We’ve all had that evening: stuck in traffic, drained, doom-scrolling or binge-watching while our “real” priorities quietly slip further down the list. The days blur into weeks, and our passion projects remain on the back burner. It’s easy to conclude we’re “out of time.” But what if time isn’t the real problem at all?

In The Time Energy Toolkit, senior HR leader Apekshit Khare makes a persuasive case that the missing piece is not more hours but better energy — and that how you design your day can transform the quality of your life. This isn’t another “five hacks to double your productivity” book. Instead, Khare asks harder, more useful questions: What truly matters to you? Why do your days feel like they’re slipping away? And how can you reclaim them?

Drawing on over fifteen years of leadership experience across HR, marketing and sales, and grounded firmly in the Indian professional context, Khare introduces a simple but powerful framework: Bright Energy versus Dark Energy. Bright Energy fuels clarity, motivation and joy. Dark Energy is the exhaustion, overwhelm and disengagement that drain our days. The core of the book is about noticing which energy drives your actions — and then designing habits, rhythms and micro-experiments that shift you into Brightness.

Each chapter blends relatable stories, reflective exercises, and practical tools you can try the very same day. The tone is warm and conversational yet structured, like a mentor guiding you through experiments rather than dictating rules. For young professionals, knowledge workers and leaders alike, the toolkit shows how to sync your natural rhythms with your goals and live intentionally rather than reactively.

Khare also weaves in his personal “Bright Life Philosophy,” which emphasises gratitude, learning, and intentional living. It’s a refreshing departure from imported productivity mantras. Here, the focus is not on squeezing more into your schedule but on aligning time and energy so your days feel authentic, purposeful and, in his words, “bright.”

The author’s own story adds credibility: named an Economic Times Young Leader in 2017, he has built a career around leadership development and people transformation at Godrej Properties, while maintaining passions like Indian classical music (he’s trained in sitar for over a decade). Through his newsletter, The Foundation Project, he’s already been sharing these reflections with thousands of readers. The book feels like a natural extension of that project — more immersive, more actionable.

Verdict:
If you’ve read your fill of time-management bestsellers but still feel drained, The Time Energy Toolkit offers a deeper, more sustainable answer. It’s part self-reflection journal, part field guide to designing your days, and part gentle wake-up call to live with intention rather than inertia. In a crowded genre, Khare’s Indian context, his emphasis on “Bright Energy,” and his mix of empathy and structure make this book stand out.

This is not about doing more. It’s about doing what matters — with energy that sustains you. And that, as Khare argues convincingly, is the real key to a “bright life.”