This week, we’re talking about the concept of an “Energy Budget,” and how you can use that to find your “Zone of Genius.”

There tends to be a lot of focus on time management in productivity science, and a little bit less on energy management — but we argue that it may be even more important.

This week, we’ll be talking about how to spend our energy wisely! 

We will share tips from business leaders and coaches to help you schedule your day so you can truly focus, do your best work… and still have energy leftover for all of the things that bring you joy.

Then, you’ll get the skills to identify your “Zone of Genius” — the areas of work that both bring you energy, and also leverage your unique skills and talents.

Start with an “Energy Audit”

The latest brain science research shows that we do our best work when we do what energizes us. 

We all probably have an intuitive understanding of this concept, but the first way to get an actual picture of this is to do what’s called an “Energy Audit.”

In an Energy Audit, you take stock of what’s draining your energy — and what's giving you more of it. It involves looking through the past few weeks of your calendar to identify specific activities and whether they drain or boost your energy, and then figure out strategies to respond.

Here’s an Energy Audit exercise from Diana Chapman of the Conscious Leadership Group.

🖨️  Screenshot or print out the last two weeks of your calendar (from the past, not the future) that best represents your everyday life. 

🔋  Review each calendar block and ask yourself: "Did that activity give me energy or drain my energy?" Mark anything that gave you energy as green and what drained your energy with red.

🛑  Categorize all the red blocks into buckets or themes to find patterns (certain chores, recurring team meetings, etc)

📅  For each red category see if you can:

• 📤  Outsource or delegate this,

• ❌  Eliminate it, or

• 🎉  Make it exquisite

Try doing an Energy Audit each month! 

This is how you start to find your Zone of Genius — that’s where the green blocks are. More on that next!

Finding your Zone of Genius

Through the process of auditing your energy to figure out what gives you energy — and just as important, what drains it — you can start to find your “Zone of Genius.”

In his book “The Big Leap,” Psychologist Gay Hendricks describes 4 zones that we all have. These zones are: the Zone of Incompetence, the Zone of Competence, the Zone of Excellence, and the Zone of Genius.

What’s the Zone of Genius?

Your “Zone of Genius” is when you’re working on tasks that leverage your unique talents and passions. Here, you’re likely experiencing the highest fulfillment and success on top of the enjoyment that comes with working on these tasks. 

It’s the area of work that you like to do, that you are uniquely good at — and you can have more than one! 

Does anything come to mind for you?

To help you figure it out, here are some questions you can ask yourself:

❣️  What do I most love to do? (I love it so much I can do it for long periods without getting tired or bored).

⏲️  In my work, what produces the highest ratio of abundance and satisfaction, compared to the amount of time spent doing it? What feels relatively easy and satisfying for me?

🧠  What is my unique ability that others may not be as good at (go ahead, brag a little!)?

🏆  What do I love to do that also gives me (or my business) its competitive advantage?

Competency vs Passion

Outside of the Zone of Genius, there are 3 other zones we all have: the Zone of Incompetence, the Zone of Competence, and the Zone of Excellence. 

👎 The first is the Zone of Incompetence: these are the areas of work you’re not that great at, and maybe don’t even like doing. Likely, someone else is doing these better (and that’s okay! We can’t be great at everything and there truly is something for everyone).

👌 The second is the Zone of Competence: you can do things in this category well, but maybe it doesn’t feel satisfying, and others can do them just as well as you. 

💯 Lastly, there’s the Zone of Excellence. This is where you’re likely better at working on these tasks than others, and get consistently positive feedback. The difference between this zone and the Zone of Genius is that the work here just doesn’t make your heart sing. 

For the zones of excellence or competence, you can stay comfortable, stable, and successful. In many seasons of life, that might be just fine — but sometimes people grow bored or discontented there. 

You might start to desire putting your energy into tasks that match your Zone of Genius, where you’ll thrive, feel satisfied, and want to spend your time.

So for the three zones outside of your Zone of Genius, think about how you can delegate or collaborate with others in these areas so your focus can be redirected and your strengths can be leveraged better.

Getting a little help from your friends

When we asked about your Zone of Genius, maybe you knew right away. But what if something didn’t immediately come to mind? 

If it didn’t, you may want to recruit the people in your work life who know you best, who can help you figure that out.

Here are some questions you can ask others to figure out your Zone of Genius:

❣️  What am I doing or talking about when you experience the most energized version of me?

✍️  When you experience me at my best, the exact thing I am doing is (Fill in the blank). 

🎁  What do you see as a special skill I am gifted with? 

👀  What are your three favorite qualities you see in me? (One word per quality)

🤝  How have I most contributed to your life?

If you manage a team, consider sharing these questions with your teammates — you can do it as an exercise either asynchronously or during a 1:1.

This can help you unlock your team’s potential, figure out what they love to work on, and support maximum flow state for each team member.

Once you better understand your Zones, and your team members’ Zones of Genius, you can better nurture each others’ strengths and succeed as a remote team. 

Sharing your Zone of Genius with Others

The best thing you can do while managing a team, or being a part of a team, is owning and communicating your strengths. 

This type of self-awareness and self-advocacy can encourage the full team to put their best foot forward each day. 

It’s important to communicate your strengths & passions, or Zone of Genius with your team either in written or verbal form. 

Since we all work remotely at focused space, we definitely prefer to have everything in writing and we see that works best for other remote teams, too!

Once you and your team are in your Zones of Genius, it’s likely you’ll start to see team morale, engagement, and ability to get into flow state improve. 

Here are some ways you can communicate your Zone of Genius with your team:

🕜  Figure out which hours are best for you, and communicate that with your team 

🗣️  Be clear about where you can best support your team based on your strengths, using your “Zone of Genius” self-reflection as a guide

✍️  Write a document “How To Work With Me” or “How I Work Best” and encouraging others to craft one, too (we’ve heard these called “Operating Manuals,” too!)

🤝  Pass along your expertise to others so they too can hone in on their craft and discover their Zone of Genius

🔗  Share this blog post with your manager or teammates! 

Thanks for reading, and hope to see you in a session this week!

— Bec, focused space host