How to be productive without burning out

1. 01Track energy, not just tasksFor one week, note your mood and energy (1–5) alongside what you worked on, three times a day. Patterns show up fast: the meeting that drains you, the two hours when hard thinking is easy.
2. 02Schedule by energy typeDeep, creative work in your peak window. Admin and email in the trough. Protect the peak like a dentist appointment — it's the only part of the day that can't be recovered later.
3. 03Replace goals with practices"Write a book" is a wish. "Write 400 words before breakfast, four mornings a week, for eight weeks" is a practice you can actually run and review.
4. 04Build in a weekly reviewTwenty minutes: what worked, what drained you, what you'll change. Growth comes from the loop, not the sprint.
5. 05Give rest a slotUnscheduled rest gets eaten. Put genuine downtime on the calendar and treat it as part of the work, because recovery is what makes the next cycle possible.

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