Episode 484: 5 Ways to Protect Your Energy (Mindset & Self-Care) with Megan Porta

EBT484 – Megan Porta

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Sponsor  00:37

Hi, food bloggers it is Ella from Alpine Ella. Picture this, food photography and blog posts without the hassle. That’s where I come in. I offer food photography and blog post writing services tailored just for you. Email me at [email protected]. And let’s chat about how I can bring value to your business.

Megan Porta  00:57

Hello food bloggers Welcome to this self care and mindset focused episode of Eat BlogTalk. Today we are going to talk about five ways to protect your energy. It took me a really long time to understand that I do not have an unlimited supply of energy. And that when I overspend my personal source of energy, bad things happen. In this episode, we will talk about the importance of protecting your energy as well as five ways to do this. Without energy, we do not run. It’s not even that we don’t run efficiently, we just don’t run. And when we don’t run, we cannot take care of ourselves. And we certainly cannot take care of other people. We cannot do the things we’re made to do in this world, we cannot thrive. We aren’t motivated, our drive is gone and a biggie for me. We can’t have fun when we don’t have energy. 

Megan Porta  01:58

I ran on seemingly endless amounts of energy until my 30s when I pushed myself way too far and had a breakdown. 2011 was the worst year of my life hands down. I learned a very hard and important lesson that year. And that is that protecting my energy is absolutely vital. There are so many things and people I love in this life that I’ve been blessed with. And if I want to enjoy these things, I need energy. It’s really as simple as that. The past 12 years have been a journey for me just of learning the best ways to protect this precious resource so I can continue to live and love life. Let’s talk through the five ways that you can protect your energy. 

Megan Porta  02:48

Number one is analyze historical data. As I get older life patterns become more evident to me. And also as I get older, I see the value in evaluating these patterns. Anything that has happened is considered to be data that we can work with. We cannot change anything in the past. So we may as well use it as a learning tool, right? I will illustrate this point with a little story this past September was the start of a pretty difficult season for me. In mid-September 2023 I caught a nasty cold, which started this cycle of sickness and not feeling well for nearly three months. Somewhere in the middle of the stretch, I remembered that I had experienced a very similar situation the year prior. So this is what September of 2022 looked like the year before this. It was the start of a new school year. We were catching up from taking time off in the summer. I was getting up earlier in the day. I was also keeping track of our boys schedules and activities, driving them to and from school and activities. My husband Dan had foot surgery during that time as well. At the end of that September, I hosted a blog retreat. At this point, I was absolutely spent and I got really sick during that retreat. After that my mom passed away. I experienced grief for the following few months. I just never felt like I was keeping up with work during that time either. 

Megan Porta  04:26

That was my September 2022 snapshot here is my September 2023 snapshot. It was the start of a new school year. I was again catching up from taking time off in the summer, getting up earlier to get the boys off to school and get going with work. I was keeping track of boys schedules and activities driving to and from school and activities also hosted a blog retreat at the end of September in this year as well. And at this point, I was spent and got sick again. Then we experienced the one year anniversary of my mom was passing a few new big work projects were on my plate at this time too. We started Flavor Media. I also started a second blog started an accountability group for food bloggers, I was recruiting for the mastermind and mini minds groups I had my other blog to keep up with in the podcast, oh my gosh, which all led me to believe that I needed to work in the evenings and on weekends, which did not help at all. There are so many parallels with the timing and events and the way my body and mind responded to all of these things from 2022. And on to 23. None of it was a coincidence, this was an energy issue that I had to deal with both years, my body and my mind were massively energy deprived, I had depleted my resources and somehow expected to keep operating at normal capacity. Just the simple fact of being aware of these patterns is going to help me to manage my future energy. 

Megan Porta  06:00

So in 2024, these are the things that I hope to change. I’m going to allow extra downtime in early September to adjust to the school year and a new schedule, I will not to be adding any new projects to my work world in the fall, I am going to consider hosting my blog retreat a different month, I will be more strict with my work hours, so no night or weekend working. And I’m going to be much more diligent about consistency with my exercise, journaling and meditation during that time. It all starts with awareness. If you are feeling off or crappy in some way, just evaluate how things were last year at the same time, or maybe last season at the same time or last month. Or maybe there are days of the week or times of the day even that your energy sinks. Whatever the pattern is, notice it, evaluate it and change it. 

