If you want your daily life to feel lighter and calmer, say goodbye to these 5 draining habits

by Lachlan Brown | August 27, 2025, 8:42 pm

Ever feel like you’re constantly running on empty, even when you haven’t actually done that much?

I get it. There are days when I wake up already feeling behind, like I’m swimming upstream against an endless current of tasks, notifications, and mental clutter.

The weird thing is, it’s often not the big, obvious stressors that drain us the most. It’s the small, sneaky habits we’ve normalized—the ones that chip away at our energy throughout the day without us even realizing it.

You know what I’m talking about. The constant phone checking. The mental juggling act of trying to do everything at once. The way we’ve trained ourselves to always be “on.”

Here’s what I’ve learned: sometimes the path to feeling lighter isn’t about adding more wellness practices to your routine. It’s about identifying and ditching the energy-sucking habits that are quietly making your days feel heavier than they need to be.

Let’s talk about five of the biggest culprits.

1. Letting distractions ruin your focus

Here’s something that completely changed how I think about productivity: every time you get distracted, your brain doesn’t just pick up where it left off.

UC Irvine researchers discovered something pretty eye-opening: every time you get pulled away from what you’re doing, it takes your brain over 23 minutes to actually get back in the groove. Those “quick interruptions” aren’t so quick after all .

Think about your typical day. Your phone buzzes with a text. You answer it quickly, then try to get back to that email, but now you’re thinking about lunch plans.

Sound familiar?

Our brains aren’t designed for this constant switching. Every transition requires mental energy—energy that could be spent actually getting things done instead of just trying to remember what you were doing five minutes ago.

2. Trying to multitask everything

I hate to break it to you, but that thing we all think makes us productivity superstars? It’s actually making us worse at everything.

Here’s the thing about multitasking – it’s basically a myth. Despite what we all like to think, juggling multiple things at once doesn’t make us more productive. In fact, it can slash your efficiency by up to 40% .

Forty percent. That’s nearly half your brainpower just… gone.

I learned this the hard way during a particularly hectic period where I was trying to write while answering emails, taking calls, and planning my next project all at the same time. I felt busy and important, but at the end of the day, nothing was actually done well.

The reality is that when you think you’re multitasking, your brain is actually rapidly switching between tasks—and losing steam with every switch. It’s like revving your car engine while keeping the brake on. Lots of noise and energy, but you’re not really getting anywhere.

What changed everything for me was embracing what I call “monotasking.” One thing at a time, with full attention.

When I write, I write. When I respond to emails, that’s all I’m doing. When I’m having a conversation, my phone stays face down.

It might feel weird at first, especially if you’re used to the adrenaline rush of juggling ten things at once. But trust me—your brain will thank you for the break.

3. Living glued to your phone

Okay, let’s talk about the elephant in the room—or should I say, the glowing rectangle in your hand.

Get this: the average person is glued to their phone for nearly 5 hours every single day. That’s almost a part-time job’s worth of scrolling, texting, and app-hopping.

Five hours. When I first read that stat, I thought “no way, not me.” Then I actually checked my screen time report. Yikes.

Here’s what I noticed about my phone habits: every time I reached for it, I wasn’t really seeking anything specific. I was just… reaching. It had become this mindless reflex, like scratching an itch that wasn’t actually there.

And the crazy part? Each time I picked it up “just for a second,” I’d somehow end up 20 minutes deep in videos of people organizing their fridges or reading arguments between strangers about pizza toppings.

But the real kicker isn’t just the time—it’s the mental residue. Even after putting the phone down, my brain would still be buzzing with fragments of whatever I’d just consumed. Random thoughts, half-processed information, that weird anxious energy that comes from too much digital stimulation.

I started creating phone-free zones in my day. No scrolling during meals, no checking emails in bed, and definitely no mindless browsing when I’m supposed to be doing something else.

The difference was immediate. Without that constant digital pull, my thoughts felt clearer, my attention span improved, and honestly, I just felt more present in my own life.

Your phone will always be there. Your peace of mind doesn’t have to disappear because of it.

