Self-Care
Energy Map

ADHD Executive Function Tools

Identify what replenishes you and what depletes you —
so you can protect what matters.

Where This Tool Helps

Most executives with ADHD are good at identifying what drains them — a difficult meeting, a fraught relationship, a deadline cluster. What they struggle to articulate is what actually fills them back up. Not what should restore energy, but what genuinely does for them, specifically.

The split here is deliberate. Naming both sides of the equation makes visible the imbalance that ADHD can create: a schedule packed with drains and nearly empty of fills. Once you see it on paper, you can see what the next week needs more of — or what it needs to protect.

The steps below make the most of both columns.

How to Use This Worksheet

  1. Start with the fills. The drain side is easier — negative experiences are more salient in memory. Force yourself to name the fills first, even if you have to think harder.
  2. Be specific. "Exercise" is not specific enough. "A 30-minute solo run with music" is. The more specific, the more useful the insight.
  3. Include people, places, and activities. Energy management is not just about tasks. Some environments and relationships are restorative; others extract without replacing.
  4. Look for what you have been skipping. The fills column often contains things you have been meaning to do but not prioritizing. That gap is information.
  5. Bring this into your next session. The patterns across both columns are worth discussing — especially anything that surprises you.
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Self-Care Energy Map

What Fills My Bucket

Examples: rest, music, time in nature, one-on-one conversations

What Drains My Bucket

Examples: deadlines, lack of sleep, unclear expectations

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Before Your Next Session

Now that both columns are filled in, step back and look at the ratio. Not the items themselves — the proportion of your actual weekly schedule that reflects each side.

Sit with these questions:

Is the ratio of fills to drains reflected in your actual schedule this week — or does the calendar tell a different story than the list?

Which fill on the left have you been skipping most consistently, and what has been in the way?

Is there anything in the drains column that you have more control over than you have been exercising?

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