Rapunzel’s Tower Runs on Batteries

A reflection on fluctuating energy, collapsing routines, and rebuilding systems.

Hold out your tokens! Time is not the coin we spend — We’re no longer trading hours for worth. Maybe for you, but not for me. Usher the era, Energy is the new currency. Hold out your fee.

I was hibernating not like a bear waiting for winter to end or like a water-holding frog creating a cocoon for dry conditions. In fact, maybe I wasn’t hibernating at all. I was simply lying in a high tower with no stairs or Rapunzel’s hair. I did not want to be rescued but I needed a way down, desperately.

Over the years, it was like my eyes were blindfolded. I was aware of my feelings, my mental health, my energy levels. But I was blind to what my body was losing.

I had forgotten to rest, not in the way where you tuck in bed or take a breather from work. No, I did not map my energy levels or capacity. In the rush of hyper focusing on new projects, I simply thought I was chasing success.

Boy, was I wrong. I was aching for support from the community and mainly myself. Slowly, I lost track of posts, I lost track of health and rest. My routines didn’t collapse like dominoes falling all at once, rather softly over the months, almost so much so that I simply thought I was overwhelmed. My energy and capacity fell out of sync. The system I built could no longer hold me.

The System Stopped Working

To be honest with you, I did account for fluctuating energy and I reframed consistency to frequency because I wanted to honour my body and brain with the way I work and show up.

What I didn’t account for was understanding that my hyperfocus was putting internal pressures on myself. I was creating deadlines that didn’t exist. I wanted to do everything every day because I was excited. I was masking while socializing when I didn’t need to.

I did not account for my hyperfocus and shutdown cycles, because I felt it was normal to have a flare-up after a shutdown. I missed the signals that my body was screaming and my mind was pleading.

If I were to have a theme song on a show, ‘Vienna’ by Billy Joel would play right away. I valued my time as the stepping stones for success. Only to realize that speeding up slowed down my progress.

The lesson was simple: my spoons were lower than my to-do list. That’s when I realized that energy is currency and not time.

Energy as a Currency

The concept of energy as currency was a thought that occurred recently. I always knew discipline is not the problem. I slowly accepted that, but the thought of energy as currency was new. Recently, I attended a workshop by Samantha McPhail that lit the dim lights in my brain. She spoke about understanding our weather patterns and integrating our energy with our work. At the same time, I was also using the app: ‘How We Feel’ to journal and keep track of my emotions.

With the help of these two coincidences that came together like an eclipse, I learnt mapping energy is essential. Energy fluctuates, all the time whether they come from triggers, environments or how we feel internally.

That’s when I began to see my energy differently. I began looking at my body like a set of batteries: Yellow — waking up in the morning, energy is high and positive Blue — by afternoon the body feels cold and tired Green — as evening comes by, rest helps, you feel at ease Red — something goes wrong as night arrives

These signals helped me understand that my energy has different battery states.

Reframing Energy and Capacity

Through these states, I began mapping my days to tasks that matched each mode. A tiny check-in and executing based on your energy. With this kaleidoscope of colours, fluctuating energy and capacity, we must design systems that feel true to ourselves.

I learnt that the crashes and flare-ups are feedback. Mapping your energy honours your capacity alongside your strengths.

This crash in the tower was the perfect feedback I needed. It revealed the need for a different system.

Realizing that energy is the currency changed something important for me. Because if energy fluctuates, then planning can’t stay within the rigid walls of routine, at least not for me.

And that raises a difficult question: Why does planning feel so hard when your energy fluctuates?

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