There are many different kinds of things that require adaptive energy. Any kind of thought or activity that requires our attention uses some adaptive energy. Unique tasks that feel difficult while we are doing them are using that specific kind of mental energy and also use some general adaptive energy. When we encounter something new and we must adapt to it, especially if it is threatening in some way, that requires a lot of energy.
During a given period of wakefulness, there is a limited supply of this energy. After a period of time, when we become tired of being awake, there is a signal from our brain and body telling us that we have used up our general energies and need to rest.
There are specific adaptive energies that are used up much more quickly. For most of us, doing mathematical calculations uses that form of adaptive energy quickly. Gardening uses up that kind of energy much more slowly for most people, and we can putter at that for hours without much strain.
It is when we are required to do things that we don’t like to do, but are compelled by the situation, that our energies get used the most quickly. Therefore, when you know you are going to be confronted by a difficult task, begin with a minute of relaxation and then dive into the difficult parts and finish them with focused energy. Remember that you can not maintain this kind of focus for very long and must complete the task quickly before your adaptive energy is used up. For some difficult things, even a few minutes will be a limit. So before you get started, set out a plan to do those kinds of tasks to some pre-chosen level of completion and stop, and then be prepared to do something else that uses a totally different set of skills.
We can organize our lives to make difficult things routine, so they can be more easily completed and ignored.
Probaway - Life Hacks 
Most people do not realize that their mental energies are sapped by media which overloads our sensory inputs. Humans evolved with modest sensory inputs but technology has created what we call video zombies. The media zombies walk, and talk but they have trouble thinking or responding to real world stimulus or even interacting with people socially. Smart phones, streaming internet video, loud music, all saturate our senses and unbalances the neurotransmitter chemicals within our brains that are required for thought. Modern cities with crowds of chaotic people and activities overwhelm the emergence of what we call mind.
Little wonder that most of our brilliant people come from rural areas where sensory overload allows the emergence of both thought and mind.
Along with a good nights sleep, meditating, reading or even listening to quiet music helps restore that neuro-chemical imbalance to clear the mind and conserve the energy for creative and constructive endeavors. The Eastern philosophies of contemplative meditation is most instructive in this regard. Learning how to breathe and meditate is a restorative technique for bringing video zombies back to life as thinking human beings. If you would restore your mental energy you must first empty your mind of all the nonsense and the over stimulation that surrounds us as media technology induced crowds of zombies. Quiet Meditations allow you to hear the faint whispers from own mind to begin to know, and understand, yourself and perhaps the universe and our place within it.
I agree with R. Lee Darby and do practice most of those things. I don’t listen to music, or news or anything else much of the time. When I am driving my car, I’m driving my car and watch carefully for other people to make mistakes. Most of my drives are less than three miles through light traffic and yet I almost always see someone do something unnecessarily dangerous. I’ve installed a dashcam and someday may upload some of the obvious failures of intelligent forethought.
I must thank Mr. Darby for his suggestion a while back to get some Thinsulate slippers. They are keeping my feet just right warm and that clearly reduces my stress level. I recommend them to anyone reading this. They don’t cost much and they really work well.