Modern Day Vampires
Modern day vampires are not thieves who come in the night and drain our energy. Today they are right out in front of us, on our desks, night stands, in our living rooms, pockets and pocketbooks. These are the techno-vampires!
There are also non technological vampires in our lives that we must attend to if we are to reclaim our time, energy, attention and sanity! Below are some of the common sources and some suggested strategies for taking charge of these energy drains. Also let us know how you may have approached some of these issues to safe guard your precious life (force).
Screens
We all have multiple screens that occupy us throughout the day we even carry many of them with us!! Computers, TV, Kindles, phones, I Pods‚¬it can feel as if there is no escape!
The true escape is to become conscious and committed to YOU—your time, energy, values, health and peace of mind.
Screens have a curious quality. They suck us in and keep us fixated while our energy is being silently drained away through our eyes, attention and effect of the technology and the noise it creates within our energy fields, as well as within our minds. Preliminary research is suggesting that we get a hit of feel good chemistry from some of our on screen behavior which makes it act much like a substance abuse issue!
There are many good things about screens. It is a matter of managing our relationship with them.
Taking Your Energy Back
- Problem
Procrastinating: screens are great for this! We can avoid all manner of unpleasant task while believing we are busy or doing something useful, fun or necessary.
You are susceptible to energy drain from a screen every time you turn on, tune in, or log on.
Solution
Awareness and insight can lead to moderating your use.
Setting a timer can be helpful if you are playing computer games or surfing the net
Keep a list of your goals and values handy so you can remind yourself what is really important to you in terms of how you spend your time.
Be aware that if you spend time depleting energy and not rebuilding it, it will not be there to fuel your dreams, health or goals. Develop a reminder for this that is in frequent and easy sight.
- Problem
Energy Vampires are people or projects that suck the life out of you.
Solution
If you find yourself de-energized by a project or a person in your life, question your motives for remaining, resolve it so you can find the door out and you can move on. We are all different. What depletes one person will energize another. Your energy is not a negotiable item and you have the right, responsibility and deserve to determine what is correct for you.
Notice the people and projects that fill you with energy and commit to developing more of those in your life.
- Problem
The spirits of procrastination will haunt you in the night or at most inconvenient times! These are the tasks you dislike or things that you keep putting off. You expend a lot of energy reacting to them with dread, guilt or frustration.
Solution
Make a list€¦make a plan including when and how you are going to take care of the issue and then follow through. As much as this may pain you as you change your habit, in the end you will have more energy as you will have eliminated a very insidious drain. The enhanced energy you feel will become a new motivation.
- Problem
Clutter! We all have it –it infiltrates our mailboxes, email, homes and offices. It exists in the form of requests from a multitude of directions, as well as in the information we pile up “just in case”, or because “someday I will need that”.
Solution
Make it a rule to only handle something once and set up a system for that can work.
Set up a system where every request does not reach you: get off lists, use voicemail delete, have a barrier between you and requests.
- Problem
Split attention is rampant with the profusion of electronic and other stimuli in modern life. It is a myth that we can be effective multi-tasking. We can’t and it is bad for our brain and nervous system.
Solution
Cultivate the ability to attend to your present moment and the task at hand.
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