12 habits that quietly steal energy every day

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Even watching a favorite TV show or a lamp turned on at night can leave us exhausted.

Have you ever wondered why you often find yourself practically exhausted in the evening? Perhaps, harmless habits, which many do not even pay attention to, are to blame.

Imagine that energy is a glass of water with a hole in it. There are two ways to maintain a sufficient amount of water in it: constantly add liquid or eliminate a gap.

To maintain a high energy level all day, you can create more healthy habits, such as eating healthy, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. And you can exclude bad habits from your life that take energy.

1. Watch too emotional TV series and shows

An abundance of complex and emotionally exhausting content can lead to mental exhaustion. This is because we often identify ourselves with the main characters, imagine ourselves in their place and feel what they feel.

“This experience allows a person to see the world in a different way and gain access to emotions that he could not experience before,” explains MD, psychiatrist Leela R. Magawi.

However, strong emotions can lead to excessive nervous excitement. Suppressing overexcited signals requires even more mental effort, which means we get tired faster. Moreover, this applies to both negative and positive experiences, since they activate similar connections in the brain.

How to solve the problem

Choose content carefully and note how you feel while watching, as well as over the next hours and even days. This will help you find trigger topics that are causing unnecessary excitement.

Another way is to limit the number of overly emotional films, TV series and shows and dilute them with more calm and neutral ones.

2. Take long breaks between meals

Our body receives energy from what we eat, and carbohydrates serve as its main source. Qualified dietitian Caroline Lacey notes that parts of the human body, such as the brain, can only use glucose, the simplest carbohydrate, for energy.

In addition, our body stores some of its stores of glucose in the liver, in case blood sugar drops, for example between meals.

Uma Naidu Psychologist specializing in nutritional problems. Author of the book "Troubled Brain".

When we eat more carbohydrates, especially simple ones, our insulin levels rise in our blood. After eating, it reaches its maximum, and the amount of sugar in the blood may decrease. It makes us feel tired and empty.

How to solve the problem

Usually, experts advise you to eat every five hours, but here everything is individual and depends on many factors. It's best to always carry snacks with you, such as healthy protein bars, nuts, or fruits.

3. Leave a mess on your desktop

Working in a mess harms our attention. As a result, we spend much more time on the most basic tasks and they consume energy.

How to solve the problem

Maintain order on your desk - let each thing have its own clearly assigned place.

Leela R. Magawi

I recommend spending 10-15 minutes every workday cleaning the table while listening to relaxing music. This will create new, rewarding and positive behaviors.

4. Planning too much in advance

One glance at the calendar, where five or more tasks are written for each day, can cause a rush of anxiety and reluctance to leave the house. And now your energy is already running out, and you have not even started doing business yet.

Tyson Lippe Psychiatrist.

Planning things ahead helps you set aside the right amount of time for each task and make sure you haven't forgotten anything. However, excessive foresight deprives one of flexibility and forces one to live in the future, and not in the present.

How to solve the problem

Use planning only in certain areas of life: for work tasks, important meetings or family celebrations, making an appointment with a doctor. The rest of the time, try not to burden yourself with unnecessary hassle.

“Setting aside free time for hobbies, recreation, or even doing nothing makes you feel like a free person in control of your life,” emphasizes Tyson Lippe.

5. Opening too many windows in the browser

The sheer number of tabs overtaxes not only the computer, but also the brain.

Rena Mafi Neurologist.

Switching from one tab to another creates the illusion that you are doing an incredible amount of work. In fact, you do not fully delve into any of the tasks, which means that you cannot be truly effective.

How to solve the problem

Monitor regularly what you open in your browser. Ask yourself if you need this tab right now, and if so, why. Any page that is not work-related can be added to the Reading List or closed - most likely, it is just a distraction.

6. Immediately answer incoming calls

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have proven that it takes us more than 20 minutes to regain concentration after any distraction. And telephone conversations definitely fall into this category.

Rena Mafi

Calls can be energy-consuming. The nervous system must not only switch to another task, but also "process" the conversation in which you do not see the body language and facial expressions of the interlocutor. And this carries an additional burden on the brain.

How to solve the problem

Before pressing the green "Accept Call" button, stop and think if this is a good time to interrupt what you are doing, and if you are ready for the conversation at this moment.

