Concepts
The irreducible epistemic atoms underlying the curriculum. 4,828 atoms across 8 types
Energy audit
a structured, multi-day observation protocol that tracks energy levels before and after specific activities across all four dimensions (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) to reveal patterns that obscure narrative memory and provide empirical data for energy management decisions
Ultradian rhythm
the approximately 90-minute biological cycle that alternates between periods of higher neurological arousal (focused, alert, capable of demanding cognitive work) and periods of lower arousal (diffuse, restless, better suited for recovery or routine tasks) operating within circadian rhythms
Peak window
the specific period during a circadian cycle when cognitive capacity for analytical problem-solving, pattern recognition, and sustained focus reaches its maximum level, typically lasting 90-120 minutes and aligning with the ascending phase of ultradian rhythms
Biological prime time
the specific window of time when circadian and ultradian rhythms align to create optimal conditions for cognitive throughput, characterized by peak cortisol levels, heightened arousal, and maximal availability of neurotransmitters supporting sustained attention
Recovery
the biological process of restoring depleted cognitive and emotional systems through structured rest periods that occur between stress cycles, enabling adaptation rather than breakdown.
Sleep
the non-negotiable biological process of memory consolidation, prefrontal cortex restoration, glymphatic clearance, and hormonal regulation that determines the effectiveness of all other energy management strategies.
Movement
the physical act of engaging the body in moderate aerobic activity that increases available cognitive energy rather than depleting it, through neurochemical mechanisms including elevated dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine production, and structural changes including BDNF-mediated neuroplasticity and mitochondrial enhancement
Cognitive energy
the neurochemically and structurally supported capacity for sustained attention, working memory, executive function, and complex cognitive processing that is directly influenced by blood glucose stability, neurotransmitter balance, and the metabolic state of the brain, as opposed to a fixed reservoir that is depleted by use
Social energy
the measurable, multi-dimensional resource that flows between individuals during social interactions and can be audited, mapped, and matched to demand, with some interactions energizing and others draining an individual's cognitive and emotional capacity
Social energy audit
a systematic process of identifying, rating, and analyzing the energy impact of social interactions across emotional and mental dimensions to determine which people and interaction formats generate or deplete an individual's energy resources
Social energy management
the deliberate practice of monitoring, analyzing, and structuring social interactions to optimize energy flow, including budgeting for draining interactions, investing in energizing ones, and setting boundaries to protect one's energy supply
Batching
the cognitive strategy of grouping similar tasks together into uninterrupted blocks to minimize the number of task-set reconfigurations that the prefrontal cortex must perform, thereby reducing executive function depletion and attention residue accumulation
Energy leak audit
a structured process of identifying and cataloging every unresolved issue, broken agreement, undone task, delayed decision, tolerated annoyance, and open loop currently carried in one's cognitive system, organized by category and rated for background cognitive cost
Zeigarnik loop
a cognitive mechanism where incomplete tasks maintain an active representation in working memory, consuming resources and generating periodic intrusive thoughts even when not actively attended to, with the strength of the memory trace increasing with personal significance and expectation of return
Toleration
a persistent condition or circumstance that one has adapted to but not resolved, creating a continuous background cognitive drain through micro-recognition and periodic mental processing, with cumulative effects that are individually trivial but collectively significant
Zombie commitment
a commitment that has been neither completed nor officially released, functioning as a hybrid energy leak that combines cognitive cost of open loops, emotional cost of broken agreements, and identity cost of cognitive dissonance, persisting as a drain until either resurrection or formal release
Energy leak resolution
the process of closing an energy leak through one of three strategies: resolve (complete the action), release (deliberately accept and let go), or capture (externalize to a trusted system with specific plan), each targeting different cognitive mechanisms for eliminating background drain
Energy-generating activities
activities that reliably produce positive emotional and cognitive states, increasing one's capacity to perform subsequent work at a higher level than could be achieved without them, as evidenced by physiological mechanisms including neurochemical release (dopamine, norepinephrine, endorphins, oxytocin, serotonin) and psychological mechanisms including flow states, progress feedback, and positive emotion broadening
Flow states
psychological experiences characterized by full absorption in challenging activities matched to one's skill level, featuring clear proximal goals, immediate feedback, and loss of track of time, that paradoxically consume attention and effort while producing energy and renewal rather than depletion
Energy journal
an ongoing measurement system that tracks energy levels throughout the day to identify personal patterns across multiple timescales (ultradian, circadian, weekly, monthly, seasonal, life-phase) that reveal conditional patterns, slow drifts, recovery dynamics, and exception events invisible in single-week audits
Stress debt
the cumulative physiological cost of chronic stress responses that borrow energy from future reserves and must be repaid through recovery, where the loan compounds when repayment is delayed or prevented
Emotional processing
the structured cognitive intervention that translates diffuse emotional experience into coherent narrative representation through linguistic encoding, thereby closing incomplete cognitive loops and freeing working memory resources consumed by background emotional monitoring
Emotional suppression
the emotion regulation strategy that inhibits the outward expression of an emotion that has already been generated, which does not reduce subjective emotional experience but instead consumes significant cognitive resources to maintain the lid on the emotion while simultaneously amplifying physiological stress responses
Structured emotional processing
the minimum effective dose protocol for emotional energy management that involves noticing emotional energy depletion signals, naming emotions with specificity, writing or speaking for fifteen minutes about the emotion, and then consciously transitioning to the next task to close the cognitive loop