What’s draining your battery right now?

by Angela Darar

Have you ever noticed how your phone seems to be draining battery far quicker when you’ve got too many apps open at once? Even if you’re not actively using them, they’re still running in the background, quietly draining energy.

It made me think about how similar that is to how many business leaders operate day to day.

There’s always something open. Conversations that haven’t quite been closed. Tasks that are half done. Decisions waiting to be made. Things you said you’d come back to but haven’t yet. Individually, none of it feels overwhelming, but collectively it builds up and starts to drain you.

This time of year seems to bring that into focus even more. We’re moving into a period where bank holidays and time away start to appear in the calendar. People are off, workloads shift, and there’s often a sense of either catching up or preparing to hand things over. It can feel like you’re constantly juggling, but never quite fully present in what you’re doing.

That’s where the real drain happens.

Not necessarily from the volume of work, but from the number of things left open in your mind. The mental load of trying to carry everything at once. What we often see is that leaders don’t actually need to do more. They need to close things. Clear things. Or delegate them properly so they’re not still running in the background. Because until you do, that energy keeps getting pulled away from where it’s actually needed.

Next month, I’ll be taking a short break with a friend. It’s a good reminder of how important it is to properly step away at times. Not just physically, but mentally as well. That space, even if it’s brief, allows you to reset, think more clearly, and come back with a different perspective.

It’s not always easy to do, especially when there’s a lot going on around you. But even small moments of stepping back, creating space, or removing yourself from the noise can make a noticeable difference.

So it might be worth asking yourself, what’s currently open that doesn’t need to be? And what could you close, clear, or pass on, so you’re not running on 1% more often than you should be?