15 Habits That Could Be Slowly Draining Your Energy

Too often, we engage in habits that are slowly draining our energy and we don’t even notice it. These habits, even the small ones, can leave us feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted. The thing is these are habits that we may view as “normal.” 

With the advancement of technology, many of us may find ourselves over consuming social media, watching too much tv, or being on our phones just way too much especially before bedtime. Studies have shown when you are on your phone right before bedtime, the blue night from our phone reduces the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycle which can increase mental fatigue, stress, and anxiety. 

Not to mention, when you are consistently consuming, that decreases the amount of time that you can be working on something else, like a goal that you’ve set for yourself or items on your to-do list.

If you are looking to break this cycle, start by giving yourself a time limit on how much you want to consume. So, for example, let’s say you scroll on TikTok for about an hour a day, then the next day you can set a time limit to only scroll for 30 minutes that day, and eventually you work up to only scrolling for 10 minutes a day. Reducing this habit alone can free up a lot of your time.

Some of us come from one of those families where there is always drama, or there are family members who are always fighting and arguing. And unfortunately, sometimes you may get caught up in that. It can be difficult to detach from family drama, but best believe being involved in the family drama will suck your energy dry. 

Do your best to love those family members from afar, set healthy boundaries, and if the family drama becomes too much, consider cutting off toxic family members.

You will be surprised how much peace you will gain from your energy not being drained all of the time. 

Internalizing your emotions can be very dangerous. We women, as a whole, do not have a problem expressing our feelings, but keeping our emotions bottled up can be damaging to our overall well-being. A study known as the Meta-Analysis on Emotion Regulation & Mental Health was conducted. This study concluded that minimizing and suppressing emotions were associated with negative mental health issues like anxiety and depression. 

Now, I’m not saying to spill all of your business on the internet to anyone and everyone, but to express your emotions healthily. Some healthy ways to express your emotions can be talking to a supportive friend, journaling, deep breathing, and seeking professional help when needed. 

Multitasking gets a lot of praise, but the truth is, when you are doing too much at once, your brain gets too scattered, and you spread yourself too thin. When you are constantly multitasking, it can be difficult to complete just one task fully or give your energy to that one task. It may cause you to be overwhelmed, stressed, and reduce your focus and efficiency. 

Instead of multitasking, try to focus on a single task or break down your day. For example, from 9 am-11 am, you only work on one specific task, and from 11 am-1 pm, you move on to another task. 

When you speak down on yourself, you are teaching your mind that you are not worthy. When you say things like, “I can’t get anything right or maybe I’m too broken,” you teach your mind that where you are is where you should stay.

You teach your mind that you don’t love or value yourself. When you have negative self-talk, then after a while, this becomes your identity. Not only does it become your identity, but you may find yourself losing motivation because you’re telling yourself that you are not worthy of the things that you want. As a result, this can become a domino effect, causing you to be a negative or toxic person and attracting negative situations and environments. 

As much as possible, try to reframe your statements. Instead of saying “I can’t,” say “I am learning one step at a time.”

At first, this may be hard because your brain is used to negative self-talk. But actively working on positive self-talk can yield great rewards for your peace and energy. 

This is a big one. One of my friends once told me, “Don’t take on battles that are not yours.” At first I didn’t understand what she meant, but I didn’t listen; I quickly realized what she meant.

Some people will always have problems and don’t necessarily want to hear any solutions.

You can’t help everybody. You can only help yourself. When you are consistently listening to other people’s drama and problems, it will theoretically suck the life out of you. Trust me, I understand sometimes you want to be a supportive friend, but if it is draining your energy, you really have to re-evaluate if this friendship or being around this person is really worth it. 

This one goes without saying. Getting good quality sleep is essential for our health. This is where our body heals, and the brain processes information for the day. Not getting good quality sleep can leave you feeling sluggish with low energy. 

Holding grudges and having resentment towards someone is another way that your energy gets drained. You drain a lot of energy when you hold negative thoughts towards another person. It drains your emotional and mental energy. Holding grudges and having resentment towards someone also produces negative energy. 

The best thing to do is try to forgive. Not necessarily for the other person, but for yourself and your well-being. 

This is when everything has to be perfect. It has to be just the right way or just the way you like it. See, the problem with perfectionism is that it is a symptom of procrastination. It can be an act that we engage in to avoid doing something that we know we need to get done. Nothing will ever be perfect, and overthinking or obsessing over small details doesn’t help.

Perfectionism can surely lead to stress, burnout, and not getting anything done. 

Now, this one is a little controversial, but hear me out. I know you all have heard of the saying, “you are what you eat.” It’s true. If you are consuming a good amount of processed food sugar, you most likely may begin to feel sluggish. When you fuel your body with foods that lack nutritional value, you open yourself up to a lack of energy, nutritional deficiencies, and chronic diseases. The purpose of consuming foods is to fuel your body with vitamins and minerals, the crucial ingredients that it needs to thrive. 

I’m not saying you can never eat these foods, but ensuring that a majority of your diet is whole nutrient nutrient-dense foods is ideal. 

Many of us love going to Starbucks and getting that cup of coffee before work or before starting our day. But is this a really good habit? Just because something is normal to the majority doesn’t mean that it isn’t harmful to the body.

Studies have shown that consuming too much caffeine overstimulates the nervous system. It gives us temporary energy and may create dependency over time. 

Eventually, you may experience a “caffeine crash” resulting in fatigue. 

This is a not so obvious one because sometimes, when you are used to being around your family or friends, you may view their negative behavior as normal. If you are around people who engage in violence, gossip, drama, illegal activities, etc, then you need to ask yourself, is being around these negative people worth my energy and peace?

Have you ever heard the saying birds of a feather flock together? Pretty much what that means is you are what you attract, and if you are consistently around these people, that means unconsciously you want to keep them around. No matter how much destruction they cause.

Ask yourself, what value does this person add to my life? If the answer is no, then consider cutting them off.

As women, we often take care of others and it can be very easy to neglect our own needs physically, mentally, and emotionally. This is, without a doubt, something that will drain our energy. Here’s the truth: you are only hurting yourself when you put others first and put yourself last. 

Find a self-care activity that you enjoy and engage in that activity. Set a goal for how often you want to engage in that activity and create a new routine that will allow you to fit this activity into your schedule. 

Another one that we as women may find ourselves doing a little too much of especially in relationships. This can give off the energy that we don’t necessarily have a life of our own and that we are too invested in the other person. Over giving and overextending ourselves can be the result as well as our energy being drained. Sometimes it is best to say “no” to people so that we can take care of ourselves.  

When you are always living in the past or bringing up past mistakes, you are opening yourself up to not moving forward in life. You’re setting yourself up for permanent failure because you are always looking behind as opposed to looking at the road ahead. 

Use your past mistakes as a lesson that you learned and let go and move on. Your goals and mental wellness will thank you for it. 

These are the 15 habits that could be slowly draining your energy. If you find yourself engaging in most of these, start by eliminating them one at a time and watch how to slowly gain your energy back. What habit can you start changing today to protect your peace?

Disclaimer

This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical or mental health advice. I am not a medical or mental health professional, and you should always consult a qualified provider for guidance specific to your situation.