059: The Hidden Energy Leaks That Leave You Exhausted

Have you ever reached the end of the day feeling completely exhausted...but you're not really sure why?

Maybe you didn't do anything extraordinary. You didn't run a marathon or spend hours at the gym. Yet somehow, you feel mentally, emotionally, and physically drained.

In this Wellness Reset Thursday episode, Fredricka Davis explores the hidden energy leaks that quietly drain us every single day and why true wellness isn't always about adding another healthy habit. Sometimes, it's about removing the things that are stealing your energy.

Building on a personal story about organizing her home and discovering the unexpected peace that followed, Fredricka shares how clutter, constant decisions, unfinished tasks, endless notifications, and living in reaction mode can leave us feeling depleted without us even realizing it.

She also shares one of the foundational ideas behind the Limitless Reset Method: lasting change doesn't usually come from one dramatic breakthrough. It comes from recognizing and reducing the small things that quietly work against us every day.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why you're often more mentally exhausted than physically tired
• Five hidden energy leaks that may be draining you every day
• How visual clutter affects your focus and nervous system
• Why unfinished tasks quietly consume mental energy
• The impact of constant notifications and information overload
• Why removing one source of stress can be more powerful than adding another wellness habit
• How the Limitless Reset Method helps you create sustainable change by addressing the small things that matter most

Reflection Question

What is one hidden energy leak in your life that, if removed, would immediately create more peace, clarity, or energy?

This Week's Wellness Reset

Choose just one hidden energy leak to eliminate or reduce this week.

Maybe it's cleaning one drawer.

Turning off unnecessary notifications.

Finishing a task you've been avoiding.

Creating ten minutes of quiet.

Saying no to one unnecessary commitment.

Or simply clearing one small space that has been quietly demanding your attention every day.

Don't underestimate the power of small changes.

Sometimes removing one source of stress creates more energy than adding another healthy habit.

To learn more about Fredricka's coaching, speaking, upcoming programs, and the Limitless Reset Method—or to join the free Limitless Living Community  visit FrederickaDavis.com.

Until next time...

Be rooted. Be resilient. And be limitless.

Grab Your Free Reset Guide and more at www.fredrickadavis.com

Continue the conversation inside the here: Limitless Living community.

If this episode resonated with you, you can also send Fredricka a message through the Fan Mail link in the show notes. Your questions may be featured in a future episode.

And if you know someone who needs to hear this conversation, please share the episode with them.

