. They model sustainability instead of martyrdom. They know that thriving people do better work—and stay longer doing it.
Because the real measure of success isn’t how much time you spend—it’s how much life you bring to the time you have.
Reach out if you want help with your own Energy Audit or Leadership Workload Assessment—these are tools that allow you to get clear and make a new path forward. Let’s go!
