How to Have Amazing Energy (part 2)

PART 2/5 (7-day reset inside!)

This post is Part 2 of my limited series on how to have amazing energy. If you're just joining us or missed the first edition, I'd recommend reading part 1 first, as it lays the foundation for everything we'll cover in today’s guide:

Happy Friday everyone & welcome back to the Amazing Energy series!

Last week, we focused on the physical side of energy. We talked about the everyday habits that help you create more of it, from movement and nutrition to hydration, recovery, sleep, and even making time to play. If you completed the 7-day reset, hopefully, you noticed that energy isn’t something you’re waiting to feel one day. It’s actually something you’re building through the choices you make every single day.

Today, we’ll be shifting our attention to something a little less obvious: the ways we quietly drain the energy we already have. You can be doing all the right things for your body and still feel mentally exhausted if your attention is constantly being pulled in a hundred different directions.

This post is all about plugging those leaks. We’ll look at the everyday habits, environments, and patterns that quietly chip away at your energy so you can protect more of it for the things that actually matter. Plus, there’s anothe 7-day reset at the end which you' definitely won’t want to miss!

Before we get into the reset, I want to zoom out for a second.

We live in a world that’s constantly competing for our attention. Our phones buzz all day, our inboxes never seem to empty, social media gives us an endless stream of things to think about, and even when we finally sit down to relax, there’s usually something else asking for five more minutes. It’s no wonder so many of us feel mentally exhausted before lunch.

The tricky part is that almost none of it feels exhausting in the moment. One notification doesn’t seem like a big deal. Neither does leaving a few tasks unfinished or spending an extra twenty minutes scrolling before bed. But repeat those little moments enough times and they start acting like tiny leaks in a bucket. You don’t notice them individually, you just end up wondering why you feel so drained all the time.

Behavioral psychology has shown that our brains aren’t built to bounce between dozens of thoughts every few minutes. Every interruption, every decision, every open loop asks your brain to carry just a little more than it needs to. Eventually, that mental clutter starts showing up everywhere else. You lose focus more easily, feel overwhelmed faster, forget things more often, and suddenly folding laundry feels like you’re preparing for a NASA mission to the moon.

Ironically, most of us try to fix low energy by adding something else. We buy dozens of supplements, download productivity apps, and decide to give that 5 a.m. morning routine another chance. But sometimes the answer isn’t adding more. Maybe it’s time to give your brain less to carry.

As you read through today’s post, pay attention to the little leaks hiding in plain sight. You don’t have to fix all of them this week. Even plugging one or two can free up more mental energy than you’d expect.

A few of the biggest culprits we’re diving into below:

• Decision fatigue

• Visual clutter

• Unfinished tasks

• Doomscrolling

• Constant notifications

• Draining relationships

• Saying yes to too many things

[because protecting your energy is just as important as building it]

Now it’s time to start plugging those leaks!

In this next section, I’ll walk you through seven common habits and patterns that are probably draining your mental energy, along with simple strategies to help you take some of it back.

Think of it as a mental declutter. Some of these habits might seem too small to matter, but don’t underestimate the power of removing little sources of friction from your day. When your brain has fewer unnecessary decisions, distractions, and open loops to carry around, it has a lot more room for focus, creativity, and simply enjoying your life!

Let’s begin…

Every decision you make asks your brain to do a little bit of work. On its own, choosing what to wear or what to eat for lunch isn’t exhausting. The problem is that those tiny decisions start piling up. By the time something actually important comes along, your brain has already spent a surprising amount of energy deciding between dozens of things that probably didn’t matter all that much.

One of the easiest ways to protect your mental energy is to stop asking yourself the same questions every single day. The fewer decisions you have to make about the little things, the more energy you have left for the ones that actually deserve your attention.

ENERGY-SAVING DECISION HABITS:

• Wear variations of the same outfits you already know you love instead of reinventing yourself every Tuesday morning.

• Pick two or three go-to breakfasts and lunches that make you feel good, then rotate them throughout the week.

• Decide what workout you’re doing before the day begins so you aren’t negotiating with yourself later.

• Keep a running grocery list on your phone so every trip to the store doesn’t become a memory test.

• Batch similar tasks together instead of constantly switching between different types of work.

RCLM TAKEAWAY: You don’t need to optimize every decision, you just need to stop wasting energy on the ones that don’t matter. Save your brainpower for the conversations, opportunities, and choices that can actually change your life, not what you’re having for breakfast on a Wednesday.

This next part is for paid readers 💌 Upgrade your membership to unlock the rest of this post, including the 7-day mental reset at the end, and all other paid RCLM guides!