Annotate time blocks with required energy state…

Before each work week, annotate each protected time block on your calendar with both the required energy state (deep focus, creative, relational, administrative) and your realistic energy prediction for that time slot based on current sleep, nutrition, exercise, and emotional patterns.

When This Fires

During weekly planning when assigning tasks to calendar blocks
When protected time blocks consistently produce no output — energy mismatch is the likely cause
When you need to schedule deep work around variable energy patterns (travel, illness, disrupted sleep)
Complements Group weekly tasks under parent objectives, allocate best… (grouped weekly scheduling) with the energy-demand matching layer

Common Failure Mode

Ideal-state scheduling: placing deep work at 2 PM on Wednesday because "that's available." Available ≠ energized. After 4 hours of meetings, 2 PM Wednesday predicts low cognitive energy — deep focus will fail there regardless of what the calendar says. Move deep work to a slot where predicted energy matches the demand.

The Protocol

(1) During weekly planning, for each protected time block, annotate two things: Required: what energy state does the scheduled task need? (Deep focus / Creative / Relational / Administrative) Predicted: given this week's specifics (sleep patterns, meeting load, exercise schedule, emotional context), what energy will I realistically have at this slot? (High / Medium / Low) (2) Match: required ≤ predicted → block is well-placed. Required > predicted → mismatch. Reschedule to a slot where predicted energy meets or exceeds the requirement. (3) Deep focus and creative tasks → high-energy slots only. Relational and administrative → medium or low-energy slots are fine. (4) If no high-energy slot is available this week → the week's capacity doesn't support deep work. Either create the conditions (better sleep, fewer meetings) or accept the limitation and plan accordingly.