Your Calendar Is Stealing Your Energy—Here's How to Fix It

Testing and sharing what actually works in solo practice.

I had one of those sobering realizations last week. You know the kind — where you're halfway through the year and suddenly see that your calendar is running you, not the other way around?

It happened while I was sitting at my desk, exhausted at 3 PM on a Wednesday, staring at a calendar packed with back-to-back client calls, a committee meeting I was dreading, and three urgent matters I somehow needed to squeeze in before tomorrow.

And it hit me: If I keep running my practice this way for the next six months, will I make it to December without burning out?

The answer was a resounding "hell no."

The Calendar Energy Audit That Changed Everything

So I did something I should have done in January — I performed an energy audit on my calendar. Using Sahil Bloom’s approach from his book The 5 Types of Wealth**,** I went through six months of appointments and categorized everything into three buckets:

💥 THRIVING: Activities that energize me, make me money, and align with my strengths.

😐 SURVIVING: Necessary tasks that don't drain me but don't light me up either.

🔋 DRAINING: Activities that leave me exhausted, frustrated, or that I dread doing.

Here's what I found doing my own energy audit:

THRIVING:

• Coffee with fellow solos to talk business strategy

• Morning movement

• Uninterrupted family time

• My volunteer work at legal clinics

• Beekeeping (my latest passion)

SURVIVING:

• Most consultations (though I enjoy some more than others)

• Bi-monthly bookkeeping (not thrilling, but not soul-crushing)

• Required CLEs (they're fine as long as the speaker is decent)

DRAINING:

• Calls with opposing counsel (especially the notoriously difficult ones)

• Updating standard operating procedures (necessary but tedious)

• Bar association or networking events where I know nobody (instant introvert panic)

The most surprising revelation? I realized that delivering completed estate planning binders to clients — something I thought was a nice personal touch — was actually draining me. Each delivery meant 45+ minutes of driving, small talk, and time away from higher-value tasks. I've since hired a courier service for $35 per delivery, and it's been a game-changer.

How to Do Your Own Energy Audit (It Takes 15 Minutes)

Ready to see where your energy is going? Here's how to do a quick audit:

1. Look back at your calendar for the past six months. Be honest — include everything from client calls to networking events to that "quick coffee" with a referral partner. Don't forget to include non-business time too — family activities, hobbies, vacations, exercise, and personal commitments all affect your overall energy balance.

2. Categorize each activity as Thriving, Surviving, or Draining. Don't overthink it — go with your gut.

3. Add up the hours spent in each category. What percentage of your hours are spent on activities that drain you versus those that energize you?

4. Make one immediate change:

   • Can you do MORE of the Thriving activities?

   • Can you delegate, automate, or eliminate anything in the Draining category?

   • Can you transform any Draining tasks into at least Surviving ones?

Automating the Energy Vampires Away

Here's where the magic happens. For every draining task, ask yourself: "Does this actually need to be done by me?"

Here are quick fixes for common energy-draining tasks:

📝 Client Intake: Set up a Acuity link with pre-qualification questions and an intake form that automatically creates a new file in your CRM. (When I switched to this system, it saved 3+ hours per week).

💰 Payment Management: Set up an automated system that generates confirmation invoices when you've completed work and earned your upfront fees. I use a simple automation that notifies clients when milestones are reached and confirms what portion of their fee has been earned. (With this system, I have not had a single conversation about fees or disputes over them.)

📧 Email Overload: Create templates for your 10 most common responses and use TextExpander to deploy them in seconds. (I use email templates for everything from scheduling meetings to explanations of legal concepts).

📄 Repetitive Legal Work: Document automation is your friend. I went from spending 4 hours drafting each prenup to 30 minutes using document automation.

Here's Your Challenge for This Week

Take 15 minutes — right now if you can — and look at your calendar for the next month. Identify just ONE draining activity and decide to either:

1. Eliminate it (just say no)

2. Delegate it (hire it out)

3. Automate it (create a system using tech or AI)

4. Transform it (change how you approach it)

Solo practice should be designed around your strengths, not your stressors. Your calendar should reflect that.

Running alongside you,
Lauren

P.S. Remember, energy management is just as important as time management for solo attorneys. The most successful solos I know aren't necessarily working more hours — they're working energized hours. Try tracking your energy levels for one week alongside your tasks, and you'll quickly see patterns emerge that can transform your practice.