Energising and Draining Activities

Participants will:

• Surface personal strengths through the energy that activities give or take.
• Notice which tasks reliably drain them, and why.
• Plan to use strengths more and handle draining tasks differently.

Preparation

Explain that we mean mental energy here. A strength-based activity can leave you physically tired but mentally lifted.

Step 1: Introduce green and red

Green activities rely on your strengths: you enjoy them, lose track of time, look forward to them, and can do them well even when tired.

Red activities rely on your weaknesses: they drain you, drag, take a lot of effort and self-control, and you tend to avoid them.

Step 2: Track for a week

Each day, note the activities you did and mark the change in energy.

Use a simple scale from minus minus (very draining) through zero to plus plus (very energising).

Step 3: Find your top green

At the end of the week, pick the five most energising activities.

For each, name the strength you were using.

Step 4: Find your top red

Now pick the five most draining activities.

For each, name the strength that was missing or being over-stretched.

Step 5: Plan

How can you do more of your green activities?

For the red ones, can you delegate, reframe, pair them with a strength, or build energy in advance?

Debrief and Discussion

What did the week reveal that surprised you?

Which strength showed up across your green activities?

What is one change you could make to your week?

Facilitator notes

• Daily tracking beats end-of-week recall for accuracy.
• Weaknesses here mean draining activities, not moral failings; keep the tone practical.
• Pairs well with Acknowledging Progress and Accomplishments.

Formats and running length

• Intro (20-30 min): teach green and red and set up tracking.
• Follow-up (30 min): run the top-five reflection and planning after the week.
• Whole arc: a one-week practice bookended by two short sessions.

Tips for Running This Activity Online

• Share the tracking form as a file to copy or a simple table.
• Set a daily reminder together in the session.
• Use breakout pairs for the strengths reflection.

This exercise builds on strengths research, in which using a genuine strength feels energising while operating from a weakness feels draining (Linley, 2008; Linley, Willars and Biswas-Diener, 2010). Tracking energy day by day turns that principle into a personal strengths map. Some practitioners call these green and red activities. Trainers Toolbox has adapted the approach into a group-friendly version.