How do you balance your daily toil and the people who are important to you? Do the people important to you get the energy they need from you, or do they just get what’s left?
One trick to squeeze out more energy when you feel depleted is to make use of your ability to plan for that time while you still feel energized. It is much easier to execute while depleted than it is to plan and execute.
If you find yourself lacking the energy you need for the people who are important to you, try changing your schedule around. It’s different, but there is no rule against spending early morning time with your family or friends, either in person or on the phone, in addition to or instead of evening time.
Instead of making new time, you can also make slight adjustments to how you carry out your present activities. Are there opportunities to merge the activities that are important to you and the people who are important to you? Could you work together on what needs to be done? If not, could you reduce the spatial distance between where you are working and where they are working? Spouses can work in the same area to facilitate lunches together or joint commutes, parents can bring children along when doing errands, people can work from home, and parents can homeschool. Smaller changes can also have an outsized impact, like scheduling a short recurring phone call in the middle of the day or occasionally bringing a child to work.