Fatigue can severely impact you at work from a lack of productivity to being a hazard. I can cause you to make mistakes, increase production cost and vehicle or work accidents.
Shift work, unbalanced workloads and a poor workplace environment create tired workers.
Lack of sleep affects your body similar to high blood alcohol levels and impairs your judgement, lowers you motivation, reduces your concentration and your reaction time.
Being a parent is another big factor for exhaustion. Especially mothers of young children who also work outside the home are highly susceptible to fatigue.
What exactly is fatigue
The Mayo Clinic Staff describes the two distinct types of fatigue this way:
“Instances of temporary fatigue usually have an identifiable cause and a likely remedy.
Unrelenting exhaustion, on the other hand, lasts longer, is more profound, and isn’t relieved by rest. It’s a nearly constant state of weariness that develops over time and reduces your energy, motivation and concentration. Fatigue at this level impacts your emotional and psychological well-being, too.”
When tiredness lingers on, it is time to have a look at the causes. That’s when the word fatigue pops up to describe the overall feeling of a lack of vitality and energy and usually a lack motivation.
Play “Fatigue Detective”
Once you have realized that you’re suffering from fatigue, your job is to discover the root cause of your unrelenting fatigue.
First you have to understand the symptoms of your fatigue.
Second you have to figure out what kind of fatigue you’re suffering from: acute or chronic.
Address Your Fatigue on Your Own
Once you have learned more about the cause of your fatigue, it is time to address lifestyle causes of your tiredness.
Have you ever considered that the stress of an unhealthy relationship could also be behind your fatigue?
This is a trial and error job that is not necessarily easy. There is no blood test to find its cause. It is always helpful to you have and accountability partner working with you on this.
Aim for at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
Drink enough water and stay away from any drink that has sugar (even fruit sugar) in it.
Is it time to lay off caffeine for a bit?
Check if some reasonable exercise, relaxing activities like yoga and meditation are an option?
Pinpoint your stress sources and work on finding solutions. Don’t forget to consider the stress of an unhealthy relationship.
Ask for help from others.
Dig Deeper With Help of a Medical Person
If the fatigue continues and these steps don’t help in the long term, you’ll have to dig deeper. As I said this is a trial and error procedure. The symptoms don’t come with a label attached that tell you the cause.
When nothing you did made any change maybe it is time to consider contacting a medical professional. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help. About 10 million patients seek medical help each year due to symptoms of fatigue.
Your fatigue could also be from an existing ailment and the prescribed medications. The more you know about when this fatigue started. What was happening at that time in your life, the more a doctor can help you.