Your reviews mean the world to Fredricka and help other women discover the show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Welcome back to the Limitless Living Podcast. I'm Frederick Davis and I am the creator of the Limitless Reset Method. And every Thursday, we focus on simple, practical ways to care for your body, your mind, your nervous system, and without adding more overwhelm to your life. So on Tuesday, I shared a story about spending one of my weekend days cleaning and organizing our master bathroom and bedroom and my areas in the room. Now I know that may not sound very exciting, and it definitely was not Instagram worthy, at least not yet, until I'm fully reorganized and fully redecorated. And I didn't take any dramatic before and after makeover videos or photos. And I didn't label every container perfectly, I can promise you. And I do not, as of yet, have a magazine-worthy closet. It was just me sorting and going through some drawers, clearing off surfaces and reorganizing, purging some clothing, putting things where they belonged, just getting rid of things and creating a little more order. So afterwards, it wasn't just the room, uh, the master bathroom and the bedroom that looked better. It was really what changed by doing these things. And that was how I felt. So I felt accomplished, number one. I felt like, oof, I finally got a chunk of this done, and this has been on my to-do list for far too long. And then I felt a little bit lighter and a little bit calmer and a little bit more peaceful. I was less mentally cluttered. And the next day, getting up and getting ready was a whole lot easier and a whole lot less stressful in the morning. So it reminded me that sometimes we think we are physically exhausted when we are in reality carrying just dozens and dozens of energy leaks in our lives that are quietly draining us every single day. Now, today is not about purging, cleaning, organizing, I promise. This is really about how you feel. And what I want to talk today about is how often when we get tired, we blame other things. We blame a lot of the obvious things, yes, like we need more sleep, or we need better nutrition, or maybe our hormones are changing, or maybe we're under stress. And yes, yes, and yes to all of those things, they matter. But sometimes those things are only a part of the entire picture. Sometimes the exhaustion we're feeling isn't coming from one big thing that needs an overhaul. It's really coming from 50 little tiny things. These are the little decisions and the annoyances. They're little unfinished tasks and piles of unfinished things or piles of to-dos. And doing what I did over the weekend was on my list for months, not just days or weeks, but months. And there's always something that's taking priority. And finally, I had to make that a priority, which is something I talk about on Tuesday and how to do that. That's another episode. So these little worries, these little to-do's and these little interruptions that happen all day long, and these unfinished tasks, each one of them by themselves doesn't really seem like much, but when you add them up, whew, they become really heavy throughout your day. So I want to talk about energy leaks. And energy leak number one can be visual clutter. Now, I'm gonna preface this. I am somebody who will always and forever have a pile of clothes hanging over a chair in the bedroom. I will always and forever have stacks of mail that I might need to still get through. Why do I say that? Because it's just not as important to me. Those things are not priorities to me. However, when you start to have visual clutter where it takes you a little while to find your keys, or every morning you're opening your drawers and they're a little overstuffed. You can't find what you're looking for. It's frustrating, right? You're looking for things, you're moving things around to put things away or to find things, and you're thinking, oh, I really need to organize this. And what I did over the weekend took me a chunk of time. I only did it one day, but it just was so cleansing and lightening. Every morning I was taking unnecessary time. I was moving things around and thinking, oh, I really need to organize this. And it was happening every single morning where I wasn't spending a half an hour or an hour on this, might be an extra five minutes here, an extra five minutes there. I was losing those minutes, but it was less about losing the time in those moments and more about losing my energy because getting irritated, getting frustrated, and having too much visual clutter, it clogs the mind. So it reduces your focus. It's energy draining because things don't go easily and they don't flow and you're not in alignment. So I organized some of my spaces over the weekend, which has meant that my mornings have immediately this week felt calmer already. When you don't have things all over your counters, your bureau, your makeup table, your dresser, your vanity, whatever it is you have where you have things. I purged old makeup and just stuff I didn't need anymore. A whole box of some jewelry to donate, at least three or four boxes of clothing to donate, minimizing a little bit of that. I've been kind of on a path doing that little by little by little. This was another chunk in this journey. Because uh, for those of you who know me or who listen or or have heard my story, when I was at my worst just a few years ago, I spent a couple of years really with some serious health challenges. So things got further than I would ever normally allow them to get. It was a slow progression over a period of years. And all of a sudden, I'm like, oh my gosh, it's gonna take me forever to get through this, forever to reorganize this, forever to get this back to the way I like things to be. And that's the journey I am on right now. I share with you on Tuesday that it's very important for me to live in alignment and to come from a place of integrity. And as I'm talking to you about building a limitless life and a life that doesn't have overwhelm, I can't do that unless I'm doing it myself. I've either got to be doing it right next to you, or I've got to be at least a few steps ahead of you so that I can help you with whatever I'm talking about. So when I talk about these things, you are getting the real me. And what I want to share with this energy leak number one is just so incredibly important. Whether it's your desk you're talking about, your garage, your purse, your bedroom, your closet, whatever it is, when you have too much visual clutter, it sucks the life out of you. You don't even have to be a hoarder for this to happen. It could just be draining. You are spending energy on this. And this is not about being perfect. This is