Energy
What are energy levels?
KeptMind adapts how much it shows based on your daily energy. Mark good, meh, or bad each morning — the Today list shrinks or expands accordingly.
Energy levels are KeptMind's core differentiator from generic task apps. Most task tools show you everything all the time, regardless of whether you have the capacity to act on it. KeptMind asks one question each morning — "how is your energy today?" — and adapts the visible list based on your answer. The result: on bad days you see less (reducing overwhelm), on good days you see more (using capacity while it is available).
## The three levels
**Good** — full executive function available. The Today list shows all scheduled tasks including high-energy items (deep work, complex decisions, difficult conversations). This is the day to tackle the hard things.
**Meh** — routine execution available but creative/complex work is harder. The Today list shows medium and low-energy tasks; high-energy items are hidden (still accessible via one tap, just not in the default view). This is the day for email, admin, routine calls.
**Bad** — mainly reactive capacity. The Today list shrinks to 1-3 items maximum, all low-energy. Push reminders for non-critical items pause. The app shows one clear next step rather than a wall of obligations. This is the day to do one small thing and protect yourself from collapse.
## How to set your energy
The morning check-in appears when you first open the app each day (configurable time in Settings → Energy → Check-in time). Three buttons: good / meh / bad. One tap. Takes 2 seconds.
You can change your energy level at any time during the day by tapping the energy indicator in the top bar. If you marked "bad" at 8am but feel better by noon, switch to "meh" or "good" — the list adapts immediately.
## How tasks get energy tags
Every task in KeptMind has an energy tag: **low**, **medium**, or **high**. The tag is assigned automatically by the AI when you capture via voice (based on the complexity and cognitive demand implied by your words), or you can set it manually when creating or editing a task.
Examples of how the AI assigns energy:
- "reply to Marek's email" → low energy (short, routine, no decision)
- "schedule next week's meetings" → medium energy (requires some coordination)
- "write the project proposal" → high energy (creative, sustained attention)
The energy tag determines which daily-energy state surfaces the task. A high-energy task only appears in the default Today view when you mark energy as "good". A low-energy task appears regardless of energy state.
## Why this matters for ADHD
ADHD energy is less predictable than neurotypical energy. Medication wear-off, sleep debt, rejection-sensitive episodes, and hyperfocus crashes can all cut available capacity dramatically and unpredictably. A system that cannot handle energy variance does not handle ADHD.
The energy-aware Today list is the structural answer: it adapts to capacity rather than fighting against it. Adults who use the energy check-in consistently report substantially less morning overwhelm — the gap between "everything I should do" and "what I actually have capacity for" is reduced from a wall of failure to a manageable list.
## Tracking patterns over time
After 4-6 weeks of daily check-ins, Settings → Energy → Patterns shows your energy distribution across days of the week, time of month, and correlation with sleep/exercise if you track those. Many users discover patterns they did not expect — Wednesdays are consistently harder than Mondays, or bad days cluster after weekends with too much social demand.
The pattern data informs better scheduling: put deep-work blocks on your reliably-good days, protect your reliably-bad days from heavy commitments.
## Frequently asked questions
### What if I forget to check in?
The app defaults to "meh" if you do not check in by the configured time. This is intentional — meh is the safest default because it shows medium and low tasks without overwhelming you with high-energy items. You can always change it later in the day.
### Can I disable energy levels entirely?
Yes. Settings → Energy → Disable energy mode. The Today list then shows all tasks regardless of energy tag, like a traditional task app. Most users who try this revert within a week because the overwhelm returns.
### Do energy levels affect reminders?
Yes. On "bad" days, push reminders for non-critical tasks are paused automatically. Critical reminders (items you explicitly flagged) still fire. SMS and call escalation for critical items also still fires. The logic: if you marked the day as bad, you do not need 5 pings about routine tasks making it worse.
### How does this interact with medication?
Many ADHD adults on stimulant medication find that their energy check-in correlates with medication timing. "Good" often maps to peak medication hours; "meh" to the tail end; "bad" to unmedicated mornings or post-crash evenings. The system does not know about your medication — it just responds to what you report. The correlation is useful data for your own scheduling.
For the broader framework on planning around energy, see the blog post on [energy-based productivity for ADHD](/blog/energy-based-productivity-adhd). For what to do specifically on bad days, see [How to use KeptMind on a tired day](/help/low-energy-days).