energisers and drainers
concept · in 26 sources (2019–2023)
A decision test: does this activity or person give energy or drain it? Energy, not time, is the bottleneck.
Sources by year: 2019: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2022: 8 · 2023: 13
Also known as: energise or drain, energy, not time
Questions
Often together
What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.
rejection over regret (3) · choose to be satisfied (3) · go first (2) · time management (3) · feel-good productivity (concept) (3) · experimental mindset (2) · Feel-Good Productivity (book) (4) · active recall (2) · Instagram (2)
What the videos say
The most important statements of each year; all statements.
2023
- 2023-04-19 · If I Was a Student Again, I'd Do This — recommendation: Ali's eighth strategy is to surround yourself with energisers: nudge your time towards people who lift your energy rather than those who drain it, without cutting the draining friends out. — 00:11:39
- 2023-04-28 · 6 Lessons I've Learned About Online Dating — recommendation: Ali advises reflecting on a date by how it made you feel, energised or drained, rather than assessing the person as in a job interview; feeling energised is generally a good sign. — 00:13:55
- 2023-05-07 · How I Started My YouTube Channel in My Spare Time — Ali: Work that is enjoyable and engaging becomes energising, Ali says, and that solves the energy problem of coming home drained from a day job; early on he made editing fun by tracking progress and turning it into a game. — 00:19:00
- 2023-08-04 · I Read 107 Productivity Books. Here's What Actually Works. — Ali says time is a finite resource but energy is renewable: we can renew it during and after the workday by doing things that genuinely recharge us. — 00:12:14
- Ali suggests a two-sided list: what genuinely recharges your energy, and what you find yourself doing when drained, to nudge yourself towards the first. — 00:12:14
- 2023-08-30 · I Tried 137 Productivity Tools. These Are The Best. — Ali calls walking an absolutely underrated productivity tool: it is fun, recharges energy and reconnects you with nature, and some of his best ideas come while walking. — 00:12:58
- 2023-09-27 · Starting A Business is Easy, Actually — recommendation: Ali: If you do not yet know what you are passionate about, Ali says, that is fine: finding work you love is a lifelong journey, and trying lots of different things shows what you have an aptitude for, enjoy, and find energising rather than draining. — 00:08:24
- 2023-12-01 · How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You) — Helen Tupper defines strengths as the things that give you energy in your work, even if you are not great at them yet: people who think a strength must be something they excel at dismiss their own. — 00:06:59
- In choosing work, Ali says to focus on what you enjoy: data analysis you are good at but find draining counts as a weakness, while talking to people that energises you is a strength even if you are bad at it. — 00:07:53
- 2023-12-23 · Surround yourself with energisers, not drainers ⚡️ — Ali: In a 2003 study, Ali says, psychology professors Rob Cross, Wayne Baker and Andrew Parker drew an energy map of consultants and managers at a few giant firms and found remarkable agreement about who was an energiser and who a drainer. — 00:00:00
- Ali says people can lift our mood and make us more productive, but this is not a given: it takes deep thought about how we connect with each other. — 00:00:00
- 2023-12-26 · Can you make someone smile today? 😊 — Ali says that stopping what you are doing to offer help to people at random can boost your endorphin levels and help you work harder. — 00:00:00
- …and 8 statements more in 2023 — all statements of 2023
Also named in: 4 Things I Wish I Knew in My 20s
2022
- 2022-07-26 · 28 Life Lessons from 28 Years in 28 Minutes — recommendation: Ali finds that studying, working or just living with a background music track is fun and makes life a lot more high-energy. — 00:04:40
- 2022-08-02 · 5 Mistakes Procrastinators Make (And How To Avoid Them...) — recommendation: Ali: When a task feels boring, Ali thinks in terms of systems and asks how to make it energising: what to tweak in his approach or in the task itself so that it regenerates his energy rather than drains it. — 00:06:29
- 2022-08-19 · How I Manage My Time - The System That Changed My Life — Ali: One answer to a lack of energy, Ali says, is to make the things you do more energising, which is in a way the thesis of the book he is writing. — 00:00:29
- Ali finds it super helpful to monitor his own energy levels around his projects and to notice when a project is draining his energy. — 00:13:41
- 2022-09-24 · How to Retire in 10 Years (starting with $0) — recommendation: Ali looks at his calendar for the activities that energise him and those that drain him, and for the drainers either finds a way to make them enjoyable or a way not to do them. — 00:13:41
- 2022-10-17 · 8 Evidence-Based Tips that Helped Me Find Love — recommendation: Ali advises noticing whether you leave a date energised; you probably don't want to go beyond the second date with someone who drains your energy. (hedged) — 00:13:40
- 2022-11-23 · 6 life lessons in under 60 seconds #shorts — Ali's first three life lessons of 2022: instead of pressing the try-harder button, build a system so you need not try so hard; when torn between two decisions, move towards what energises you; and choose to be satisfied. — 00:00:00
- 2022-11-30 · How to Make Difficult Decisions (without overthinking) — recommendation: Ali: One of Ali's core questions for deciding whether to say yes to an event or invitation is whether, if it were happening right now, it would energise or drain him. — 00:11:08
- Work-related things, time with his team and dinner with friends energise Ali; meetings about things he is not interested in and uninteresting work done for the money drain him. — 00:11:37
- Ali's team once considered a service helping big companies with their YouTube channels, which people said could make millions, but Ali found the idea draining and prefers learning cool things and making videos for his audience. — 00:12:06
- …and 3 statements more in 2022 — all statements of 2022
2021
- 2021-06-09 · Why I'm Never Tired — Ali: Asked how he has so much energy and never seems tired, Ali says his secret is six tips, all about how he sleeps more productively. — 00:00:00
2020
- 2020-03-24 · How to be More Productive in Lockdown — recommendation: Ali: Peppermint tea helps Ali out of a slump: it is naturally caffeine-free, so he drinks it for a final push of work even at 7 p.m. — 00:08:09
- To get out of a slump, Ali suggests going to the gym, doing a workout, or even just a walk around the park. — 00:08:37
- 2020-05-26 · Studying, Cooking and Netflix · Day in the Life During Lockdown — Ali likes teaching because it usually leaves him energised rather than drained, and he uses that energy for his next task. — 00:03:19
- 2020-06-23 · My Favourite Productivity Book of All Time — John Zeratsky says that when the body is not well, from too little sleep or too much drink, the brain does not work, yet our culture does not encourage us to think of body and brain as one system; Make Time's energise step offers simple ways to look after yourself. — 00:08:42
- Ali says he pays energy less attention than he should: simply sleeping on time, eating well, drinking lots of water and exercising would probably boost his productivity more than discovering Roam Research, Notion or the latest app. (hedged) — 00:09:11
2019
- 2019-12-27 (said on 2019-12-20, implied) · My Annual Review using Notion — Ali discovered the power of light lunches: a heavy lunch leaves him full and tired for the rest of the day, while a light lunch, at least for him, leaves him more energised. — 00:08:00