Unlocking Your Passion: How the Engagement/Energy Journal Can Guide Your Career
I found an interesting approach to help me understand how I feel at the end of the day and why. This has helped me to discern activities/directions to pursue further and those to move away from. In Designing Your Life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans introduce the Engagement/Energy Journal, a powerful self-reflection tool that helps individuals uncover which aspects of their work bring them the most fulfillment and which drain their energy. Instead of simply following external career advice or chasing financial success alone, this journal allows individuals to track their daily work experiences and identify patterns that point toward more meaningful and engaging career paths.
I use this approach for coaching others who are trying to discover some of their next steps in their vocational path. Let’s look at how to use the Engagement/Energy Journal, why it’s effective, and how to analyze your results to find areas to pursue in your work.
What Is the Engagement/Energy Journal?
The Engagement/Energy Journal is a simple yet profound exercise that involves tracking your daily work activities and evaluating how much engagement and energy each task provides. The goal is to identify patterns that highlight
1. What excites and fulfills you (engages you), as well as
2. What energizes and motivates you (provides energy).
These two are not the same. I.e., you may have activities that are highly engaging but leave you exhausted at the end.
First, let’s look at what excites and fulfills you (engages you).
Engagement refers to activities that draw you in, capture your attention, and give you a deep sense of fulfillment. When you are engaged, you often experience a state of flow—where time seems to disappear because you are fully absorbed in what you’re doing.
Key Characteristics of Engagement:
• You lose track of time while doing it.
• You feel a sense of purpose and deep satisfaction.
• You would likely do it even without external rewards.
• It requires intellectual, emotional, or creative involvement.
Example:
• A writer might feel deeply engaged while crafting a compelling article but may feel mentally exhausted afterward.
• A teacher might love mentoring students and find the process fulfilling, but it may still leave them tired at the end of the day.
Takeaway: Engagement is about meaning and absorption, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you leave the task feeling energized.
Second, let’s look at what energizes and motivates you (provides energy).
Energy is about how an activity affects your physical, emotional, or mental state after doing it. Some tasks might be engaging but still drain your energy, while others may leave you feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on more.
Key Characteristics of Energy:
• You feel refreshed and motivated afterward.
• You have an increased desire to keep going.
• It might give you an adrenaline rush or emotional uplift.
• It doesn’t feel like a drain on your system.
Example:
• An extroverted person may feel energized after leading a team meeting, even though it’s not deeply engaging.
• A musician might feel completely absorbed in composing a song (engagement) but also drained afterward (low energy).
• Some people feel mentally engaged when problem-solving but physically tired after long hours of deep focus.
Takeaway: Energy is about how you feel afterward—whether an activity replenishes or drains you.
Some activities are both engaging and energizing—these are ideal career paths and passions to pursue. However, many tasks are high in one and low in the other, and that distinction is crucial for making smart life and career decisions.
How to Use the Engagement/Energy Journal
Step 1: Track Your Activities. Do this for at least one to two weeks, write down your daily work activities, meetings, and projects. Be as specific as possible. For example:
Morning Staff Meeting
Writing a report on new company policies
Client brainstorming session
Planning an event for the department
Analyzing financial spreadsheets
Step 2: Rate Each Activity for Engagement. Ask yourself: “Was I fully engaged in this activity? Did time seem to fly by?”
High Engagement – You were fully immersed and excited.
Medium Engagement – The task was fine but didn’t deeply excite you.
Low Engagement – You were distracted, bored, or counting the minutes until it ended.
Step 3: Rate Each Activity for Energy. Ask yourself: Did this task energize me or leave me drained?
Energizing – You felt motivated and refreshed.
Neutral – The task neither gave nor took much energy.
Draining – You felt exhausted or unmotivated afterward.
Step 4: Review and Identify Patterns. After one or two weeks, analyze the patterns in your journal. Look for:
High-engagement, high-energy tasks – These are goldmines that point to work you enjoy and should do more of.
Low-engagement, low-energy tasks – These highlight what you may need to delegate, minimize, or avoid.
Surprises – Activities you thought you would enjoy but didn’t—or those you expected to dislike but actually found engaging.
Step 5: Make Adjustments Based on Your Insights. Once you’ve identified what excites you, take action by:
Prioritizing high-engagement, high-energy work in your current role.
Seeking career opportunities that align with your journal findings.
Eliminating or delegating draining tasks when possible.
Experimenting with new projects or roles that align with what you discovered.
Why This Method Works
Many people choose careers based on external expectations (salary, status, or what they “should” do). However, true career satisfaction comes from aligning work with internal fulfillment—what genuinely excites and sustains you. The Engagement/Energy Journal helps you:
🔹 Discover Hidden Career Paths – You may realize that the best part of your job isn’t the title, but a specific type of work, such as mentoring, writing, or problem-solving.
🔹 Reduce Burnout – By minimizing draining activities and maximizing energizing ones, you can create a sustainable, fulfilling career.
🔹 Gain Clarity – Instead of making blind career moves, you have clear evidence of what excites you.
🔹 Boost Productivity and Motivation – When you focus on energizing work, you become more effective and engaged.
Real-Life Example: How This Helped Sarah
Sarah, a marketing manager, was feeling unfulfilled but didn’t know what career direction to take. After using the Engagement/Energy Journal, she discovered:
She loved brainstorming sessions (high engagement, high energy).
She felt drained by data entry and social media scheduling (low engagement, low energy).
She unexpectedly enjoyed mentoring junior team members.
Based on these insights, Sarah transitioned into a leadership role focusing on strategic marketing and team mentorship, which aligned more with what energized her.
How to Apply This to Your Own Life
1️⃣ Start Your Journal Today – Track your work tasks for the next two weeks.
2️⃣ Identify Trends – Pay attention to what excites vs. drains you.
3️⃣ Make Small Changes First – Shift responsibilities where possible to focus more on high-energy tasks.
4️⃣ Consider Larger Career Moves – If your job doesn’t allow for engaging work, start exploring new roles or fieldsthat align with your findings.
Why This Matters for Career & Life Design
1️⃣ Maximize activities that are both engaging and energizing—these are the areas where you thrive the most.
2️⃣ Recognize engaging but draining activities and manage them wisely (e.g., take breaks, delegate, or schedule recovery time).
3️⃣ Don’t overlook energizing but non-engaging tasks—these can be great for mental resets or easy wins in your day.
4️⃣ Reduce or eliminate tasks that neither engage nor energize you whenever possible.
Final Thoughts: A Work Life That Energizes You
The Engagement/Energy Journal is a simple yet transformative tool that helps you design a career filled with meaning and energy. Instead of feeling stuck in work that depletes you, use this method to uncover what truly excites you and make intentional career moves based on real insights.
Start your journal today—vocational flourishing may be closer than you think! 🚀
About the Author: Dr. Jay Moon, PhD, MBA, P.E. is a storyteller, strategist, and scholar with a passion for bridging faith, work, and mission. With 13 years as a SIM missionary in Ghana among the Builsa people, he has firsthand experience in church planting, water development, evangelism, and discipleship. Now a Professor of Evangelism & Church Planting at Asbury Theological Seminary, he also leads the Office of Faith, Work, and Economics, equipping leaders to integrate faith in everyday life.
A prolific author, Jay has written six books—including Intercultural Discipleship and Effective Intercultural Evangelism—and edited seven more. A sought-after speaker on church planting, marketplace mission, and evangelism, he has served as president of APM and GCRN and is the incoming president of AETE and ASM.
Beyond academia, Jay thrives in hands-on creativity, from building treehouses and throwing axes to mentoring small business innovators—always looking for new ways to connect faith and action.