I’m kicking off 2025 by talking about Energy + how to get more of it. (Isn’t that something we all need, at this time of year?). If you missed it, you can find last week’s essay here.

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I have all kinds of deep thoughts + analytical models about energy in my brain.

But today, I thought I’d cut to the chase + share something that increases energy for pretty much everyone.

Here it is:

Cut out your Pleasure Buttons. (For a while.)

A “Pleasure Button,” to me, is any artificial shortcut to feeling good. It’s fast, it’s easy, it doesn’t require maintaining a complex relationship with another human or training for a 10k. With the press of a button, you feel good again!

(And, for the Katie Seaver superfans out there, you may remember I’ve been writing about them since 2017!)

Some examples of Pleasure Buttons might be:

M&Ms + deep dish pizza
Reddit, YouTube, or NewYorkTimes.com
Shopping
Cleaning out your email inbox
Making lists
That gummy or glass of wine in the evening
And all those other things that might be a little embarrassing to mention out loud: pot, masturbation, internet porn, other drugs, etc.

On one hand, I’m not anti-Pleasure Buttons. Goodness knows I use some myself.

But if you’re trying to get more energy, one thing I’ve observed is this: Cutting out your pleasure buttons (for a while) will increase your energy.

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Do you notice that I keep saying “for a while”?

The good news about this practice, is: any amount works.

Of course — like most things in life — the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. But even if you don’t have very much time or energy to put into it, you will still get returns.

Some examples of what this might look like, in 10 minutes/day:

Lying on the floor (e.g., no Pleasure Buttons at all) for 10 minutes
Taking 10 minutes of your typical Pleasure Button time (e.g., when you read your phone after dinner) and: reading an actual book, journaling, stretching, taking a bath.
Just not pulling your phone out while you wait in line at the grocery store or for your kid at school — just zoning out and gazing at the sky, instead.

Or, if you have more energy + time to “invest” to this practice (and want to get more upside) you might consider:

No screens after dinner
Not eating sweets or treats for a whole day
Taking a day to stay off of all of your favorite internet sites
Waiting until 2 pm (or some other time) to indulge in your favorite Pleasure Buttons

I love this practice, because it works for people at any point in the exhaustion-to-thriving spectrum.

Completely exhausted, burnt-out, mom-of-3-with-a-big-job? (I’ve had you as my client ☺)

Not-that-tired, but also not-that-motivated twenty-something who wants to get motivated for some tough work (I’ve also you as my client, too ☺).

Cutting out some number of pleasure buttons, for some amount of time, is a surprisingly reliable way to increase energy.

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Stay tuned for my next 2 essays, about Getting Your Energy Back.

In the meantime, your challenge this week is to try this even once. Cut out some pleasure buttons, for some amount of time — and let me know what it does to your energy!

As always, I’m rooting for you. You’ve got this.

Katie

p.s. I maintain a small, high-end 1:1 life coaching practice. If you’d like to be my next client, learn more or reach out here.

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Getting your energy back (Part 2)

Getting your energy back (Part 1)