The Energy Audit: What's Quietly Draining Your Performance?
You track your quota. You track your cases. But when's the last time you actually tracked your energy?
Most high performers don't burn out from doing too much — they burn out from carrying too much.
In this episode, Lisa and Cindy walk you through a live energy audit built for medical device reps who are always moving but running on empty. From toxic accounts and coconut line teammates to decision fatigue and an inbox that never stops — they break down the hidden leaks quietly stealing your focus every day.
The challenge this week isn't about doing more. It's about asking yourself: what is stealing energy from the things that matter most? Answer that honestly, and your Friday will look very different.
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
The Energy Audit Explained — Lisa and Cindy introduce a simple 1-to-10 scoring exercise to help reps identify where their mental and emotional energy is actually going — and what's quietly costing them performance.
Toxic Accounts Have an Emotional Price Tag — Not every account is worth the mental cost. The hosts break down how certain hospitals and customers can drain you before you even walk through the door.
The Coconut Line Is Real — Negative teammates are one of the sneakiest energy drains in the business. Lisa and Cindy talk about why they're hard to spot, harder to set limits with, and exactly what to do when that call comes in.
Decision Fatigue Is a Sign, Not a Weakness — When you can't answer "what's for dinner," your brain is telling you something. The hosts explain why depleted decision-making at home is a direct signal of mental depletion at work.
Email, Travel, Sleep, Social Media — The audit covers all of it: the inbox stress response, what travel really costs your focus, how your feed is feeding your mindset, and why sleep isn't optional if you want to perform.
Unfinished Tasks Are Carrying Weight — That spreadsheet you've been avoiding? It's draining you every single day you don't do it. Lisa and Cindy make the case for tackling the hard stuff first — and why the planner exists.
The Real Secret to More Energy — It's not about doing more. It's about eliminating what's draining you. The hosts close with one clear challenge: identify what's stealing energy from what matters most, and fix just one thing this week.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
"Most people don't burn out from doing too much. They burn out from carrying too much." — Anneliese Rhodes
"It's an emotional cost of your day, right? And you don't even think about it because you think you have to handle it." — Anneliese Rhodes
"If you are struggling with a decision at work, you probably also need to take a break. That's a sign you are mentally depleted." — Anneliese Rhodes
"Your energy goes where your focus flows. If I'm gonna focus on negative things, I'm gonna feel negative." — Anneliese Rhodes
"What is stealing energy from the things that matter most? Answer that honestly and apply it — I guarantee you by Friday you will already see a difference." — Anneliese Rhodes
"I didn't realize that energy and efficiency really go hand-in-hand. If I manage my energy, I can manage my efficiency." — Cynthia Ficara
"Do you have a hospital or customer that really drains you? Are you putting yourself in positions that are mentally draining you?" — Cynthia Ficara
"It happens slowly and silently. Sometimes you don't notice." — Cynthia Ficara
"What tasks have you not finished, and does that pull you down? If you don't realize this, that will drain your energy." — Cynthia Ficara
"Think about just one thing you could really eliminate this week that could have the biggest impact. Because if you tackle all these subjects at once, your energy's gonna be zapped." — Cynthia Ficara
Follow The Girls of Grit:
We'd Love to Hear Your Stories!
Every woman in this industry has a comeback story: the territory cut, the slump, the moment you almost walked away. We share ours, but this community is built on yours too. We'd love to hear your story!
Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Cindy: Welcome everyone to another episode of Secrets in Medical Device Sales. And today we are talking about something that we probably don't really talk about a whole lot. But this is a good one. This is kind of like a check-in — a check-in on a little bit more of your mental, emotional state.
Lisa: I hope everybody listening has their coffee this morning, their energy drink, their caffeine, because today we are talking about energy. We are talking about the energy you bring to the job. And hey, let's be honest — not all energy is the momentum we think going forward.
Cindy: There's a lot of drained energy, a lot of negative energy, a lot of energy that can be used in the wrong sense. We don't want that. And I think we forget as top performers what that looks like, right? Because we're constantly going, going, going. We're constantly getting things done, thinking about things.
Lisa: When do you turn your brain off? Because I don't think my brain ever turns off. I'll wake up at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, think of something, and then I just don't go back to bed. Wheels turning.
