Energy Drains Create Stress; Try This Instead
5 Energy Drains That Are Sapping Your Vitality
All of us are subject to various energy drains from time to time. Review the list below to determine which areas are sapping your vitality and positive outlook. The good news is you can change your behavior and your actions to support yourself and your energy. This is the Recovery and Focus work behind the Leadership Resilience System: protecting your capacity is not indulgent, it is what makes sustained performance possible.
Key Takeaways
- Energy is not fixed. It is shaped daily by who you spend time with, what you eat and drink, how you sleep, and how much you move.
- Small, consistent changes, not a total overhaul, are what actually restore vitality.
- Sleep under 7 hours puts you at a cognitive disadvantage. Even a 5% drop in hydration can cost you 25 to 30% of your energy.
- You choose who you spend time with, what you put in your body, and how much you move. Those choices compound.
- Negative people. You are shaped by the 5 people you spend the most time with, an idea often credited to Jim Rohn. They impact your energy levels. Avoid complainers, Debbie Downers and bad news mongers, and notice how your own energy shifts when you limit time with them.
- Incompletions. Projects you have left half finished, books half read, newspapers and magazines opened but not finished. All of those are sapping your energy through what psychologists call the Zeigarnik Effect, the brain’s tendency to keep unfinished tasks active in the background. Here’s what to do about it: Could Your Incompletions Be Stressing You Out?
- Lack of sleep. You need 7 hours a night or you are at a cognitive disadvantage. Sleep is when your brain consolidates learning and resets emotional regulation, so protecting it protects your judgment the next day.
- Sugar. Check the research out yourself. Sugar is terrible for you and contributes to cancer, diabetes, weight gain and so much more. That candy bar you eat at 2:00 will crash you at 3:00. Avoid it and boost your energy instead with protein and complex carbohydrates that hold steady.
- Dehydration. An estimated 40% of North Americans are dehydrated. Drink 10 to 12 glasses of pure water a day, more if you drink soda, coffee or tea. A 5% drop in hydration can mean a 25 to 30% drop in energy.
- Sitting and lethargy. Many people are now sitting for over 9 hours a day. (Which is why I am writing this from my stand up desk!) Get up every hour and move around, and get exercise every day. Walk frequently, take the stairs. For more on sitting, go here: Why Sitting Is So Bad for You
You make the choices as to who to spend time with, what to put in your body and how much to move. You can be energetic and Fired Up! starting now.
Kindly share this post if you liked it.
If low energy has become your baseline rather than the exception, that is often an early signal of burnout building underneath the surface. Explore Prevent Burnout for Leaders for a fuller picture of the warning signs, or visit Stress Management Strategies for more research backed tools you can use today.
©2016, 2026 Snowden McFall All Rights Reserved. You may share this post and reprint with author reference and copyright.