diff --git a/markdownify/__init__.py b/markdownify/__init__.py
index 5bd6f84..59bc696 100644
--- a/markdownify/__init__.py
+++ b/markdownify/__init__.py
@@ -140,19 +140,24 @@ def process_tag(self, node, convert_as_inline, children_only=False):
         # Remove whitespace-only textnodes just before, after or
         # inside block-level elements.
         should_remove_inside = should_remove_whitespace_inside(node)
-        for el in node.children:
-            # Only extract (remove) whitespace-only text node if any of the
-            # conditions is true:
-            # - el is the first element in its parent (block-level)
-            # - el is the last element in its parent (block-level)
-            # - el is adjacent to a block-level node
-            can_extract = (should_remove_inside and (not el.previous_sibling
-                                                     or not el.next_sibling)
-                           or should_remove_whitespace_outside(el.previous_sibling)
-                           or should_remove_whitespace_outside(el.next_sibling))
-            if (isinstance(el, NavigableString)
-                    and six.text_type(el).strip() == ''
-                    and can_extract):
+        children = list(node.children)  # Convert to list to avoid repeated iteration
+        for i, el in enumerate(children):
+            # Quick type check first to avoid unnecessary function calls
+            if not isinstance(el, NavigableString):
+                continue
+
+            # Check if the text is entirely whitespace first
+            text = six.text_type(el)
+            if text.strip():
+                continue
+
+            # Determine if we can extract based on position and adjacency
+            can_extract = (
+                (should_remove_inside and (i == 0 or i == len(children) - 1)) or (i > 0 and should_remove_whitespace_outside(children[i - 1])) or (i < len(children) - 1 and should_remove_whitespace_outside(children[i + 1]))
+            )
+
+            # Extract if conditions are met
+            if can_extract:
                 el.extract()
 
         # Convert the children first