Megan Porta  06:57

Number two is evaluate your people. This can be a really touchy subject, because we can be really protective of the people in our inner circles or just in our lives. Even if they deplete our energy. Most people have family members or friends who drain their energy reserves. And it can feel like there’s nothing we can do, except just put up with it. This is how I operated for a lot of my life. I played the victim not only allowing draining people into my circle, but then complaining about how much they drained me, the energy I wasted on all of this nonsense. Here’s the thing with this, it might feel really tricky, because you don’t want to tell your mom or your aunt to buzz off, right? That’s rude. This isn’t feasible in most situations. Obviously, if there is some sort of abuse involved, or other serious issues cutting people off completely may need to happen. But most of the time, there are ways to manage this without having to do this. My mother passed away as I mentioned, so I will say what I’m about to say with the most respect and love possible. I loved her dearly, and I miss her so so much. But she was not a human that radiated positivity. She had an extremely pessimistic and cynical view of the world. And she said this about herself all the time. So this is something that even she recognized. To state this bluntly, but nicely, she often rained on my parade throughout my whole life. There are many, many wonderful things that have happened in my life that I did not share with my mother, out of fear of being judged or ridiculed. This was my way of preserving my energy, I knew the types of things she would respond negatively to, so I just didn’t go there. Instead, I did my best to control the topics we would chat about. I would keep it to talking about artwork and food and creative subjects because she was super positive about all of that. And I did my best to avoid the topics that I knew would set her off and therefore deplete my energy. 

Megan Porta  09:08

If there’s someone in your life that depletes your energy, try limiting engagement with certain topics, do what you can to minimize the amount of energy you spend being in their presence. When you evaluate your inner circle, which I really strongly recommend that you do. Sometimes you will pinpoint energy drains that you can eliminate or drastically reduce your exposure to. People can be messy. We all know this right? My husband says this all the time, but we can control the amount of messiness most of the time. 

Megan Porta  09:42

Number three manage inputs and outputs. I am a self-proclaimed expert in this area and you will hear why in just a bit. By inputs and outputs, I’m referring to the information that reaches our senses that’s inputs, and the way that we respond to them outputs. When I get set up for my podcast interviews, I plug my microphone into the computer. And I put my earbuds into my ears. My audio software receives my voice as its input, and it delivers sound to my ears as output. As humans, we receive a lot of input throughout our days. And as entrepreneurs, we receive even more input, I believe, we have family members talking to us and needing things from us. We have social media and the news and emails for work and emails from school, and information about activities. We have our calendar screaming at us. We have friends and spouses and extended family requesting our time and energy. That’s just the start of it. So many other things come into our realm every single day.

Megan Porta  10:52

If we don’t manage what comes in our resources will literally be drained before lunchtime. The good news is that we can manage what comes in this is also known as boundaries. And we can also manage how much energy we choose to use up to respond to what is coming in. I mentioned that I am an expert in this field, and I will share why I have this child he is my oldest child and he is one of the most amazing humans on planet Earth. If you’ve met Elijah, you know exactly what I’m talking about. One of the reasons he’s so awesome is because he is high input. He produces words galore so much love hugs, requests, opinions, thoughts, questions, you name it. I love that he has like this. He wears his heart on his sleeve. And nobody ever questions what this kid is thinking, or feeling or wanting. Watching a movie with said kid can be an intense experience. To say the least. Here is a little rundown of how our movie watching experiences go. First of all, he has to control the remote. Within the first two minutes, he is already pausing to ask questions about who the bad guy might be whether or not I think the main character looks like grandpa, how old that little boy is in real life. Whether or not he’s still alive. When the movie was released, whether or not the sequel is better than the original, how old the actors are. And on and on. You might think I’m joking, but I am not joking. I adore my time with this kid. So I do not get upset with him. I don’t shut him down completely anyway. But I definitely do manage the inputs and the way I respond to him, which is my output. If I did not do this, I would be in a pile on the floor 20 minutes into the movie. I manage my outputs by doing three things. Thumbs up, thumbs down, and shoulder shrugs. I don’t talk because that’s valuable energy. I simply do one of those three things every time he says something. And he’s happy with that for the most part. Occasionally, I do ask him to please stop the questions and comments. But it always starts back up. Elijah, if you’re listening, I love you. 

