Being able to keep going is not the same as always having the energy to do more. This chapter explores how social contexts, temporal structures, and small, effective practices can sustain action over time.
Energy easily sounds like a trait that some people have and others lack. In everyday speech, we say that someone is energetic, disciplined, or driven. Then the explanation quickly becomes internalized within the person. But the same person can feel light and energetic in one context and heavy, fragmented, or inhibited in another. It’s not just mood that changes. Relationships, expectations, pace, the ability to influence, and the sense that an action actually leads somewhere also change. A sociological analysis therefore begins with the situation: with whom, under what conditions, and at what pace does it become possible to continue?
In this chapter, the term “energy” is used in a narrowly defined sense. It is not about assessing illness, sleep problems, depression, or other medical conditions. It concerns the socially shaped readiness for action that can arise when an activity feels meaningful, possible, and worth returning to. If low energy is severe, long-lasting, or clearly affects daily functioning, it needs to be assessed by healthcare professionals. Sociological exercises may then possibly complement, but not replace, medical or psychological help.
When Encounters Leave a Legacy of Energy
Randall Collins describes how encounters can generate emotional energy. The concept does not primarily refer to a temporary, intense feeling, but rather to what participants take away from the situation: initiative, trust, a sense of belonging, and a willingness to participate again. Four conditions are particularly important in his theory of interaction rituals: people need to be in some kind of shared situation, have a boundary separating them from the outside world, focus their attention on a common goal, and enter into a shared emotional tone. When this succeeds, the interaction can generate energy. When it fails, the same kind of encounter can instead leave one feeling empty, tense, or with a desire to withdraw.
It doesn’t have to be formal. A recurring work session, a conversation during a walk, choir practice, a club meeting, or a shared meal can serve a n a ritualizing way. What matters is not the form itself, but what the participants can actually do within it. Is there a clear focus? Can multiple people contribute? Does some degree of coordination emerge? This question distinguishes this chapter from general advice about making more connections. The goal is to explore which concrete interactions make the next action easier—and which ones take more than they give.
Where does the energy arise and dissipate?
Purpose: To compare two specific situations and identify which social conditions influence the willingness and ability to continue.
Here’s how to do it:
Choose a recurring situation after which it’s usually easier to take the next step. Describe what you do, who’s involved, and what you focus on.
Choose a similar situation after which you often feel torn, inhibited, or drained. Describe it just as concretely.
Compare the situations based on four questions: Is there a sense of presence? Is there a shared focus? Can the participants find a common tone? Are the boundaries for participation clear and reasonable?
Write down a possible change to the situation, not to your personality. It could be fewer participants, a clearer task, a different time, or a shorter meeting.
Next time, observe whether the change affects what happens afterward: initiative, concentration, trust, or willingness to participate again.
Reflection: Which differences seem to stem from the activity itself, and which seem to stem from how the interaction is organized?
Limitation: This is not a measure of medical stamina. Stop any situation that is offensive, threatening, or clearly draining; do not try to improve it simply by exerting more effort.
Small social successes can also have a cumulative effect. When a person is listened to, receives a genuine response, or notices that a shared task can be moved forward, the next attempt may feel less risky. In the main script, this is described as building momentum. Here, momentum does not mean constant speed. It is an accumulated experience of action taking hold. That experience can be subtle: a conversation that actually takes place, a task that can be completed, or a group where it’s possible to return without having to prove oneself.
Rhythm is coordination, not just planning
Judy Wajcman shows that the experience of time scarcity cannot be understood solely as a lack of individual planning. Work, family, caregiving, and digital technology organize what must happen, when it must happen, and who is expected to be available. Jonathan Gershuny, Benjamin Cornwell, and Oriel Sullivan similarly describe time as socially structured. Everyday activities do not simply occur side by side; they need to be synchronized with other people’s schedules and with institutions’ opening hours, deadlines, and norms. That is why a calendar can look reasonable while everyday life feels impossible to manage.
A rhythm conflict arises when multiple time schedules pull in different directions. The body needs rest, work demands availability, a child needs to be picked up, a government agency has office hours, and a group expects quick responses. The problem cannot be solved by adding yet another routine. First, the time schedules must be made visible. Some can be influenced directly, others can be negotiated, and some are tied to a workplace, organization, or welfare institution. Sociological time analysis thus distributes responsibility more accurately.
Identify a rhythm conflict
Purpose: To identify which time schedules conflict in a recurring situation and where change is actually possible.
Here’s how:
Choose a part of the week when you often find yourself running late, feeling scattered, or drained of energy.
List the time schedules that intersect there: the body’s needs, work schedules, family or relationship schedules, travel, technology, and institutional schedules.
For each schedule, indicate whether it is fixed, negotiable, or directly within your control.
Look for the actual conflict. Is the transition time too short, does it require you to be in two places at once, or does the plan rely on no unexpected events occurring?
Choose a change at the right level: your own routine, an agreement with another person, an organizational issue, or contact with an institution.
