Why shifting my energy has been a life-changing element of my Life Design project

This Second 50 community has prompted many changes in my life and one of the most powerful shifts I’ve made is letting go of time management and switching to what life design expert Gill McLaren calls ‘energy management’. 

Gill, who is author of a life design guidebook called, Think.Plan.Live. ­(and has generously co-created a beautiful Second 50 Life Design program for Second 50 members) highlighted that I’ve only got 24 hours in each day and time is finite. 

Of course, I knew that basic fact. However, knowing how to prioritise our finite time across all the demands, wants and needs that every Second 50 woman juggles is a whole other challenge!

To be honest, when Gill first explained to me the idea that energy can be a multiplier, I was a little bit sceptical. I have always assumed that when you expend energy, it uses up time. But I now know she is right. 

By thinking about how I’m using energy, rather than how I’m using time, I end up with more energy and, weirdly, I end up feeling like I’ve been gifted more time!

My life through an energy lens

Starting to look at life through the lens of energy has been very significant for me. 

I have ‘energy-audited’ every part of my life, including work projects, routines and even the energy impact of the people in my life. I started to see what energises me, what ticks along in an energy-neutral way, and which things were sapping my energy. Gill calls these categories energy givers, energy sloths and energy vampires. 

An energy giver is a net increase of energy, which means it’s an immediate multiplier. Whether it’s a person or a situation, it brings out the best in you and leaves you with more energy, not less. Energy vampires cause a net decrease in energy.

Gill helped me to notice differences in my day-to-day life and, like any new idea, awareness is the key first step to making change.

I confess that the results of sitting down with Gill’s Life Design tools and doing a full energy audit was a bit confronting. Suddenly I saw that I had been ignoring a few big energy sapping elements of my life. Some activities in my household, as well as certain big tasks I was doing on the admin side of Second 50 were leaving me depleted. Certain people — even people I liked a lot — were draining me in some contexts.

Making changes with my time and energy doesn’t mean that I’ve simply dropped anyone in my life who needs my time or care. I am still a dedicated daughter, wife, mother, friend and Second 50 community leader. I still look after my house and deal with my life-admin! However, by making small but significant shifts in how I fulfil these roles means they are more likely to be energy giving rather than sapping. And I manage the energy sappers differently, so I have enough energy flowing into me across days, weeks and months to balance them.

My worst energy vampire

One of the biggest surprises was that I was one of my own worst energy vampires! 

Once I understood this, it was possible to take some steps to realign my life to get a better flow of energy. The first big one was to banish the kitchen monster I created for myself. Not only was I caught up in cooking meals that were far more elaborate than they needed to be, but my dream kitchen renovation had evolved into a time and energy sapping nightmare. By making changes, I not only gifted myself 10+ hours of extra time each week, but I took a big step forward in energy preservation!  

This was the start of a ripple effect into other life-changing elements of Gill’s Life Design process.

As the Second 50 women who joined our recent Sage Advice Live session know, I’ve done a lot more than just audit my energy. I’ve rediscovered my values, harnessed my strengths and connected the dots between them all. It’s been transformative.  

So, although I still have to deal with lots of life-admin and other crap we all have on our plates, I’ve got a better energy flow through my days, weeks, and months. I don’t react as dramatically when the shit hits the fan – as it does regularly! Most amazingly, I have more time now, not less. 

Gill and I have now combined our energies to share her Life Design ideas in a way that’s created especially for other Second 50 women.

We are stepping Second 50 women through an 8-week journey to design a life they love, which includes mapping their energy and designing their days and weeks (and lives) around what fuels them, not just what fills their calendar. 

For me, it’s been a quiet but hugely powerful reframe. I don’t chase time anymore. I follow the flow of energy. And that has made all the difference. 

I totally understand if you feel sceptical, just like I did when I first heard of these ideas.

If this is true for you but you’re interested in hearing just a little more, you might be interested in joining Second 50 and exploring our Second 50 Life Design offerings. Or reading more about how I banished my kitchen monster!

More about Second 50 Life Design

From August 18 - October 7, we are running our inaugural Second 50 Life Design program.

Twenty amazing Second 50 women are on the journey. Grounded in Gill McLaren’s proven Think.Plan.Live methodology and strengthened by Second 50’s trusted community, this hybrid program blends flexible online content, live workshops, practical tools, and the support of accountability trios. Designed for busy mid-life women, it’s exciting to see how well it’s working. Here’s what some participants have posted in our community forum:

“Women like us have been yearning for the opportunity to connect deeply, authentically and safely, perhaps without even knowing it was missing. We are already stronger together. Thank you Second 50 Life Design.”

“Our trio conversations are great, the recordings short and sweet, and exercises thoughtful.”

“This multi-modal approach works so well for me! I’ve found it useful to explore all the facets of this course through so many mediums - reflection, simple assessments, small group discussion and listening and Gill’s extraordinary guidance through our fortnightly sessions and her wonderful audio book.”

“I am looking forward to integrating all we have learnt about ourselves into a tangible and practical daily/weekly life routine.”

We’ll share more insights soon, and there will be opportunities to join this another program in early 2026. In the meantime, Second 50 women can start your own Life Design journey by watching Gill’s Sage Advice Live (On-Demand), exploring resources at the Think.Plan.Live website, or simply searching “Life Design” in Second 50 for lots of practical content and community Life Design insights.