Watch out for what sucks your energy.

Work, habits, thoughts in mind, food, environment, people, and situations in life.

Some may be simple to notice, others may be tricky.

It is worth taking some time to make a note and then work to eliminate all energy vampires.

Let’s go through all these one by one.

WORK

It is a common energy sucker for most of us. Sometimes the work itself is boring, uninspiring. At times there is nothing new to learn. Everything becomes routine, mundane and offers no excitement. Is the open plan office, too many meetings or no work happening at work? Or is it the daily commute that is killing you?

Think about what you like most about your day to day work. Make a plan to do more of what you like. Do what you like first before everything else that you don’t like starts filling your calendar. Delegate some of the stuff if you can. Talk to your colleagues about the kind of work you like to do and make a plan to move into a role that allows more of what you like.

Can’t find anything that you love about your work? Then you are in the wrong line or place of work. Change it as soon as possible.

HABITS

Bad habits are one of the biggest energy vampires. We notice them but don’t do much about them because they are our habits. They are a part of our routine. Something that we don’t even think about.

Pay attention. See if your sleep or wake up time is making you low on energy, or how often you check your phone is sucking your energy.

If you want to be methodical about it then list all that you do in a day. Next, to each action – write whether it sucked energy or made your excited in a good way. One by one by eliminate /change/replace energy-sucking actions.

MIND

This one is subtle. But it is important to watch out for the thoughts running in our heads.

Some of our thoughts are conscious and others are subconscious. Meditation can help here. Even if you don’t meditate you can choose what to put in your head by consuming media that adds to your energy pool instead of taking away from it. It’s ok if you like binging on Netflix. But if you are doing it for getting rid of stress see how long you are doing it. Because after a time you’ll find the law of diminishing returns coming into play. If you do it beyond a point you won’t be relaxed but lethargic and not at your sharpest best. Find that time and don’t do it any longer.

FOOD

This one is big.

Are you someone like me in the past? When I used to drink copious amounts of tea. So much that instead of perking me up tea used to make me lethargic.

I have explored this a lot in this past year. Like I now know that until 6 cups, coffee acts as a pick me up for me. From 7th cup onwards, it makes me less efficient.

Similarly food, which I have limited to two meals a day. I know there is a scope for subtracting more but this is a start.

Watch yourself and see if you are overeating or eating less than you should. Also, see the junk going in.

Taking care of mind is more important than this. But mind mastery takes a lot of time and practice. Changing food habits is easier than mind mastery.

ENVIRONMENT

Is your environment clean and airy?

Do you have a designated place for all things in your life?

Your digital environment is also important because you spend a ton of time there.

Are your devices and their home screens organized well? Do they support you or distract you? This post is a great primer on how you make your phone work for you, and not against you.

If you work indoors – adding plants and increasing light is a good start. It makes you alert and work becomes less taxing.

PEOPLE

This one is tricky.

We all know people who are energy vampires. Work colleagues, family friends and even people who are close to us. In some cases, people don’t mean harm but they suck our energy unknowingly.

Ask yourself – who do you like being around, who brings a smile to your face, who you care for.

We need to be cautious here knowing how important and fragile relationships are. But make sure that you spend most of your time and thoughts on people who matter for you, who care for you and who are uplifting. Of course, be there when someone needs you but make sure that you are taking care of your own well being too.

AND, THEN THERE ARE OTHER REALITIES

Think about what is on top of your mind, what is bothering you. See what is in your control and do that. Then try not to worry and hope for the best.

Have you noticed other energy suckers in life?