4. Staying sedentary all day

This one might seem obvious, but hear me out—it’s not just about fitness or looking good in your jeans.

Scientists have found that getting your body moving may actually bring down your cortisol levels – that stress hormone that makes you feel wired and exhausted at the same time. 

I used to think that mental exhaustion meant I needed to rest more, sit more, do less. Turns out, I had it backwards.

There was this period where I was spending 10+ hours a day at my desk, barely getting up except for bathroom breaks and the occasional snack run. By evening, I felt mentally fried but also strangely restless—like I was tired and wired simultaneously.

That’s when I realized my body was basically marinating in stress hormones all day with no outlet.

The fix doesn’t have to be complicated. I’m not talking about training for a marathon here. Sometimes I just take a 10-minute walk around the block, do some stretches in my living room, or dance badly to a couple songs while making coffee.

The key is breaking up those long stretches of sitting with literally any kind of movement. Your body needs to shake off that accumulated tension, and your brain needs the reset that comes with getting your blood flowing.

It’s amazing how much lighter everything feels when you give your body permission to move.

5. Saying yes to everything

This one’s a sneaky energy vampire that disguises itself as being helpful, productive, or just plain nice.

You know the drill. Someone asks if you can take on that extra project. Your friend wants you to join another committee. Your colleague needs help with something that’s definitely not your job. And what do you say?

“Sure, no problem.”

Here’s what happens when you’re a chronic yes-person: your calendar becomes a Frankenstein monster of other people’s priorities. You end up rushing from commitment to commitment, never quite present for any of them because you’re already mentally planning the next thing.

The worst part? You start to lose touch with what you actually want to do versus what you think you should do.

I had this wake-up call a few months ago when I realized I’d committed to three different events on the same weekend, plus promised to help a friend move, all while having a deadline looming. I felt like I was drowning in my own good intentions.

That’s when I started practicing what I call “strategic no-ing.” Before automatically saying yes, I pause and ask myself: Does this align with my priorities right now? Do I genuinely have the bandwidth? Or am I just saying yes out of habit?

Learning to say no isn’t about being selfish—it’s about being honest. When you stop overcommitting, you can actually show up fully for the things that matter most.

Your energy is finite. Spend it intentionally.

Final words

Here’s the thing about these draining habits—they’re so woven into our daily routines that we barely notice them anymore. 

But what if it doesn’t have to be?

I’m not saying you need to overhaul your entire life overnight. That’s just setting yourself up for burnout in a different way. Pick one habit that resonated most with you and start there.

Maybe it’s putting your phone in another room for an hour each day. Or choosing to focus on just one task at a time. Or taking a five-minute walk between meetings instead of immediately diving into the next thing.

The goal isn’t perfection—it’s progress toward a life that feels more manageable, more intentional, and yes, lighter.

You don’t have to carry the weight of these energy-draining patterns just because everyone else seems to. Your peace of mind is worth more than staying busy, more than being constantly available, more than saying yes to everything.

Start small, be patient with yourself, and notice how different your days feel when you’re not fighting against these invisible currents of stress.

Your future, calmer self will thank you for it.

Lachlan Brown

Lachlan Brown is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Brown Brothers Media, a digital publishing network reaching tens of millions of readers monthly. He holds a Graduate Diploma of Psychological Studies from Deakin University, though his real education came afterward: a warehouse job shifting TVs, a stretch of anxiety in his mid-twenties, and the slow discovery that studying the mind is not the same as learning how to live well. He started experimenting with Buddhist principles during breaks at the warehouse and eventually began writing about what he was learning. That writing became Hack Spirit, a widely read personal development site, and his book Hidden Secrets of Buddhism became a bestseller. His work breaks down complex ideas into frameworks people can apply immediately, whether they are navigating a career change, a difficult relationship, or the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. Lachlan splits his time between Singapore and Saigon. He writes about high-performance routines, decision-making under pressure, digital innovation, and the intersection of Eastern philosophy with modern life. His perspective comes from having built things from scratch, failed at some of them, and learned that clarity comes from practice, not theory.