Zap Your Energy Zapper

It’s a new year and I have a new question for you!

What is your Energy Zapper?

As you go about your day to day activities, what drains your energy?  Puts a frown on your face?  Instantly changes your mood (and not for the better)?

(Please do not answer by naming your spouse, significant other or family members.  Addressing those issues is above my pay grade.)

Once you name your Zapper, can you come up with a fix?  An Energy Zapper Zapper?  Ask around…you’d be surprised at some of the great suggestions you will hear.

My Energy Zapper

For me, it’s keeping track of all my passwords.  Uggghh!

I love how technology, especially my phone apps, makes many of my daily activities (banking, shopping, even parking) easier.  Well, I just bought a new phone and needed to re-input all my passwords.  A time-consuming task fraught with peril!

My first clue that it did not go well happened on my way out of the Apple store. I went to Starbucks and my trusted app did not work.  I had to sign in.  What was the password?  The Energy Zapping began – and I still needed coffee!

Luckily, I have a brother who works in tech.  If you do not have one, I recommend that you get one.  He told me about an app that creates complex passwords and saves them all in one place.  More security and less stress.  

The app requires a small fee…and dedicated time to set up all my accounts with a new secured password.  About 4 hours to be exact. Yes, it took a while, but now that it’s done, no more energy being zapped!  And I feel the power every time I open an app.

Other Energy Zappers

I asked some friends about their Energy Zappers:

• Brian owned a bunch of season tickets for sporting events and spent so much time on Stub Hub getting rid of tickets he wasn’t using.  What started out as a convenience became a chore. Sometimes when he was busy, he would forget to sell the tickets.  He hated that feeling of wasting time and money.  Energy zapped.

The solution: Brian decided to get rid of two of his season tickets and just buy tickets for the games he wanted to attend.  (He swears it has nothing to do with the Bears’ quarterback situation.)

• Angie loved to cook, but always felt a little stressed around 4 pm each day as she starting thinking about dinner.  She hated running to the grocery store on her way home from work.  The extra time… and how about trying to remember what ingredients she had at home vs. what she needed to buy?  She often decided it was easier to order in from a restaurant or just go out.  Energy zapped.

The solution:  A food delivery service that fits her family’s dietary needs.  All the ingredients ready for her to cook! She’s been doing this for a few months and her family enjoys the meals.  While the service isn’t cheap, Angie figures she’s actually saving money as they don’t order in or go out as often.  And the best part – her kids even enjoy making the dinners with her.  Or as she says, I paid for fennel and got family time!

Can you Zap your Energy Zapper?

I hope these examples will inspire you to really think about your Energy Zappers.   If spending some money will help bring back your energy, you may need to adjust your spending in other areas.  If it’s an activity that takes too much time, there may be a better way!

I would love to hear how you zapped your Energy Zappers.  Send a note to me at sreiches@rrcapital.com.