5 Ways to Deal with Energy Drains

Identifying productivity, emotional and identity microstresses that burn you out

Author

Alison Pena
October 01, 2024

Hello everyone,

Grief itself drains energy but most people experience multiple moments of stress daily, which leads to burnout. Most of them occur during the interactions in our close relationships as we try to protect ourselves in advance from anticipated pain.

The Harvard Business Review article. “5 Ways to Deal with the Microstresses Draining Your Energy,” talks about the importance of identifying and addressing your microstresses to: 1) get things done, 2) maintain emotional reserves, and 3) stay true to your identity.

What can you do?

  1. Start small

  2. Engage in positive interactions to build resilience

  3. Tackle two more emotionally charged microstresses

  4. Instead of looking at toxic relationships, dig into the interactions that make you anxious, with people you care about

  5. Do activities congruent with your identity and purpose

Read the article below to learn more.

5 Ways to Deal with the Microstresses Draining Your Energy

Microstresses are the accumulation of unnoticed small stresses from routine interactions, and often are so brief that we barely register them. Individually, these microstresses might seem manageable, but cumulatively they take an enormous toll. How can you identify and reduce them? This article, based on research and experiments at several Fortune 100 organizations, lays out five steps that will help you identify where (and from whom) your stress is coming from, and how you can proactively reduce it without burning bridges.

hbr.org/2024/02/5-ways-to-deal-with-the-microstresses-draining-your-energy?autocomplete=true

Grief makes people extra sensitive to microstress

It’s common for family, friends, and colleagues to act carefully and be awkward around grieving people. They may offer unsolicited advice or breach a clear or unspoken boundary. You or someone you know who is grieving may react in a negative way, which pushes them away.

Start small.

Take baby steps. One area that is affected when a person is grieving, is experiencing a reduced sense of hope for the future. This leads to a shortened timeline of positive expectations of what’s possible. Focus on the steps to reach the end goals, rather than on the outcome.

Engage in positive interactions.

According to the ideas in the Law of Attraction, what you think about expands. The more you seek out and plan for interactions to go right, instead of anticipating them going wrong, the more positive interactions you will have.

Tackle two emotionally charged microstresses.

Identify what kinds of microstresses are most disruptive for you: 1) not getting things done, 2) draining emotional reserves, or 3) not staying true to your identity and values. Choose two, which take a lot of energy for you to avoid, and deal with them. What is the outcome you fear? What is the outcome you desire? Make a plan to bridge the expected interaction from what you fear to what you want.

Dig into interactions that make you anxious, with people you care about.

Today, our personal and professional lives are more intertwined than ever. Look for anxiety-provoking interactions from the past that you dread happening again. Are there people you are making excuses not to see? Are there uncomfortable conversations you are refusing to have? Reality is often better than what we imagine might happen. Even if not, fear makes everything bigger and more scary.

Take action congruent with your identity and purpose.

After experiencing a loss, our sense of identity and purpose are shaken up. In our lives, we sometimes get off-track from following our values and our actions stop being congruent with our purpose. Before recalibrating your actions, it’s essential to figure out who you are now since grief highlights what matters most.

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Recent and Upcoming Featured Events

My 2nd Entrepreneurs on Fire Podcast interview airs on 11.11.2024

FLASHBACK: Last EoFire podcast interview on March 21, 2014 digs deep into the 3 Affluence Code® lenses for how to thrive on your own terms. In the November podcast, we talk about how finding solid ground again in yourself is essential to being able to move forward through grief more easily and how the Affluence Code is a big part of how to do it.

Alison Pena | EOFire

Alison was born into a wealthy family, rubbing elbows with millionaires, and until the age of 15 was blind to any other reality. Eyes now open, Alison...

www.eofire.com/podcast/alison-pena

Business Insider essay published Sept 9, 2024

My mother-in-law and I started getting along only after my husband died. I knew I had to take care of her.

I told my husband I'd take care of his mom when he died. We didn't see eye to eye in the past. She's now 101, and I do a lot for her.

www.businessinsider.com/inherited-mother-in-law-after-husband-died-difficult-relationship-2024-9?fbclid=IwY2xjawFnhr1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcVau3iqal4jG-oitRuJxuHN_OlbmK6xmSDdWqph7wAF_LyTSrxaq4XmWw_aem_EWmyF3Bi8VAPToSO-6OK

Living Full Out Radio Show with Nancy Solari, September 14, 2024

Episode 2024.10.37: Following Your Own Truth launched September 14, 2024

Our inspirational guest, Alison Pena was able to follow her own truth by trusting herself. When her brother passed away from a genetic health condition, she was reminded of what really mattered to her. After 25 years of marriage, Her husband passed away due to pancreatic cancer and she had to navigate life without him. Tune in to hear how these losses inspired her to be dedicated to helping others.

Next Steps

This newsletter issue, 5 Ways to Deal With Energy Drains supports you in protecting your energy so you can live the life of your choosing. Let’s talk about the challenges you are facing and how grief resilience coaching can help.

Schedule your complimentary 20-minute zoom call by clicking the link below: https://thebadwidow.com/ConnectWithAlison.