Reflection: Which aspect had you previously interpreted as a personal shortcoming, even though it was primarily caused by coordination requirements?
Limitation: Not all time demands can be negotiated away. In cases of persistent sleep problems or severe fatigue, a professional evaluation is needed—not just a new daily routine.
Another useful distinction is that between fixed time, controllable time, and waiting time. Fixed time is tied to conditions that cannot be changed quickly. Controllable time can be rearranged, but often only in consultation with others. Waiting time occurs when transportation, lines, response times, or dependencies on other operations keep an activity on hold. This classification makes it harder to feel guilty about every idle or wasted minute. It also shows that a reasonable course of action is sometimes to ask an organization to change a workflow, rather than to optimize an individual’s calendar.
Your Social Time Budget
Purpose: To distinguish between different types of time and choose a change that corresponds to your actual degree of influence.
Here’s how:
Choose a typical weekday and don’t break it down minute by minute. Instead, write down five to eight larger time blocks.
Label each block as “fixed,” “influenceable,” or “waiting time.” Write down who or what sets the conditions.
Circle a block where responsibility and influence don’t align—for example, where you’re responsible for the outcome but lack control over the time.
Formulate a small request or change: a clearer response time, a different meeting time, shared responsibility, fewer interruptions, or a transition with more leeway.
Try the change once and observe whether it reduces the coordination effort—not just whether you get more done.
Reflection: Which time became visible as socially organized rather than privately spent?
Limitation: The goal is not to fill every gap or make time more productive. If the conditions are fixed, the results can serve as a basis for collective or organizational change.
Momentum Without Constant Speed
A performance-driven project requires continuous evidence of improvement. Momentum works differently. It is evident in the fact that a meaningful practice becomes slightly easier to return to, that a relationship can withstand another attempt, or that a small success lowers the threshold for the next action. Thus, momentum can exist even during periods of slowness, rest, and recovery. If every pause is interpreted as an interruption in development, the concept has instead been captured by the very same productivity norm that this chapter seeks to examine.
The main text’s advice to build on what already works must therefore be read with care. This does not mean that a person should identify their most rewarding habit and maximize it. The question is which practices already combine reasonable effort, social anchoring, and something that is perceived as valuable. One effective practice can provide material for another, but only if the transfer does not undermine what made the original practice sustainable. For example, a leisurely evening walk does not need to be turned into a measurable exercise program to count.
Build on what already works
Purpose: To use an existing, effective practice as a foundation without making it bigger, faster, or more performance-oriented.
Here’s how:
Write down one to three recurring situations that already provide some stability, connection, or direction.
Choose one of them and describe exactly what makes it possible: location, time, people, materials, expectations, and boundaries.
Choose another area where the threshold is high. Transfer only one key condition from the established practice—such as companionship, short duration, or a clear conclusion.
Try it once without raising the bar.
Note whether the next step became easier, stayed the same, or became harder. Keep the transfer only if it reduces friction without stripping the original practice of its meaning.
Reflection: What was it that worked—your effort, the social context, or a combination of both?
Limitation: Do not use this exercise to pressure a restorative activity into producing results. What works should remain small and protected.
When a change has consequences in multiple areas of life
The ABT model assumes that different dimensions of balance can influence one another. A changed rhythm can create more space for relationships; a more secure relationship can make moderate risk-taking possible; a new scope for action can alter the experience of meaning. This is a working hypothesis, not a law. The connections need to be observed in the specific situation. The same change can also come at a cost in another dimension. Greater involvement in an organization can foster a sense of community but reduce recovery time. A new routine can provide focus but increase dependence on another person’s availability.
Monitoring such knock-on effects guards against two oversimplifications. One is the assumption that every problem has an isolated solution. The other is the belief that a small change will automatically have a positive ripple effect throughout one’s entire life. Sociological therapy, instead, works with conditional possibilities: if a practice changes, what becomes easier, what becomes more difficult, and for whom? This question makes momentum compatible with critical scrutiny.
Track a possible reinforcement between two dimensions
Purpose: To test whether a small change in one dimension of balance has an actual and reasonable consequence in another.
Here’s how:
Choose a small change that is already taking place, such as a clearer rhythm, a greater shared focus, or a more confident way of saying no.
Choose a second dimension of balance that the change might affect. Formulate the connection as a question, not a statement.
Decide on a specific sign to observe over the course of a week—for example, whether a conversation takes place or whether there’s time for recovery.
Note both the desired effect and the cost. Also ask whether someone else might have to take on more work as your situation improves.
At the end of the week, write down: evidence supporting the connection, no clear evidence, or an unexpected consequence.
Reflection: What condition seems necessary for the first change to help the second dimension?
Limitation: The ABT connection is a hypothesis for investigation. Do not draw broad conclusions from a brief observation, and discontinue any changes that increase risk, conflict, or symptoms.
