Being mindful of where you spend your resources, such as time and energy, will get you unstuck and moving forward.

Places You are Wasting Energy That Are Keeping You From Thriving

SherryBlue
Aug 22, 2017 · 6 min read

Bad habits are hard to break, and the ones that are really hard to step away from are the ones that we aren’t even aware we have. These bad habits are perhaps the worse because they trigger quick responses and we step in blindly putting energy where it is wasted and stealing opportunities away. We all have finite amounts of attention, energy, time, and other valuable resources to put toward the things that help us thrive and if we waste it elsewhere we are choosing to fail or be stuck.

It’s time to intentionally put our resources where they belong and not only succeed at reaching our goals, but thriving in the areas of our lives that are important.

Here are some of the storms that threaten our moving forward and suck our resources from us like a strong vacuum.

· Watching television is one of the places we can fail to be aware of how much time we are spending sitting and starring at a screen. Sure it can be a great escape and in some cases relaxing and even educational, but a lot of the time we spend sitting in front of the television happens because it is a habit. Experts have shown in studies that people that eat in front of the television are more likely to be overweight. Television can also hold us captive through curiosity and keep us from connecting to others that are in the room with us and keep us from getting an adequate amount of sleep needed for the next day.

If you find yourself surfing through the channels for something to watch then it is certainly a sign that watching television is more of a habit than a choice. Start planning out what you will watch on television and if you can watch a video on demand for the shows you particularly like it could allow you to skip through the commercials and gain back about 20 minutes of each hour of television. Watching recorded shows also allows you to choose when you watch so you are working the show into your schedule instead of shaping your life around network television’s programming.

· Social media can be a huge distraction. Because we can get on at any time of day and find others within the platforms sharing information, it is easy to think that everyone is involved and if you step away from social media you will miss out on something. In fact, if you are heavily involved in social media you are indeed missing out on a lot, your life. Social media has been shown in studies to not only pull us in and cause us to spend a lot of time there, but we also allow it to disrupt our lives.

If you are checking your social media accounts during meals, when you are with other people and being social, when you are shopping, right before you are about to be involved in another activity, while walking, while walking your dog, or before you go to bed then it is time to live more intentionally and put your focus elsewhere. The truth is that all social media platforms allow you to review and see what was posted while you were away, and you can see specific accounts at any time to catch up. You aren’t going to miss anything, so learn to unplug from social media and plug into other areas of your life that can push you forward instead of keeping you captive in the moment. Social media is fine, but you should be aware of how you are using it, how often, and how much to make sure you are properly investing in other areas of your life.

· Probably one of the biggest places resources, especially time, is drained away is the email inbox. The inbox alerts and distracts, and it fills up with things that must be opened, checked, so it basically demand our attention. Yet, so often we simply move the emails over to the trash bin without even opening them. Gaining control of your inbox is essential to productivity and progress. If you ignore the need to organize your inbox and streamline what arrives into it, then you are throwing away moments of your life that could be spent elsewhere. Also, you are inviting in stress when you hand over control of your life to an email system.

The first thing you should do is not hit the delete button so quickly. Instead go to the bottom of each email you plan to delete without opening and unsubscribe from being on a list. By unsubscribing, you are saving yourself from the usual routine of deleting emails from that sender. Next, move any emails you can’t unsubscribe from, but don’t want to open into your junk folder. Those that you are suspicious of shouldn’t be opened, but immediately moved to your junk folder. Moving emails to your junk folder automatically puts any future emails from that sender to your junk folder. It saves you from having to clear them from your inbox and it saves you from any accidental opens that could lead to a virus problem. Occasionally empty out the junk folder with one click and clean it out.

Depending on the email system you have, you might be able to prioritize emails by the sender. You can also categorize them as well. This will put emails into a personal folder or priority folder for you to look at when you decide and not when the system requires. You can also have the system only alert you when an email comes from certain senders or when emails arrive into a particular folder you have set up. This will cut down on distractions.

Folders are important for filing away emails you want to save, but don’t want to sit in your inbox forever. If you have read it and taken necessary action, then file the email away for reference later into an appropriately named folder for easy look up when needed. It’s better to have twenty folders than fifty emails aging in your inbox.

Try to follow the rule of productivity of “handle it once”. Open an email, take the action necessary for that email like marking something in your calendar or making an entry into your to do list, and then store it in a folder if you might need to reference it, forward it to another person if necessary, or delete it. Don’t read emails and intend to do something with them later. Instead, handle it and get it out of the way. If you are pressed for time then put off reading your emails until you can address the needs of them.

Take back the power you have handed off to your email system and you will gain valuable time back into your life and cut down on unneeded stress and pressure.

Being aware of what takes up your time and resources, and what takes away from productivity and progress because it is keeping you stuck. By being aware and making changes you are setting yourself up for success in either your professional or personal life, or perhaps both. Your resources are valuable and finite, so spend them wisely. Make it happen.

Thank you for reading — it means a lot to me. I appreciate your sharing as well. Please follow me on Medium, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn — I’d love to connect and be a part of your network team. On social media I share my own articles, but also those that I find helpful and relevant to business, success, entrepreneurship, leadership, community enhancement, and personal development. You can find out more about me at SherryHBlue.com.

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