Designing Your Life: How Energy Mapping Can Transform Strategic Planning

Designing Your Life: A Guide to Joyful, Purposeful Work

In Designing Your Life, authors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans introduce a groundbreaking approach to navigating life’s challenges and crafting a meaningful career. Rooted in design thinking principles, the book offers tools and exercises to help readers move away from rigid life plans and toward flexible, creative solutions. One of the most powerful tools they present is energy mapping, which helps individuals assess and optimize how they spend their time.

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While this exercise and the book as a whole is intended for personal growth, it has compelling applications in team environments—particularly when used as part of strategic planning to boost engagement, reduce burnout, and improve productivity.

Key Concepts from the Book

Before diving into energy mapping, let’s explore the broader themes of Designing Your Life:

1. Life as a Design Challenge

Burnett and Evans argue that life isn’t a puzzle to be solved but a design challenge. There are multiple “right answers” to what makes a good life, and the path forward involves trying, learning, and iterating.

2. Prototyping Life Paths

Rather than waiting for perfect decisions, the book encourages readers to test ideas through low-risk experiments. For example, shadowing someone in a role you’re curious about or taking on a small side project can help clarify whether a new path is a fit.

3. Reframing Problems

Reframing is a critical design thinking technique. It helps individuals see challenges from new perspectives and uncover innovative solutions.

4. Energy Mapping (Good Time Journal)

Energy mapping involves tracking your daily tasks and assessing whether each gives you energy or drains it. The goal is to identify patterns and use those insights to design a more fulfilling life—or, as we’ll explore, a more engaged and energized team.

Applying Energy Mapping to Strategic Planning

Energy mapping can be a transformative exercise for both individuals and teams when planning for a new year or project cycle. Here’s how it works:

1. Conducting a Team Energy Mapping Exercise

Start by having each team member maintain a simple journal for one to two weeks. Ask them to:

• Log tasks throughout the day.
• Rate each task based on how energized or drained they felt afterward (e.g., using a scale from -3 to +3).
• Note moments of “flow” where they were fully absorbed and time flew by.

Example log entry:

2. Analyzing the Data

Bring the team together to identify patterns and discuss:

• Which tasks consistently energized individuals or led to “flow”?
• Which tasks drained energy or created frustration?
• What surprising insights emerged (e.g., someone might love data analysis while another thrives on stakeholder engagement)?

Encourage open conversations while respecting individual preferences.

3. Incorporating Insights into Strategic Planning

Use the energy mapping findings to:

• Assign Work Strategically:

  Align tasks and responsibilities to individual strengths and preferences. For instance, someone who finds joy in creative problem-solving may thrive leading innovation initiatives, while a detail-oriented team member might excel in project execution.

• Innovate Delivery Models:

  Explore new approaches to delivering key initiatives based on what energizes the team. Could you experiment with rotating responsibilities or breaking larger projects into energizing phases?

• Prioritize Flow States:

  Design workflows that allow deep-focus time for high-value tasks. This could involve setting “no meeting” days or blocking time for uninterrupted work.

• Address Energy Drains:

  Brainstorm ways to reduce or automate draining tasks. If status meetings are consistently draining, can they be replaced by asynchronous updates?

4. Building Recovery and Joy into the Plan

Since not all work can be joyful, plan intentional recovery time:

• Schedule decompression periods after high-intensity projects.
• Celebrate small wins to maintain morale.
• Encourage team members to share positive energy-boosting hacks (e.g., 15-minute creative breaks).

Why This Works: The Benefits of Energy-Based Planning

By aligning work with energy patterns, businesses can:

• Boost Engagement: Employees are more motivated when they work on tasks that energize them.
• Improve Productivity: Focused, energized workers are naturally more effective.
• Reduce Burnout and Attrition: Designing joyful, meaningful work helps create a sustainable workplace environment.
• Enhance Innovation: Energized teams are more creative and willing to take risks.

Final Thoughts

Designing Your Life teaches us that we have the power to design more meaningful, joyful lives—and that same philosophy can transform the way we work. By adopting energy mapping as part of your strategic planning process, you can empower your team to do their best work while fostering a culture of engagement and well-being.

If you’re interested in reading more, consider picking up a copy of Designing Your Life or trying out an energy mapping exercise with your team. You may be surprised by the transformative insights it brings.