The Energy Balance technique

When to use:

• When the Mentee sees no meaning in their work
• When the Mentee becomes frustrated with their current job
• To stimulate motivation to work

Props:

• A4 sheet of paper
• Colored markers/highlighters
• Virtual whiteboard, if working remotely (e.g., Miro, Mural)

Instructions:

Typical work activities

Ask the Mentee to reflect and write down Typical activities performed by the Mentee at work every day.

If the Mentee feels like they're doing the same thing most of the day, encourage them to break these activities down into smaller, more specific ones.

Examples of tasks/activities:

• Preparing a product presentation
• Preparing graphics for the presentation
• Gathering data for the presentation
• Meeting with the client
• Employee feedback
• Status with the team
• Replying to emails

Categorization

Ask the Mentee to assign the listed tasks/activities to two categories.

Guiding question you can ask your Mentee:

• Which of these things nourish you?
• What improves your mood?
• What calms you down?
• What brings a smile to your face?
• What activity puts you in a flow state, meaning time ceases to exist?
• Which of these things lead to the depletion of your resources?
• What / Who is dragging you down?
• What drains your energy?
• What makes you feel tired?
• Does it matter why I do this activity?
• Does it matter who I do this activity for/with?
• Does it matter when I do this activity?
• Does it matter what the content of this activity is?

Conclusions

Look at the table – what conclusions emerge?

The goal of this exercise is to become aware of the balance, or lack thereof, between these two categories of activities.

Balance doesn't have to be perfect. Sometimes one nourishing activity can outweigh several draining ones. It's important to ensure that activities that energize us and bring us satisfaction are part of our daily work routine.

Assigning weights

In the next step, you can consider which activities the mentee would like to do more of and which less of.

• Consider whether and to what extent this is possible.
• Can something be delegated?
• Can an element be added to the disliked activity that will change the way it is perceived?
• Are there any people who can provide support with draining activities?

Summary

Ask the mentee to write down key findings.

Ask what actions the mentee wants/can take regarding these findings.

As a continuation of this exercise, you can ask your Mentee to carefully observe what they are doing for the next week or month. A mindfulness practice of being focused will be helpful here.

• Here and now
• Consciously
• Without judgment
• Without judgment

Source: own work.