not about having a place for every single solitary thing and having it be just perfect. When you have some level of peace, some level of organization visually, whether you're the person who likes to see everything in front of you, or whether you like everything behind closed doors, whether you like them in drawers, it does not matter. When you know where things are, you give yourself energy. But when you don't, you leak energy. Now, my brain has one less thing this week competing for its attention. In fact, it's got multiple less things competing for its attention in several areas. So this is not a home show about cleaning and organizing. I promise. This is about you feeling better and not leaking energy and having more energy, being happier and flowing through life with more alignment. Your home does not have to be perfect, not at all. I don't strive for perfectionism. I strive to do the best that I can. And I encourage everyone to do that. Because really, is there anything such as completely perfect? Or is that just an Instagram or TikTok touched up AI photo? Really? So ask yourself: is there one space that's quietly stealing your peace every single day? Is there a space that you could change that would make your day flow right off the bat better and not steal your energy? So energy leak number two is going to be constant decisions. Woo, decision fatigue. It's everywhere, absolutely everywhere. We make thousands of decisions every day. What to wear, what to eat, what emails to answer, what text to return, the errands to run, who to call. I mean, it goes on and on and on. What to click on as soon as we get on the computer? What should I click on first? What rabbit hole do I go down next? And by nighttime, our brains are utterly exhausted. Sometimes simplifying one repeated decision gives you back far more energy than adding another wellness habit. So I want to give you some examples of this. Okay, you've heard I'm on a mission to purge clothing. I am purging like there is no tomorrow. So most of us in the free world here uh ridiculously wind up with too many clothes. So that means too many decisions in the morning. I'll be honest with you. Now, don't get me wrong, I love fashion. And I have many moods. Freddie has many personalities and likes to have an outfit for each one of them. I will say it out loud. That said, it doesn't mean I need six outfits for each one of them. So I believe the percentages we wear 10% of what we actually own in our closet, which is probably about right. I might even wear less than that. How about you? We start out in the morning, we pick up our phones, and we're making decisions on what to click first and who to return calls or texts or emails or whatever first, often before we've even gotten dressed. Then we go to get dressed. We're making all the decisions to get dressed. And a lot of us have either too many lipsticks or too much makeup or we don't wear it at all. Maybe that's not your thing. That's fine too. But you're making all of these micro decisions. That's my point and the picture I want to paint for you. You go downstairs, and then if you're like so many people, certainly not everyone, but chances are you might have too many options for breakfast, too many options in the kitchen, which is a beautiful, wonderful, blessed thing. However, you're still making decisions. And then you get to the computer, and now you're making all the decisions there. So I can go on and on and on. And we get this decision fatigue, and sometimes we have it before 9 a.m. Literally before 9 a.m. So our brains get tired, they get fatigued from this and they get fatigued quicker. When that happens, we don't have the bandwidth to make the big decisions as effectively. So the more things you can reduce in terms of the decisions you're making each day, the less decision fatigue you will have. So, for example, I get my groceries delivered most of the time now. Not because I don't like to pick my own fruits and vegetables, but I have been willing to let go of that control to have more peace and less decisions in my life. And I can sit on my sofa with my list, think about what I need for the week, what I want to feed my family, take to my office, and so on. Go click, click, click on my phone or my tablet while I'm sitting next to my husband hanging out, maybe watching a show on TV. And yes, I'm multitasking, but it's a simple, relaxing thing. I set it up for a delivery time. I wake up the next morning and boom, there's my groceries. I bring them in the house and I put them away. It is that easy. I have reduced the decisions because I'm not getting in the car. I've also reduced my budget, ladies. If you haven't tried this, it will reduce your budget because you don't buy things you didn't need. So I'm not going to the store and then making more decisions while I'm in the store because I'm seeing everything and bringing on things that I may or may not need or want. So that's one thing. I have really pared down the outfits that I typically wear into my office when I'm seeing clients. That doesn't mean I don't have the outfits for all of my wonderful personalities. So the Bohemian Freddy has outfits. The Western Freddy has outfits. The country club Freddy has outfits. Yes, I have outfits for all that. But on an everyday basis, I've got the go-tos that make my day easy. Same thing with jewelry or makeup or whatever it is. My breakfasts, my meals. I have three favorites for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner throughout the week. They just are. I put them on rotate. Now, some people that would be boring if you have five or whatever, but I pre-plan my meals beginning of the week, cook them, pack them, meal prep, and then I don't have to think about anything during the week, which gives me less stress. I'm leading through my day instead of reacting to my day. So I'm reducing the decisions, which increases energy, reduces the energy leak, increases my health, keeps me on track easier. It all goes hand in hand. So those are just some examples. Now, energy leak number three is going to be unfinished open loops. What does this mean? So an open loop is a task that just keeps following you around. Now, I could use my purging, my cleaning, my home. That's a task that keeps following me around. Another one could be the form that you were supposed to fill out for something, but you haven't filled out yet. You're carrying it around and you just haven't done it. Or the blog post that you wanted to write and you've been meaning to write, but you just haven't done it. It's just following you around. Maybe it's a phone call that you've been avoiding and it's a task you know you need to do, you want to do it, but you don't want to do it bad enough to get it