Engineering Your Business Around Energy: How to Make Work More Enjoyable

The Spark of the Idea

Today, I was listening to a podcast between Tim Ferriss and Cal Newport where, in a segment of the conversation, they talked about how Tim Ferriss engineered his business.

Tim shared this idea that resonated with me: build your business in a way that you would actually enjoy.

He mentioned that this idea originally came from Derek Sivers, who wrote that your business is your opportunity to create your own utopia.

Outside of the bare legal requirements, you can design it however you want.

That really hit me—this idea that my business doesn’t just have to work, it can be engineered in a way where I can be energized by it.

Tim Ferriss’s Approach

In the conversation, Cal Newport asked Tim how many people it took to run all of his projects—his podcast and everything else.

Tim said just three employees, plus contractors.

He prefers a lean team.

He said he’s a good leader but a bad manager, and that constraint guides his decisions.

For example, he mentioned that he had wanted to make a game for a long time (and he recently did).

He said that had he had a bigger team that was not all operating at full capacity, maybe he would have tried to delegate the game building to an employee and tried to do it in-house.

However, the constraint of having a smaller team (and his wanting to keep it that way) forced him to come up with a different solution to build this Game.

He partnered with a great game creator.

The result was better than he had taken this project in-house.

He finds that the constraint of wanting to keep his business lean helps him.

The bigger point, for me at least, is that Tim created a structure that works for him.

He set up his business in a way that allows him to enjoy it.

My Reflection: What Energizes Me

Listening to this made me think about my own business.

Reflecting on this question, I thought: "What are the things I really enjoy doing that bring me energy?"

Sales calls drain me.

But being in nature or walking outside fills me with energy.

So I thought, what if I could engineer my demo calls to happen while I’m walking?

If I could combine something that drains me with something that energizes me, maybe I’d not only tolerate those calls better, but actually enjoy them.

How I Could Engineer My Demo Calls

Here’s the idea I sketched out:

• Switch from Zoom to phone: Instead of being tied to a screen, I could take the call on the phone while walking.

• Send visuals ahead of time: Create a pitch deck or visuals that I can send over text so the client can follow along without a shared screen.

• Interactive demo: Send them a link to one of our ads and have them opt in as if they were a parent. They’d then interact with an AI bot, giving them a live taste of what we do.

• Walkthrough: While they experience it, I’d guide them through the value and explain what it would do for their business.

This way, the call becomes more dynamic and doesn’t tie me to a desk.

I could take it while walking through a park or even sitting in a good restaurant.

That shift alone would make sales calls far more palatable.

The Bigger Lesson: Engineer for Energy

The key takeaway for me—and for you if you’re reading this—is to first become aware of what gives you energy.

Then figure out how to engineer your work and life to spend more time in those energy-giving spaces.

If you do this, your work becomes more enjoyable, your results improve, and those results bring better financial rewards.

It creates a positive reinforcement loop: energy → better work → better results → more energy.

That’s the belief I’m walking away with today.