Rena Mafi advises asking colleagues, family and friends to send you a “proactive” message before calling. This will give you additional time to understand whether you want to talk or not, and relieve you of the thought that now you need to urgently look for a free minute amid the work or home bustle.

7. Quit tasks halfway through

You are probably familiar with this situation: today there are many things to do, you have almost finished one of them, when suddenly something more urgent appeared. As a result, the initial work had to be postponed for later and headlong to take on a new assignment. But the brain doesn't work that way. A small piece of attention is involuntarily "postponed" along with that very unfinished task.

Rena Mafi

When your attention is "disintegrated", the brain starts working twice as hard. He thinks not only about the new task, but also about the one that you had to temporarily quit.

The more often this happens, the more resources the brain spends. It's no surprise that we feel tired long before the end of the day.

How to solve the problem

Unfortunately, it is impossible to protect yourself from the appearance of new assignments, but there are a couple of tricks that will help the brain to cope with them more efficiently.

Rena Mafi advises to work with the settings on your phone or computer and regularly check for new messages only when you really have the opportunity to do so.

You can also set aside more time for the task than is necessary. Then, even with the appearance of new cases, you will be able to finish the previous assignments on time and only then deal with the next ones.

If these tactics don't work, try sketching out what you need to complete in the previous task when you can return to it. This will save you from unnecessary thoughts, because you will already have a strategy for further actions and you will be able to cope with the assignment much faster.

8. Slouch

Doctor Noin Safdar notes that poor posture puts additional stress on muscles, joints and tendons. As a result, the body needs more energy, which leads to fatigue.

How to solve the problem

If it is difficult to maintain the ideal position on your own, use special tools: a comfortable office chair with a suitable backrest, an orthopedic pillow, or even a corrective corset.

9. Wrong breathing

Most often this happens when the head is full of many thoughts and problems. Shallow breathing reduces the amount of oxygen entering the body - and therefore into the blood, organs and cells. This can trigger connections in the brain that lead to fatigue.

How to solve the problem

Every time you feel stress rolls in, take a few deep breaths in and out. It is better not to wait for depletion of moral strength and do breathing exercises during work breaks, as well as at the beginning and end of the day.

Try diaphragmatic breathing. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your stomach. Inhale through your nose, while sticking out your abdomen and keeping your chest still. Exhale through your slightly pursed lips, tighten your abdominal muscles and allow them to return to their original position.

10. Leave small tasks for later

Answering a message, replacing a burned-out light bulb, registering a pet for a veterinarian - gradually all these small things turn into a huge list that makes you dizzy. And even the simplest tasks seem impossible simply because of their number.

Constant thoughts like “I need to finally do this” can cause feelings of guilt and even anxiety.

How to solve the problem

Ideally, any task that takes less than five minutes should be done right away. If this is not possible, it is better not to rely on your memory, but to write down everything that needs to be done. This will help you feel calmer, because you will definitely not forget about it and will sort it out as soon as the time appears.

You can set aside 30 to 60 minutes a week to work with these lists. This will replace the feeling of guilt with the feeling of being productive.

11. Do not turn off the lights at night

The bright light in the dark makes our brains think that the day is still going on. This inhibits the production of the sleep hormone melatonin and leads to insomnia and fatigue.

How to solve the problem

After sunset, try to reduce the brightness, and turn off the lights completely at night. Try using warmer colors for lighting closer to the red spectrum. It doesn't affect the sleep cycle as negatively as others.

12. Follow other people's advice

Relatives and friends can tell you the path of development, but their recommendations should always be adapted to your own goals and your personality. Otherwise, you risk becoming a puppet for the embodiment of other people's desires.

Blindly following the advice of others takes time and energy, and also leads to frustration and even rejection of yourself or the situation.

How to solve the problem

The approach to recommendations is critical. Think about whether they will help you and how your life will change if you follow them.

For example, the popular claim that working with a laptop in bed is bad for your health does not address the needs of people with chronic back pain or severe anxiety. In their situation, such a solution is much better than a standard trip to the office or hours of sitting at the table.

Analyze the advice you receive, and if you still decide to follow them, do not forget that it is worth implementing other people's recommendations in your life in your own way.