Yes, recharge. But what's *draining* your energy?

/ AHI Leadership LLC/

Some days I wake up with limited energy, clearly lower than my average over time, wishing I’d had more time “plugged into my charger” before having to face my day. Sound familiar?

I’ve seen and given advice about how to recharge, like taking vacations, connecting with nature, meditating, getting adequate sleep, exercising, eating/drinking healthily, etc. I do all that, and hopefully you do, too.

But what about the activities that drain energy?

 
 

They could be more obvious things like too many activities (a long workday), or too much  physical exertion, or overdoing it at the barbecue on Sunday. But it might be more subtle.

What else might be draining your energy? Consider these:

► Purpose/Values Misalignment: There’s something about the culture of the company where you work or of the groups and community in which you live that doesn’t match your values or beliefs. You’re struggling to find a way to fit in. You don’t have a sense of belonging.

 

“Corporate culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything for better or for worse.” – Simon Sinek

 

► “Must-Do” Tasks Overload: You don’t have the skills, experience, or interest to perform non-optional/required tasks, or there are too many of them. Just thinking about them is exhausting.

 

“Due to the current workload, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.” - Unknown

 

► Environmental Roadblocks: Your tech (e.g. computing, audio/video, and communication devices, etc.) limits your performance or could be so much better. Or the ergonomics of your workspaces or playspaces suck. Or your shoes or uniform/work drag don’t fit. Or you’re distracted by noises, odors, temperature, lighting, or weather changes.

 

“When a flower doesn’t bloom, [consider] the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” – Alexander Den Heijer

 

► People Toxicity: An insufficient number of people in your work and life support and unconditionally love you, when balanced against the number of people who are uncooperative, homophobic, narcissistic, unboundaried, hyper-competitive, or otherwise name-your-negative-behavior-istic.

 

Some people are life-sucking energy-draining bags of annoying Hell. – Anon.

 

► General Negativity: You are drained by a predominantly negative mindset, driven by emotions like fear, anger, guilt, shame, sadness, disappointment, withdrawn, sullen, etc. By nature, all humans have a 3:1 negativity bias. *

 

A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work. – Unknown

 

Which of these are on your list of what might be draining your energy?

A way to approach reducing the impact of whatever is draining your energy is to recognize that any of these examples are instances of a negative mindset. To overcome them means having a way to shift to a positive mindset.

A great starting point to shifting positive is the practice of finding the gift and opportunity in every challenge and situation. *

Here's an example. Say your list includes a non-optional task that you find boring or unpleasant.

  • FIRST,  get creative (a positive action) and find 2-3 potential gifts you’ll get by taking on the challenge, such as: (1) you’ll never have to do the task or ones similar to it again; (2) you’ll end up doing the task in a manner that’s no longer boring or unpleasant; or (3) you’ll find a way to reward yourself once the task is done that’s sufficiently motivating.

  • SECOND, get curious (another positive action) and explore various solutions that would lead to one or more of the gifts you’ve identified.

  • FINALLY, take the actions (still positive) to execute the approach that works for you.

You’ll not only eliminate something that’s draining your energy, but you’ll also become more adept at finding the gift and opportunity in every challenge and situation, one of the foundation practices of Positive Intelligence®. *

Recharging, self-care, self-awareness, creativity, curiosity, finding the gift and opportunity in any challenge and situation, and taking focused action, are all leadership mental fitness practices I coach, especially for mid-level high-tech leaders. If you are feeling inspired to build, reestablish, or further develop these and other leadership practices and get happy, again, check out my Energy and Mindset Reboot Program. Click here to find out what it can do for you in a free 30-minute Discovery Session.

 

“My phone is trying to kill me. It is a battery-charged rectangle of disappointment and possibility. It is a technological pacifier." — Amy Poehler

 

* References:

Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours, by Shirzad Chamine, Geenleaf Book Group Press, Austin, TX, Copyright ©2012