You open your closet door and behold a disorganized mess of clothes and purses and empty dry cleaning bags and whatever has been sitting on the top shelf for the past decade. Where’s that black skirt you want to wear? Not the A-line one, but the pencil skirt. It could be anywhere. After several minutes searching through your disparate collection of mismatched hangers, you turn your attention to the floor. There it is. It fell off its cheap hanger and now it’s crumpled and wrinkled, and what’s that stain near the hem?
On top of that, something in your fridge smells, but you haven’t had time to clean it out. Your car has been making a funny sound when idling at traffic lights, but you haven’t taken it to the mechanic because you hate how they talk to you there. You need to get your taxes done, but don’t know where to start. There’s a pile of empty Amazon boxes hidden in your guest bedroom. You’ve been meaning to break them down and put them in the recycling but you need a new blade for your boxcutter. Your computer desktop is a littered with so many files, you’ve forgotten what’s there and/or why you put them there. Your nightstand has a pile of books you’re going to get to someday soon.
Sound familiar?
Let’s talk about all the little, tiny, stupid things that drain your energy each and every day. We tend to ignore them, unaware that they are a daily tax on our attention, time, and energy.
Too many of them can lead to a feeling of overwhelm that can prevent us from tackling the big challenges in our lives – things like our health, our wellbeing, and having a fulfilling and purposeful career, not to mention things like paying the bills, raising a family, or dealing with a problematic boss or colleague.
How to Address Your Energy Drainers
1. List them
List every small annoyance as you go about your day. What annoys you at home? What about at work? What are you avoiding? What are you tolerating?
2. Count the cost
Costs can include time, inconvenience, frustration, disappointment, well-being, relationships, heath, and of course, money. Note the costs next to each item on your list.
3. Begin addressing the energy drainers that are not worth the cost to you
Put a star next to one or two items you can do something about this week. Clean out the fridge. Organize your closet. Make that appointment.
Go to it!
4. Keep it up
Keep hacking away at your energy drainer list for the next 4 weeks. By the end of that time, you’ll notice more time and space opening up for you, for your family, for new thinky-thinky-thoughts, and for new creations and possibilities.
Schedule a new energy drainers audit for later in the year. Maybe in 3 or 6 months. It’s up to you.
Then list ‘em, count the cost, address them, and keep it up. Repeat again.
Will you get to all of them? Probably not. But even so, you’ll be surprised how much progress you make, and how much better you feel.