Megan Porta  13:14

Throughout your day, you have the ability to manage how much information is coming at you, and you have the ability to manage how you respond to it. Here are some suggestions about how to manage inputs and outputs throughout your day. You can stop or cut back on watching the news. I do not watch the news ever. And this is a huge, huge energy save, stop or cut back on social media and or internet scrolling. Oh my goodness, this is a biggie for so many of us. And it can so drastically help to preserve your energy. Only dip into your email one to two times a day or hire someone to give your email a once through before you even look at it. Here’s another one that we might not often think about as being an energy depleting act. And that is minimizing drama or gossip or just shutting it down completely. Or stop yourself from overthinking or over analyzing a situation. This one can be such a major energy drain for me. 

Megan Porta  14:17

Number four, make a plan. I talked to a lot of people throughout the week. And one thing I’m always blown away by is how little time entrepreneurs spend on planning. Planning is like salt. A simple sprinkling of salt on a plate of food can go a really long way. A really tiny bit can literally transform a bland dish. Planning is the same. A few minutes of planning will transform your week, it will allow you to show up with an agenda so you don’t have to expend as much energy. Think of those times when you start a new month or week or even just a new day without the slight inclination as to what you’re going to do. You flail, you scramble, you stress out, you might work on the wrong things or get distracted by social media or who knows what else. That is precious energy that you are using up. But when you take 15 minutes to plan out your week before it begins or five minutes to plan out your day before it starts, you can show up with purpose efficiently doing the things that help you move towards your goals. And with minimal energy expended. I found that people get annoyed by planning because it’s not something they can check off their to do list. When in reality, putting in the time upfront to plan will help you glide through your to do list with so much less energy than if you didn’t plan. 

Megan Porta  15:43

Here are some ways I suggest planning in order to preserve your energy. Carve out a four-hour chunk of time to plan the year ahead. Set aside one hour to plan each quarter, and 30 minutes to plan each month. Put 15 minutes in your calendar every week to plan the week before it starts and spend five minutes in the morning planning out each day. This includes work of course, but don’t forget self-care, learning and family and relationship time as well. 

Megan Porta  16:14

Number five, fill your tank. So far we have talked about avoiding or managing the things that deplete your energy. Now let’s talk about prioritizing adding energy to your tank. Awareness is key with this one as well. My list of things that give me energy is not going to be the same as yours. Carry a little notebook around with you for a day or a week. And note all the things that make you feel good. Those things that really fill you up and just make you feel filled instantly with energy. That song you hear on the radio that makes you stop everything you’re doing and just lights you up, the talk you have with your best friend, the walk you take through the woods, the smell of bread baking in the oven. When I’m needing a quick burst of energy, I have a few go to things I go looking for. 

Megan Porta  17:04

Those things include a nap, a hug from my husband, oh my gosh, that man is like a source of positive energy for me. I love his hugs, and they work every time quality time with my boys or a walk outside. Most of the time one of these things fills my energy tank. If you’re feeling like someone just siphon your energy straight from your soul. Open your notebook and pick one of your personal energy sources and go find it, go play it, go do it whatever you need to do to restore some of what has been depleted. 

Megan Porta  17:38

To summarize, I’ve left you with five ways you can protect your energy. Number one, analyze your own personal historical data, recognize those patterns. Number two, evaluate your people. Number three, manage your inputs and outputs. Number four, make a plan. And number five, fill your tank. Protecting your energy is going to help keep you running optimally it allows you to take care of yourself and others. And it allows you to not just take up space on this planet but instead to thrive on this planet and do those things you are here to do. I would love it if you sent me an email or an Instagram direct message and let me know your thoughts on this episode. What fills up your tank? What things do you do to protect your energy if you have any other ideas, thoughts or suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you guys so much. And I will see you next time. 

Outro  18:39

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on the blog talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service where other food bloggers and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode. Here on Eat Blog Talk in 2024. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.