Cindy: And all these things drain your energy in one way, shape, or form. Like, maybe it's not the 'I'm so tired.' It's more of, 'I can't think strategically clear about something,' or, 'I'm more apt to react to something a little differently because my energy is off.' And that can have an effect on your performance.
Lisa: Have you had those weeks where all of a sudden you're like, 'Oh, gee, it's Friday?' You're like, 'Oh wow, I didn't even know that my energy went elsewhere.' And what's so crazy is that we handle so many things in this job. We handle phone calls, we handle calendars, we handle schedules — not to mention many of us are working women. We've got kids, we've got husbands, we've got sports to drop off, we've got games to go to, we've got parents that need us. There's so many things pulling us, it's like if we were an octopus, we would need ten arms. Not even eight.
Cindy: So what we wanted to do today was really talk about where your energy goes and give you a chance to kind of audit yourself. Because if you see what you're doing, where things are going, we want to really kind of help hone in — have your energy flow where it needs to go and not where it doesn't.
Lisa: Have you ever actually done an audit on when do you have those really productive days or weeks and when you don't? Because I don't think I ever really do that. But there are some weeks where it's just all working really well, and there are other weeks where nothing goes right. And I've never really thought about the reasons behind it. I've more or less looked at specific instances — oh, well, this case went long, or this case got pushed back. But I've never actually looked back and been like, 'Did I manage it differently because my energy was in a better place?'
Cindy: I am such an organized, focused, disciplined schedule person. So when time management comes, I am all about efficiency. But I've got to tell you, I run out of energy. And it's like I didn't realize that they really go hand-in-hand. If I manage my energy, I can manage my efficiency.
The Hidden Drains: Accounts, Teammates, and the Inbox That Never Stops
Cindy: Where does your energy go when you start your day? For somebody like me, I open up my day and I need to know what's on my calendar, where I'm tracking, what cases are in my region, who's doing what. But do any of you ask yourself Sunday night or Monday morning, 'What's my emotional energy level feeling like this week? Where's my attention? Am I focusing on something at home? And what is my mental bandwidth to make it through this schedule?' Because those are questions I never used to ask myself — and those are questions I probably need to start getting better about.
Lisa: I think I probably intentionally schedule my week the best I can around that — just without realizing I'm actually thinking about where am I gonna need some downtime, where am I gonna really need to concentrate. But I probably don't actually think about the mental burden that it's also putting on me.
Cindy: Some of the things that can drain your emotional or mental energy would be emails, case coverage, case planning, products, back orders, your ASP, your quotas. But it can also be — do you have a hospital or customer that really drains you? Do you have either a really high-end VIP KOL-driven account, or is it an account where every single time you walk in you're running into brick walls? You can't seem to get anything VAT approved, the surgeons are always telling you no, the OR supervisor hates you. Are you putting yourself in these positions at all times that are mentally draining you?
Lisa: And I think we don't think about that, right? Because we're so concentrated on hitting that number that we constantly continue to go through those motions thinking it's gonna change. And sometimes it doesn't change, and it just drains you.
Cindy: When you know you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, but are they pulling your focus away from the rest of your day? Is it just keeping you on a hamster wheel in a sense, and you don't even realize you're giving all of your energy there? Because it's crazy to think that there are some accounts that drain you that you probably wouldn't just say, 'Oh yeah, that account.' Does it drain you, or do you just spend time? Is it necessary, valuable time, or wasted time?
Lisa: It's like an emotional cost of your day, right? And you don't even think about it because you think you have to handle it.
Cindy: I think another thing that can absolutely steal your mental energy are negative teammates. Somebody that we know — Lisa very well calls it the coconut line — are you constantly getting caught up in what's happening in the company? Are there product back orders? Are reps complaining about somebody or something, or the number, or the money? Those things can also drain you.
Lisa: I want to take a minute to reiterate that, because this is so prevalent. When we decided to talk about draining energy, this is kind of the first thing that came to mind. Every single company — even when I started early on at 22 years old as a nurse — I can point out in my head any job I'm in a negative person. And I think for the most part some of us sense that. But there are some that you don't realize are so negative. But when they call and it's just the world is falling, it's excuses about everything else, and they want to talk to you about how everything is wrong.