done. Maybe it is the kitchen counter or the pile of laundry. And every time you walk past it and you're thinking, uh, I really need to get to that. And even if you don't consciously think about it, these open loops require energy and they drain your energy when you notice them, when you think about them, and when you feel bad about not getting them done. So sometimes finishing just one small task gives you more relief than starting five new ones or completing one big one. And I will use my example that I used. If you haven't listened to Tuesday's episode, you'll know what I'm talking about. Go back and listen to Tuesday's episode. But I'll use my example of how I spent a day last weekend just getting some things done in my master bathroom and in the bedroom. Because they were open loops that weren't quite done. And I'd think, oh, I can't find this. Really need to do that. And then that energy would drain me. So that was an energy leak. So as soon as I got it done, I felt like, wow, I accomplished that. Yay, I can check that off my list. And I felt lighter. My mornings have been going easier. Again, great example of this. So energy leak number four is going to be the constant input. We all have it. We can't really get away from it entirely unless you live in the woods and off the grid. And that's going to be your phone, notifications, news, social media, emails, podcasts, videos. Do not misunderstand me. I can be a news junkie. I love being informed on all things political, news, and financial. Because I have been working on other things for upcoming retreats, for our programs, for this podcast. I consciously made a decision to reduce that input so that I could have the capacity and the energy to do what I really want. Things that are really important to me. Now don't get me wrong, those are still important to me. Knowing what's going on in the world is still important to me. But you can turn it off. You can turn your phone off. You can put it on vibrate, you can put it on airplane mode while you're doing something else. The world will not explode. Your family will be fine. If there is a true emergency, police will knock at your door. I promise you. And we are also stuck on being available 24/7 and checking our social media. And I own businesses. And in today's world, businesses need some level of online presence and social media. So I'm on it. If it wasn't for that, I would probably not be on it, or I'd be on it for an hour here and there for fun, and that'd be the end of the story. However, I am on it, but I limit it. So email, same thing, limiting the time. Podcasts. I listen to podcasts or audiobooks pretty much nonstop. Now I love good music as well, but I absolutely love learning. It's like air to me. And I like to research things. So these are all rabbit holes I go down. I probably listen to more audiobooks and podcasts than most people or 20 people put together. Even good information, even entertainment, can become overwhelming if we never create the quiet in our lives. We need to create space for quiet. Your nervous system, it's not asking for more information. What it's asking for pretty much all the time is a moment to breathe. It's asking for safety, security, quiet, stillness, breath, grounding. That's what it's asking for. And when it doesn't get that, your energy dips because your nervous system is working too hard trying to stay in some level of equilibrium. So pushing pause is a good thing. Setting a timer and turning the phone off, setting a timer on your computer and getting up, say saying, hey, I'm not listening to the news. I'm not looking at social for the next two days, three days, three hours, whatever you need to start with, this will help increase your energy. Reducing energy leak number four with the constant input is vital. Energy leak number five, and our last one for today: living in a reaction mode. Tuesday, we talked about being able to go through your day by leading versus reacting all day long. If every day begins by reacting, your nervous system never gets a chance to settle. You never feel like you're leading your life. You're simply responding to whatever shows up next. Think about that. You're just in a constant level of reaction and response all the time. So one intentional decision made very early in the day to lead versus react throughout the day changes everything that follows. And if you want more on that, I definitely encourage you to go listen to Tuesday's episode. The bigger lesson here, though, that I've learned is that sometimes wellness is not about adding something in. And yes, there's a moment to add this supplement or add this uh physical movement to strengthen this muscle, or we can talk about all those things everybody's talking about. But really, wellness needs moments where we're not adding things in, we're actually removing something. Removing one source of unnecessary stress. That can be removing one pile, one commitment, one distraction, one expectation, removing one habit that no longer serves you. We spend so much time asking, what should I add to feel better? What should I take? What should I do? Where should I go? Who should I see? Maybe a better question is what can I stop carrying to feel better? So this week's wellness reset is that I don't want you to start another complicated wellness routine. I actually want you to find one hidden energy leak. And if you you think, oh my gosh, I have 12, take a look at your 12 and pick the one that's going to give you the biggest impact in the most areas of your life, but just pick one and do something about it. Maybe it's going to be cleaning one drawer or finishing one task that you've been avoiding. Maybe it's going to be turning off notifications for a few hours or saying no to one unnecessary commitment. Maybe it's creating 10 minutes of quiet time. Whatever it is, I want you to notice how you feel afterward. Because sometimes the fastest way to gain more energy is not by adding another healthy habit. I will repeat that. Sometimes the fastest way to gain more energy is not by adding another healthy habit. It's actually removing something that has quietly been draining you all along. Thank you so much for joining me today. If this episode made you think of someone who has been feeling exhausted lately, I'd love for you to share it with them. And if you'd like more practical wellness strategies, coaching resources, or to join our free limitless living community, visit me at fredericadavis.com. Be sure to give our show a great review. We really value your reviews and it helps other people find the show as well. So until Saturday, when we get to talk about passion, purpose, identity, and living that limitless life, be rooted, be resilient, and be limitless.