After interactions, rate how you feel from -2 to +2, rate three standouts each day, and give more of your time to the +2s.
The idea
Categories tell you which bucket someone is in, and nothing about where to put your energy. This stupidly simple idea comes from Brandon Fong's Beyond Curious podcast. After any interaction, rate how you feel. +2: fired up, could talk all day. +1: solid, you'd do it again. 0: meh, nobody's fault. -1: a little drained. -2: hard no, not your people. Most of us spend time based on obligation, proximity or revenue. This makes you look at energy.
How to do it
At the end of each day, pick three interactions that stood out and rate them.
Go with your gut, fast, before your brain starts rationalizing ("well, he pays the bills").
After a few weeks, look for patterns.
More time with the +2s, less with the -2s, and an honest conversation with yourself about the zeros.
Before a meeting, notice your mood too. Dread is telling you something; maybe the time slot, maybe the agenda, maybe the person.
Example
Randy Molland, a guest on that episode, tracked his +2 contacts in his CRM and noticed that +2 people referred other +2 people. The energy compounded. Meanwhile one high-revenue client was costing him far more than he realized, and he couldn't see it until his two-year-old told him his smile looked fake. As a founder I was the same: dragging myself into meetings I "needed" to take, a meeting-email-todo-list machine with no idea how I felt.
Watch out for
Some -1s are family, or clients you're not ready to fire. Manage your energy around them: recovery time, smarter scheduling.
Relatable: A "+2" sphere in Relatable makes the pattern visible over time, though a note on your phone works for the daily rating. How-to: Create and organize spheres.
Related frameworks
The Energy Audit: Scroll last year's calendar, notice your gut reaction to each name, and sort people into energy givers, drainers and forgettables.
The Meeting Dread Check-In: When you dread a meeting, ask why: you're exhausted, the purpose is unclear, or there's no connection. Then fix that cause.
The End-of-Day Debrief: A five-minute calendar block at the end of each day where you ask who you met and what you learned about them, and write it down.
Connection Over Value: Choose who to stay close to by who you genuinely like, not who seems important, because liking is what makes you actually reach out.