Cindy: There's also a lot of insecurities in some of those people. If they're not doing well, they want to call somebody who does well, and instead of really just getting advice, they're pulling you down. And it's sad because it's one of those things that happens slowly and silently, and sometimes you don't notice.
Lisa: And the coconut line is a joke, but it's so true. When that person calls, it takes a while. You're like, 'Oh, this person's calling. Maybe I don't answer.' One of the hardest things to set boundaries on is negative teammates — and the reason for that is you have to really see it. Maybe you just don't pick up the phone. Maybe you text them, say, 'Hey, in the middle of something. Call you later.' That absolutely can drain your energy.
Decision Fatigue: When 'What's for Dinner?' Breaks You
Lisa: Another thing that not only can drain your energy but can be a result of drained energy would be decision fatigue or decision-making inabilities. Some days I make so many decisions during the day that when I come home and my husband's like, 'What's for dinner?' I hate that question. I freaking hate that question. It's like, 'I don't know and I don't care.'
Cindy: Ding, ding, ding — that your mental energy has probably been depleted. And if you are struggling with a decision at work, you probably also need to take a break. Like a decision that you would have normally been able to — boom, just no problem, this is what I think we need to do, this is what we're gonna do — you now are like, 'I don't know,' and you go back and forth and you're having all these emotions.
Lisa: That's also a sign that you truly are probably mentally depleted and you need to step back before you make a decision that you either don't want to make or that you make the wrong one. Which can hurt your career, it can hurt your physician relationships, it can hurt everything.
Cindy: I think we need to do an episode on decision-making itself. Because if you overthink too much, you're just draining that energy, you're draining your time, you're draining your day. And then by the end of the day somebody's gonna ask you what's for dinner and you're gonna snap — because it's gonna be Chick-fil-A, you know?
Lisa: If you're listening to this and you need a quick fix on decision-making, just start disciplining your day a little better. Don't let so much time go by — answer, shift, move on, take care of later.
The Energy Audit: Rate Yourself 1 to 10
Cindy: Instead of really focusing on a secret today, we're shifting this. Our little twist is we're just going to do an energy audit exercise — something we're kind of excited about. We're going to ask you a few questions, and Lisa and I will go back and forth. You're going to have a score from one to ten. Super simple. We're going to name these things out loud, and I want you to think — on a scale of one to ten, how much energy are these subjects costing you? And go with your first instinct.
Cindy: Number one — how much energy are toxic accounts costing you? These are accounts that just absolutely, every single time, either they don't feel good, or you just roll into that account dreading it. You don't want to deal with the OR supervisor. You don't want to deal with the cath lab manager. You don't want to deal with the doctors hating your stuff.
Lisa: I actually remember telling myself one day, 'I can't wait to have a product that every single doctor, every single person in this hospital is like, Oh my God, Lisa, we love you.' Because it became such a toxic account. So rate one to ten on toxic accounts.
Cindy: The next one we already talked about — rate one to ten on negative people. That's your coconut line people. Your Debbie Downers who call you and just want to complain about something, whether it's the company, the product, the doctors, the day, their cat ran away. People that are just negative.
Lisa: Number three, and this one may catch you off guard — how draining is email to you? Scale of one to ten. Email stresses me out. It's going off every single day, multiple times a day. And every single time I get an email, I'm like, 'Ugh, what is this about?' If it has a certain person that sent it to you or a group of people, you know it leads to work. You know it's gonna be like a 30-minute reply that's gonna take all of your brain power. Or you won't read the four paragraphs and miss something. Or you look at the number on your phone and you're like, 'Oh my God, 144 emails? Like, an hour ago there was 60. What the heck is happening?' It's stressful.
Cindy: Number four — decision fatigue. Scale of one to ten, can you make decisions quickly? Number five — travel. I basically tell everybody I'm an overpaid truck driver. Driving for hours on end, or even flying all week, staying in hotels, tired, it's not your home. All of that can be super draining, and it absolutely pulls on your mental fatigue.
Lisa: Number six — social media. Can't leave this one out. Are you scrolling through your phone? You should not be on social media during the workday. Like, what are you doing? Don't do it in the OR. Don't do it around customers. Don't do it when you have five minutes. We're working professionals here.
