How to batch your tasks when your energy is all over the place

Here’s what nobody tells you about productivity systems: most of them were designed by people who seem to have a steady, predictable supply of focus and energy. Wake up at 5am. Deep work for three hours. Inbox zero by 9. Cool. What about the rest of us?

What about the days when your brain feels like it’s wading through fog? Or the afternoons when you’re technically at your desk but mentally somewhere else entirely? What about the weeks where your energy comes in bursts — present one hour, gone the next?

That’s not a discipline problem. That’s just being human. And if you’re a woman juggling work, relationships, a household, and the weight of just existing in the world — your energy is going to fluctuate. The goal isn’t to override that. It’s to work with it.

That’s where task batching by energy level comes in — and it’s the productivity shift that actually stuck for me.

The goal isn’t to override your energy. It’s to work with it.

What task batching actually means

Task batching is grouping similar tasks together so you do them in one focused window instead of scattered throughout the day. Most people have heard of it. But the version I want to talk about goes one step further: batching by energy level, not just by category.

Instead of asking “what do I need to do today?” you start by asking “what kind of energy do I have right now?” Then you match the task to the moment. It sounds simple. It changes everything.

The three energy levels (and what belongs in each one)

Think of your day in three zones. You probably already know which times of day belong to which — you just haven’t named them yet.

Notice that every energy level has a place. Low energy isn’t wasted time — it’s the window for everything that doesn’t require much of you. You’re still moving forward. You’re just doing it at the right speed for where you are.

How to set it up without overcomplicating it

You don’t need a fancy app or a color-coded planner (though I won’t stop you). Here’s the simplest version:

• Write out everything on your to-do list for the week
• Next to each task, note H, M, or L for the energy it requires
• At the start of each day, check in with yourself — what level are you at right now?
• Pull from the matching pile and work from there
• When your energy shifts, shift your tasks with it

That last step is the one people skip. They pick their tasks in the morning and then white-knuckle through them even when their energy has completely changed by noon. Give yourself permission to reassign. A task that belongs in your high-energy batch today can live in your low-energy batch tomorrow. Nothing is permanent.

What this looks like in a real day

Let me walk you through how this actually plays out — not in a Pinterest-perfect version of a day, but a real one.

I wake up and I’m at a solid high. That’s my window for writing — blog posts, content drafts, anything that needs actual thought. I protect that window like it owes me money.

By midmorning I’m medium. That’s when I return messages, sort through emails, handle anything that involves other people. It requires presence but not peak creativity. Good match.

By early afternoon I’m low. Instead of fighting it, I lean into it — I’ll organize my Notion, queue up some pins, tidy my desk, look over old drafts without the pressure to fix them. I’m still doing something. Just not something that needs all of me.

It’s not a perfect system. Some days everything is low and I just have to accept that. But more often than not, I end the day feeling like I actually worked with myself instead of against myself.

Stop asking what you need to do today. Start asking what kind of energy you have right now.

A word for the days when all energy is gone

Some days you’ll open this list and everything on it feels impossible. You’re not at low energy — you’re at zero. That’s not a batching problem. That’s a rest problem.

Give yourself one tiny task — something so small it almost doesn’t count. Send one email. Write one paragraph. Clear one corner. Then stop. You showed up. That matters more than the list.

Productivity isn’t about extracting maximum output from yourself every single day. It’s about building something sustainable — a rhythm you can keep, not a pace that breaks you.

You’re allowed to work differently

The women I admire most aren’t the ones who grind hardest. They’re the ones who know themselves well enough to work smart — who’ve stopped pretending their energy is a constant and started treating it as the variable it actually is.

You’re allowed to have a slow morning. You’re allowed to save the hard work for when you’re actually ready for it. You’re allowed to build a productivity practice that looks like yours, not someone else’s highlight reel.

That’s not laziness. That’s wisdom. And it’s one of the most intentional things you can do for the life you’re building.