Energisers and drains

What lights you up and what drags you down?

For over a year now I’ve been pretty consistently journalling. Before this I was never into the idea of journalling, I kept a notebook with to-do lists and sometimes a paper diary with key events for the year, but I never had anywhere where I captured my thoughts.

The idea of journalling cringed me out, I tried it a couple of times but felt so self-conscious. I couldn’t stop worrying about what someone would think if they read it which really got in the way of me expressing my honest thoughts. I also struggled to find the time to sit down with a notebook and pen.

Then I decided to try journalling in a slightly different way. At the end of the day I used an app called Notion to make a list of all the things that had been great that day, all the things that had been hard and what I wanted from tomorrow. Having it on my phone made it much easier and the simple 3 question structure made it feel so much less daunting.

This journalling process gave me an amazing amount of clarity on the things that I was doing in life that weren’t making me feel good. I realised it would be such a valuable resource to refer to when deciding to think more intentionally about what I wanted my freelance life to look like.

I spent some time going back through the journal entries I had made since being self-employed. I used this to make a list of all the things that energised and drained me in my working week. The process itself was so fascinating, here’s what came out.

Energisers

• Having clarity and direction in my work and something I can get my teeth stuck into

• Thinking of new or creative ways to approach a piece of work

• Running research sessions and hearing about people’s experiences in the world

• Facilitating group workshops

• Brainstorming sessions and coming up with ideas with people

• Going for a swim when the pool is quiet

• Going to my oil painting class

• Having a slow morning reading in bed with a cup of tea

• Going for a morning run (sometimes)

• Coffee chats with people who I can help

• Coffee chats with people who inspire me

• Coaching people and seeing the impact it has

• Having time for tasty homemade meals

• Writing and reading Substacks

• Listening to/sending voice notes to friends whilst out for walks

Drains

• Commuting in rush hour

• Lack of clarity, direction or responsibility in my work

• Too long scrolling on Instagram, Linked In or Vinted

• Not interacting with anyone all day

• Being told how to do something or that there isn’t another way

• Waking up and having to rush to get somewhere or to an online meeting

• Long days sat at a desk or screen with no natural light or movement

• Feeling like things are repetitive

• Long and slow planning phases

• Eating in a rush or eating shit packaged sandwiches

• Waking up to or coming home to mess, or working in mess in general

• Lots of online meetings with no clear purpose

Making this list really clearly revealed to me what I need to weave into my week to feel good. It’s also allowed me to explore proactive things I can do to avoid feeling drained. Of course, life is life and you cannot completely avoid the things that drain you, and trying to do so would only drive you mad. But having awareness of these things will help you to make sense of why you feel crap at the end of the day and empower you to do something that makes you feel better.

If you’d like to try journalling for yourself you can download my free notion template here, you might be surprised by how much it reveals.

What energises and drains you?

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