What Is Draining Your Energy?
When was the last time you really paid attention to how you spend your time? Are you spending your time with people and on activities that energize you, or drain you? If your honest answer is that you spend too much time with people or doing activities that drain your energy, it’s time to make some adjustments in your life.
Taking steps to eliminate or reduce energy drains from your life is a step toward taking good care of yourself. It isn’t as selfish as it might appear at first. Taking care of yourself will not only benefit you, but those who depend on you as well. When your energy is depleted, you have nothing to give anyone else.
Often, when people decide to make a change in their lives, they think about adding activities. They try to add hobbies, workouts, yoga, reading time or family time to their already overly full calendar. If your calendar is already way too full, there is no room to add anything else.
A more realistic way to invite change into your life, is to look for activities or time you spend with people that drain your energy and leave you feeling depleted.
Baby Steps
Once you have identified the activities and people that energize you and those that drain your energy, you can begin to make small changes. We are talking baby steps here, not giant leaps. Quitting your boring job tomorrow, or telling your mother-in-law to get out of your life are likely to leave you feeling not only drained, but anxious too.
Let’s assume that your job is putting you to sleep on a daily basis. You could explore more interesting job opportunities inside or outside your current company. Or, if you want to change careers, you could start by doing some online research on careers that interest you.
If a family member or close friend is the energy draining vampire in your life, a mini-break from them may be all you need to restore your balance. They don’t even have to know that you are taking a break from them. For example, don’t immediately take your mother-in-law’s phone call. Call her back when you are in a relaxed state of mind and limit the call to a few minutes.
Once you know what energizes you and what does not, you will be able to see where small changes might help you feel better and have more energy.
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