Key Reminders and Practiced Skills
Insights are easily lost when the situation changes. A conversation may be persuasive in the evening yet have no effect the next morning when other demands take over. The main text refers to certain tools as “cultural technologies”: words, images, texts, symbols, and recurring patterns that bring a value to mind in a new situation. A note at the workplace, a question that opens a meeting, or a shared weekly ritual can carry a previous insight. They do not work by magic, but by reorganizing attention and action.
Make a cultural reminder effective
Purpose: To translate an important insight into a concrete reminder in the situation where it would otherwise tend to fade away.
Here’s how:
Choose a phrase, image, question, or symbol that already means something to you and is connected to a value you want to act upon.
Identify the exact situation where that value tends to be pushed aside—for example, before a meeting or as the workday is coming to a close.
Place the reminder where it can address that specific situation. Make it discreet enough so it doesn’t become yet another demand.
Link the reminder to a small action, such as asking a question, taking a break, or reaching out to someone.
After three instances, evaluate whether it helped you recognize a choice. Modify or remove it if it became background noise or a source of self-reproach.
Reflection: What did the reminder make possible in that situation that mere understanding did not?
Limitation: A reminder cannot override power dynamics, time constraints, or material obstacles. Do not use it as evidence of personal failure when action is still impossible.
Momentum is also driven by skills that have been practiced so that they are available at the right moment. Richard Sennett has shown how expertise develops through repeated, mindful practice, while Collins emphasizes that learning is often embedded in chains of interaction. The ability to lead a conversation, define a task, invite another person to participate, or maintain a shared focus is therefore not merely a matter of individual talent. It is shaped by one’s upbringing, education, work environment, and the groups to which a person has had access. Starting small is one way to practice without obscuring these differences.
Practice a skill on a small scale
Purpose: To strengthen a social or practical skill through a limited trial with support and feedback.
Here’s how:
Choose a skill needed in a practice you value, such as summarizing a meeting, asking for help, or finishing on time.
Describe the skill as a concrete action. Avoid adjectives such as “brave,” “social,” or “disciplined.”
Choose the least demanding situation in which the action can be practiced and, if possible, a person who can provide objective feedback.
Perform the action once. Ask for feedback on what was observable, not on who you are.
Decide whether the next attempt should be the same, slightly easier, or slightly more challenging.
Reflection: Which aspects of the skill were made possible by the support provided by the situation, and which conditions were missing?
Limitation: Competency gaps should not be attributed to the individual when access, education, working conditions, or power dynamics are decisive factors. This exercise does not replace the right to support or accommodations.
Moving Forward in a Human Way
Energy, rhythm, and momentum can be summarized as three distinct concepts. Energy concerns what a situation leaves behind. Rhythm concerns how activities and people are coordinated over time. Momentum concerns whether previous attempts make a new attempt possible. None of these issues requires constant improvement. Sometimes the most sustainable outcome is for a practice to remain as it is, for a relationship to have clearer boundaries, or for a period of rest not to need to be justified.
The sociological task is to see both the power and the conditions. Small, effective experiences can play a major role, but they do not arise in a vacuum. Time, money, health, caregiving responsibilities, work organization, and access to communities all influence what is possible. Therefore, the final question is not how you can get more out of yourself. It is which practices, relationships, and time arrangements make it possible to continue doing something valuable without life turning into a test.
Concept Overview
This overview reiterates the concepts that underpin the chapter’s arguments and exercises.
Emotional energy. The readiness to act, trust, and willingness to continue participating that, according to Collins, can result from effective interaction.
Interaction ritual. An interaction in which presence, boundaries, shared focus, and a shared emotional tone can create solidarity and emotional energy.
Shared focus. When participants direct their attention toward the same activity, issue, or subject in a way that enables coordination.
Social time. Time as organized through relationships, institutions, technology, work, care, and shared schedules.
Rhythm conflict. A clash between temporal orders, such as the body’s needs, the demands of work, and institutional schedules.
Momentum. An accumulated experience of action gaining traction and the next step thereby becoming possible; the concept does not imply constant motion.
Spillover effect. A desired or undesired change in an area other than the one targeted by the original action.
Reinforcing relationship. An ABT hypothesis that a change in one dimension of balance can, under certain conditions, facilitate change in another.
Cultural technology. A cultural tool—such as a question, text, image, or ritual—that makes an insight or value effective in a specific situation.
Practiced ability. A concrete capacity for action that develops through practice and whose potential is influenced by social conditions and access.
References
Berglund, A. (2026). Sociological Therapy and Diagnostics. Unpublished manuscript.
Collins, R. (2004). Interaction Ritual Chains. Princeton University Press.
Collins, R. & McConnell, M. (2015). Napoleon Never Slept: How Great Leaders Leverage Social Energy. Maren Ink.
Cornwell, B., Gershuny, J., & Sullivan, O. (2019). The social structure of time: Emerging trends and new directions. Annual Review of Sociology, 45, 301–320. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022416
Sennett, R. (2008). The Craftsman. Yale University Press.
Wajcman, J. (2015). Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism. University of Chicago Press.