Two days ago I went out to meet some friends. That morning, I had received a text message that one of those friends was moving to another state and his going away party was at 5:00. I usually prefer to have a little more warning, but this group of friends was one that I no longer see as often. So, of course I agreed to drop everything.
It took a full 48 hours for me to get my energy back.
Naturally, I’ve been thinking about my energy levels, where they come from, and how I use them. Some elements are a mystery, so I’m going to track my energy for two weeks and see if I can learn anything about it.
I jotted down some notes on what I want to measure and how. I like to do things the old-fashioned way, so I’ll pick a notebook from my shelf for this project. My process will include three brief entries per day and will be a combination of answering a few simple questions and rating myself from 1-10.
Morning Entry
This first entry will happen as shortly after waking up. There are four parts to it.
- Rate energy level from 1-10.
- How much sleep did I get?
- Am I looking forward to the day?
- Is my workload for the day reasonable?
- Jot down anything that might affect my energy.
Mid-Day Entry
My mid-day can be anywhere between noon and 2:00 PM, depending on my workflow. I can jot down this entry whenever I reach my natural stopping point.
- Rate my energy level from 1-10.
- What have I eaten so far today?
- How is progress going with my tasks?
- Jot down anything noteworthy that might affect my energy.
Evening Entry
I want to try to do this entry about an hour before I go to bed. I’m usually journaling at that time, anyway.
- Rate my energy level from 1-10.
- What have I eaten since mid-day?
- Rate how I feel about what I accomplished today from 1-10.
- Jot down anything that might affect my energy.
Expected Results
There are some things I already know about myself. I work well during the second half of the morning and during the evenings. I never feel good during the middle of the day.
My Myers-Briggs personality test has me rated at 91% introverted. With the healthy dose of skepticism that usually accompanies any personality test, I can say they definitely nailed it on this one. It’s not that I don’t enjoy socializing – it just takes a lot of energy away from me. I expect my journal will reflect that after tracking myself.
I’m interested to see how sleep and diet affect me. I’m not the best at watching what I eat, and my sleep routine is a mess.
Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve ever tracked your energy. What were you measuring to figure it out? What questions were you asking yourself?