The Energy Audit: Why Doing Everything “Right” Still Feels Exhausting
There’s a particular kind of tiredness I kept noticing in people, and it's not the obvious kind. It's not the "I didn't sleep well" or "work is a lot lately" kind of tired; it's different. These are organised, responsible and capable people who show up daily both at work and at home. They get things done, pay attention and care deeply about it all.
On paper, they're doing everything right, but underneath it all, they feel permanently behind, on edge, and no matter how much they do, it never quite feels enough. In my experience, that feeling doesn't come from laziness or lack of discipline; it comes from running your life on an energy system that doesn't fit you. Most of us are taught how to manage our time, but how many of us have been taught how to manage our energy? Next to none, right?
We plan our days around what should be possible. We stack responsibilities back-to-back, push through tiredness because "it's not that bad" and we tell ourselves we'll rest later, once the important things are all done, which they rarely are. And slowly, without noticing, life starts to feel like a series of obligations you're sprinting between, rather than something you're actually present in.
I've been there myself, doing what needs doing, holding things together and being the reliable one, and I still do those things, but the difference now is, I don't feel flat all the time. I'm not as irritable and I'm not constantly drained by things that should feel manageable. The turning point was when I realised that the problem isn't effort, it's misalignment. I was assuming tiredness meant I wasn't trying hard enough, when really, it meant I was trying the wrong way.
We blindly follow advice that tells us to optimise, hustle, push, and stay consistent, without ever asking a more basic question:
What actually drains me? And what genuinely supports me?
Most people can't answer that clearly, and it's not because they're unaware, but because they've never been given the space to look properly. Instead, they carry a low-level sense of guilt. For needing rest, for feeling overwhelmed, for not being more motivated, focused or resilient. There's a deeply ingrained idea in our society that rest has to be earned, that you have to exhaust yourself before you're allowed to slow down and if you're struggling, the answer is probably to just try harder. But when your nervous system is already overloaded, effort doesn't fix the problem; it often makes it worse.
What you need is a reshuffle. Not dramatic overhauls, not quitting everything or disappearing off-grid (however, wouldn't that be nice?!) You just need a clearer picture of your natural energy levels and what drains/fills that tank, because what looks fine from the outside might be costing you more than you realise.
That’s why I created the Energy Audit. Don't roll your eyes, this isn't another productivity tool, and it's not going to fix your entire life. It's simply a way of seeing your life more honestly.
It'll give you permission to step back and notice patterns in your life that you've been living inside of without questioning and it'll help you separate what you think should be manageable from what actually is, and when.
Not as a productivity tool. Not as a fix. And definitely not as another thing to “do properly”.
For many people, that clarity alone is a relief because it removes self-blame, replaces vague exhaustion with something concrete and permits you to make small, compassionate adjustments instead of pushing through at all costs. Believe it or not, right now, you don't need to become a different person; you just need a clearer view of how your energy is really being spent and what it's costing you.
If any of this feels familiar, The Energy Audit is a gentle place to start... and it's absolutely free. It's not going to tell you exactly what to do but it will help you to see exactly where you are... and sometimes that's enough to change everything.
Get your copy now via the link below.
https://bit.ly/YourEnergyCheck-In
Thanks for reading,
Russ