January’s De-Clutter Series focused on our energy levels. I picked this theme because I for one feel so at the mercy of the weather at this time of year, and most people I speak with are reporting a similar dip in energy and motivation in these winter months.
Feeling low in energy can have so many impacts on our life. Everything feels that little bit harder, we can’t concentrate as well, we’re not as effective, we struggle to give people our full attention, our health suffers as we move less and make worse food choices, opting for easy rather than healthy. The list goes on, but perhaps most importantly, we don’t feel particular happy.
There are a number of aspects we can consider to help boost our energy levels.
- Identify what drains you and what replenishes you. Take a look at what activities you are currently doing, and see whether these tend to exhaust you or give you energy. Even when we are tired, the idea of something that we love doing can give us a real boost, so see what that might be for you.
- Identify who drains and replenishes you. We all have different people in our lives, some of whom might be a real boost to us and leave us feeling energized, and others who we leave feeling completely drained. Consider how different people affect you and make choices where you can accordingly.
- Consider when is a good time for a particular activity. We all have ups and downs within the day, so working out when to do what can make a real difference. Mornings are generally best suited for concentrated brain work, and afternoons/evenings are generally better for creative work. See for yourself what time is best for different tasks, and when they seem more difficult than they should be, try a different time of the day.
- Hone your filter and get better at deciding what you want to let into your life. If we don’t pay attention, we can easily be flooded and overwhelmed by all manner of things: people, projects, information, news stories, etc… Creating a filter for ourselves and applying it, making conscious choices about what we want to utilize our valuable energy on will help keep things under control.
- There is always a trade-off. Our resources are finite. There are only so many hours in the day, and we only have so much brain processing power at any one time. So if we choose to spend our time or energy on this one thing, we can’t also be doing this other thing at the same time. Keeping this in mind and paying close attention to where we put our time and energy will allow us to be more choiceful and intentional, rather than feeling like our life is running away from us.
In closing, the one thing that is a game-changer in this area is identifying our purpose. If our activities are aligned with our purpose and inner compass, they will give us boundless energy. If on the other side we fill our time with activities and people we can’t quite get behind and that don’t nourish us, we will feel permanently depleted. So if there is one thing you can do right now, it is work out your purpose, and then align everything with it.
If this article has resonated with you and you want to create some clarity in your energy levels, 👉 get in touch and let’s chat.