["Applied Psychology, Volume 75, Issue 4, August 2026. ", "\nAbstract\nAlthough job crafting is generally associated with positive employee outcomes, evidence suggests that different job crafting strategies may have distinct connections with motivation and energy. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms through which specific daily job crafting strategies are associated with employee engagement and energy depletion across the workday. This daily diary study examines the differential effects of four daily job crafting strategies (optimizing demands, seeking resources, seeking challenges, and reducing demands) on daily work engagement and energy depletion. Based on self‐determination and self‐regulation theories, we hypothesize that optimizing demands, seeking resources, and seeking challenges relate positively to work engagement through basic need satisfaction, while reducing demands relates directly and negatively to work engagement. We expect that all four job crafting strategies relate positively to energy depletion at noon and, consequently, to greater energy depletion at the end of the workday. Simultaneously, we propose a competitive (i.e., negative) main effect, arguing that optimizing demands, seeking resources, and seeking challenges may also help replenish resources during the day and therefore relate directly and negatively to energy depletion at the end of the workday. Diary data were collected from 95 employees (N = 327 days) three times per day over one workweek. Daily optimizing demands associated positively with daily work engagement. Daily autonomy and competence need satisfaction mediated this relationship. Daily reducing demands related negatively with daily work engagement via lower competence need satisfaction. Daily reducing demands related positively to energy depletion at the end of the workday via energy depletion at noon. Contrary to expectations, daily optimizing demands and seeking resources related negatively and indirectly to daily energy depletion at the end of the workday via energy depletion at noon.\n"]