Originally published December 15, 2024
I spent this week refining the Thoughtful Systems Framework I developed in 2020 when I started this business.
It was a interesting moment of reflection at the intersection of my business's growth, my own growth and increased education, and all the growth and progress my clients have made over the last 5 years.
The framework, much like in life, is designed to be cyclical because we will find ourselves revisiting the same lessons and finding new facets, wisdom, and takeaways.
And I'm moving from a phase of embracing change, back into the awareness phase as I begin tracking energy to update all my supportive systems for 2025.
Awareness is the foundation of energy management for good reason.
We have to follow the breadcrumbs our body has been leaving for us to know where to go.
The Language of Your Energy
I like to think of time tracking like black and white photography—it captures the essential structure and composition of your day. With stark contrasts between work and rest; clean lines between tasks. There's an undeniable power and clarity to this view.
But energy tracking?
That's like switching to technicolor. Suddenly you see all the subtle variations and tonal shifts that always laid beneath the surface. A warm glow to your creative work, cool blues from administrative tasks, and vibrant bursts during collaborative sessions.
Both perspectives are valuable, but color reveals layers of nuance and information that can transform not only how you compose your days, but how to support them as well.
Most productivity advice focuses solely on the black and white—how to manage time, maximize it, squeeze more out of it. But what if we've been missing the full spectrum of how we work best?
Think about it:
🪫 Have you ever had a day where you got "everything" done but felt completely drained?
🔋 Or maybe you had a shorter workday but accomplished more because your energy was flowing?
Understanding the how and why to this is where energy tracking comes in. Unlike traditional time tracking that treats every hour as equal, energy tracking acknowledges that our capacity fluctuates throughout the day. For people who menstruate, it also varies widely throughout the month, and don't even get me started on PMDD, fatigue, neurodivergence, and chronic conditions in general—this newsletter would become a dissertation. 😅
It's the reality for myself and many others.
We are balancing a stack of responsibilities, variables, and conditions that rival Gus Gus with his cheese.
Being able to create supportive systems that can be flexible with you over time requires understanding the quality of your energy and it's unique language, not just the quantity of your time.
Our energy shows up in three main ways:
- Mental energy (focus, creativity, decision-making)
- Physical energy (movement, rest, bodily sensations)
- Emotional energy (mood, motivation, social capacity)
These aren't separate systems—they're constantly interacting and influencing each other. That midday brain fog? It could be from decision fatigue, poor sleep, emotional overwhelm, or food choices. Your body is always giving you signals, we were just never properly taught how to listen.
This is why we begin with witnessing.
Just like your chronotype (whether you're a morning lark or night owl) is significantly influenced by your genetic makeup and biological clock genes [1], your energy patterns have multiple unique factors. Research on circadian rhythms shows that individuals can have significantly different peak performance times based on their chronotype - a biological trait that influences when we're naturally most alert and productive. Studies have found these differences are determined by our internal biological clock and can impact everything from attention to memory to creative thinking. [2]
And it's not just about timing. Studies have found that people process environmental stimuli differently - what energizes one person might drain another. For instance, research on sensory processing sensitivity shows that about 20% of people are more sensitive to subtle environmental factors like noise, light, and social stimulation. [3]
The factors that affect your personal energy equation include:
