Write down activities that bring joy and don’t

To constantly keep up with everything and solve complex tasks, you need a lot of energy. And this is not just the energy that we replenish with sleep.

Some activities fill us up — after such activities, you feel joy, uplift, a surge of energy. It can be anything — time with friends or family, playing Civilization, a favorite sport, reading books about evolution or gardening.

And there are activities that drain energy — after them, you feel emotionally drained.

Take a sheet of paper and a pen. Divide the sheet into two halves: in the first, list the activities that bring joy, inspire you, and that you’re willing to do just for the sake of it. In the second — those that drain energy.

You don’t need to organize them or write them in order of priority. Just write down everything you remember.

Look at the list of unpleasant activities. Think about what needs to be done to engage in them less often or not spend so much energy on them.

Look at the list of pleasant activities. How often do you engage in them? What prevents you from doing them more often?

You don’t necessarily have to start changing anything right now. It’s good if you just know about these two lists.