Background

The key in any organization is for people to be transparent about what their Zone of Genius is, and then map all activities to the right people. We should be looking to maximize time spent doing things that give energy and minimizing things that drain energy. If we do, we will be able to achieve far more in less time.

We will create a list visible to everyone that includes each person’s Zone of Genius. To do this, everyone needs to determine what their Zone of Genius is.

Energy Audit: How To Find Your Zone of Genius

To find your Zone of Genius, you need to find the items that you are both uniquely good at and give you energy.

It is important to maximize your energy. You perform best when you are doing things that energize you. Your goal should be to spend most of your time (75-80%) doing things that energize you. If you do, magic will occur.

Here’s how to find your Zone of Genius. This activity should take less than 30 minutes.

  1. Start with an Energy Audit. Look at the last month (or several months) of your calendar and go through each workday hour-by-hour. Go through the last month (or several months) of your to-do list item-by-item. Ask yourself, “did that activity give me energy or drain my energy?”
  2. Then, in a document, put each hour or item in one of two columns: an activity that gave you energy, or an activity that drained your energy. There are no neutrals; every hour or item must be marked as one or the other.
  3. When finished, look for patterns of where and how your energy is drained and where and how your energy is increased. Write down the patterns of the types of activities that give you energy and the types of activities that drain energy.
  4. Now that you have established patterns of the types of activities that give you energy, you have done half the work of finding your Zone of Genius. The last thing to do is to look through the “patterns list” of activities that give you energy and determine which of those activities you are uniquely good at. You probably have a pretty good idea, but if you aren’t sure what you are and aren’t good at, ask the people you work most closely with what they think you are best at. Worst case, you’ll get a compliment! There can be multiple types of activities in your Zone of Genius.

Congrats, you have found your Zone of Genius! Let’s maximize the time you spend doing that.