Cindy: And I've got to ask you something really serious. Do you scroll through social media and sometimes feel bad? Sometimes feel tired, or like, 'I'm so unmotivated,' or, 'That was so depressing'? It makes you think that people put pictures out there to make it look like they're doing what you're not. And we all know that's a false vision.
Lisa: Let's remember — the feed is an algorithm. If you are looking at negative things, guess what? Your phone's gonna show you negative things. If you watch funny things, it's gonna show you funny things. What are you actually investing your time into? Are you feeding into negative things, and poor me, and woe is me, and everybody else has it better than me? Well, then that's all your social media's gonna show. Let's be open and honest with ourselves. Let's get away from that negative energy.
Cindy: Your energy goes where your focus flows. So if I'm gonna focus on negative things, I'm gonna feel negative. If I'm gonna focus on positive things and be around positive people, my energy is gonna go that way. You have a choice. You can steer it if you want.
Sleep and Unfinished Tasks: The Last Two Leaks
Cindy: Two more things in our audit. The next one — honest answer — rate yourself one to ten on lack of sleep. And you know, that's gonna be individual. There are people out there that literally don't need sleep. I don't know how they do it. But that's not the norm. I'm sorry, but that's just not the norm.
Lisa: I need sleep. Now, there are weeks where you don't get your sleep, whether it's because you had late-night meetings, maybe you had a little too much alcohol, maybe you stayed up too late, maybe you had early morning cases. Maybe all of the above are rolling into one. Maybe it's travel. There's a million different reasons. But I feel like if you are going to be low on sleep, then some of the things we talked about earlier in this episode — like decision-making — you probably need to make sure you are really specific on doing. There's a lot of research about the human body needing rest to recover — your cells recover, you think better. Everything's related. We're all connected.
Cindy: The very last energy audit — scale of one to ten — how much energy is costing you on unfinished tasks? What tasks have you not finished, and does that pull you down? Are you somebody like, 'Oh, I need to do this. I still haven't finished this. I've got to do this' — and there's like five things, and maybe you're making the tasks bigger than they are?
Lisa: Or here's the other thing — how many of us avoid a work task because we don't want to do it or we don't like it? And then it weighs on us. You're like, 'Oh my God, I know I need to do that,' whatever it is, spreadsheet, I don't know. And you just don't want to do it, but then it hangs over your head. And if you don't realize this, that will drain your energy. And you feel so good when it's done. You probably spent three days talking about it when you could've just finished it.
Cindy: Well, isn't there something out there that says you should do the hard stuff first? Absolutely. Or maybe our planner — Focus First. Do the three hardest things first and they're done. All of this can be solved with the planner.
The Challenge: One Thing, This Week
Lisa: I hope you enjoyed our little audit and that you honestly ranked yourself in those ten. Think about just one thing you could really eliminate this week that could have the biggest impact. Because if you tackle all these subjects at once, it's not gonna work — your energy's gonna be zapped.
Cindy: I thought this was a fun episode, Lisa. And I think the secret to it — which we didn't have, like, a full secret — but I think the real secret to your energy is just not about where it goes and what you need to do. It's really, really about eliminating what's draining you.
Lisa: So here's our challenge. I just want to ask you guys to do your own audit — which you hopefully answered those questions. But I don't want you to sit here thinking, 'How much more can I get done?' It's not like how much more can I do to move the business. What you really need to ask yourself is what is stealing energy from the things that matter most. Because I believe that question alone can change your performance this week. If you ask yourself, 'What is stealing energy from the things that matter most?' — you answer it honestly and you apply it — I guarantee you by Friday of this week, you will already see a difference.
Cindy: You track your quota, you track your cases, you track your calendar. But when is the last time you tracked your energy? Because here is the truth. Most people don't burn out from doing too much — they burn out from carrying too much. A difficult surgeon, a toxic teammate, an inbox that never stops growing, hundreds of tiny decisions stealing a little bit of focus every single day.
Lisa: And the scary part is, none of that shows up on your calendar. You don't notice it all at once. It happens slowly — until one day your motivation is lower, your patience is shorter, and your performance starts slipping. Today, we looked behind the hidden energy leaks that quietly drain high-performing reps. And more importantly, how to get that energy back.
