I bought a new kettle this week. A fancy glass one with four pre-set temperatures. I know, I know, we are living life on the edge here at Thompson Towers.

The old kettle was so old and tired the on switch wouldn't stay on. How annoying is that?

I had, however, developed a cunning little workaround of weighing down the on switch with the scrubby washing-up brush. Except then of course it doesn't turn off so I have to remember to go back in the middle of cleaning my teeth or whatever and catch it when it boils.

It was not until I had my shiny new kettle boiling away like a dream that I realised what a ridiculous time consuming rigmarole the old situation with the kettle was.

It annoyed me every single morning, and a couple of cuppa times throughout the day. Every day! For, I am embarrassed to say, about six months.

And now. Ahhhhhhhh! Nothing. Kettle just boils. Just like that. Easy. Bliss. My day starts perfectly.

Why on earth did I wait so long to replace my sort of working but, let's face it, broken kettle? It was a drain on my energy and my attention three times a day, every single day.

The new kettle hardly broke the bank so it's not a money thing. And I am a pretty organised person so it's not a logistics thing. What then?

I have decided it's a "workaround" thing. Because I had a jury-rigged system that was working round the problem I put up with it for five months and 29 days longer than I would if the damn thing had just blown up.

Life I have discovered is full of these jury-rigged workarounds and half-arsed jobs.

Things that sort of work but are basically an energy draining niggle every time we come into contact with them.

I made a niggle list. What in my day-to-day life was I putting up with that was an energy-draining annoyance? The certificates I had had framed but that had not actually made their way on to the wall but gathered dust by the wall. The posh oil pourer thing that doesn't pour properly, giving either a trickle or flooding whatever I am trying to cook.

The fact that somehow we only seem to have one wooden spoon so I am forever washing it up. The lack of a playlist for the gym on my iPhone that I only remember every time I pull my trainers on. And so on.

These are all teeny tiny things. Teeny tiny niggles. But when you are experiencing them two or three times a day or week they all add up to a cumulative low level irritation and a little bit of our happy, positive energy is leaked away.

What's interesting is that all these little niggles only seem to take five minutes or less, (and more often than not, little to no money) to fix. Inspired by the energy boost of the kettle I resolved to address my top five niggles this week. The certificates are up. I have three new wooden spoons. The playlist is done. The fancy oil pourer thing is in the bin. I can't believe how much clearer and lighter I feel! It's no coincidence that I have had an extraordinarily productive week.

By clearing some of the small niggles in life, energy drains are plugged allowing us the headspace to concentrate on the big issues. Try it this week and boost your energy!

Action Step

Write a niggle list. What are the top 10 things in your day-to-day life or environment that irritate you? The overflowing magazine rack where you can't find what you need? The broken zip on your favourite pants? The just too-bright bedside light on your side of the bed? Write them down and then address them, five this week, five next.

Clear the small niggles in your life to give more energy and headspace for the big ones!

Louise Thompson is a life coach, yoga teacher and corporate escapee. For more from Louise visit positivebalance.co.nz.