What Can Mental Exhaustion Feel Or Look Like
The symptoms of fatigue are different for everyone. However, as stressors slowly build up over long periods of time, we might not recognize the impact right away. In fact, the people around us may notice changes in our behavior before we do.
Weve listed a few examples of the impact mounting stressors may have below. If you recognize these symptoms in yourself, you may be suffering from burnout.
A Challenging Life Event
An event that completely turns your life upside down can put a great deal of strain on your mental health.
Oftentimes, people experience different types of grief as a result. Normal or uncomplicated grief causes short-term mental fatigue. Complicated grief, like the death of a loved one or a divorce, can bring on mental fatigue that impacts your mental health over a long period.
Other factors contributing to mental fatigue include poor nutrition, lack of sleep, clutter, or compassion and empathy fatigue. Once you identify the causes, start by taking steps to alleviate your symptoms.
Give Yourself Permission To Relax
People often complain about not having enough time, but they sometimes don’t recognize their mental exhaustion. Here are 5 simple tips to recharge mentally that don’t require much of a commitment or the use of energy you don’t have.
1. Spot small opportunities to rest your mind.
Like many people, whenever I have a spare second you’ll find me clicking around on my phone. I like to do this, except when I’m feeling mentally exhausted. If I know I need to rest my mind, I’ll use those little spaces of time to do some “mindfulness lite.” This is usually as simple as just feeling the physical sensation of my body standing, and doing some slow breathing. You can pay attention to any physical sensatione.g., the feeling of your feet making contact with the ground, or the positioning of your hips or shoulders. This is mindfulness for real life and it doesn’t need to be complicated.
2. Reduce excess sensory input, or go mono-sensory.
Take a break from excess light and noise. Spend a few minutes sitting in a dark, silent room and notice how relaxing it is.
Take steps to reduce the excess sensory input you encounter in a typical day. For example, wear headphones on the subway, turn off the TV when you’re not watching it, use night shift mode on your phone, and/or get some blackout curtains. Do whatever will reduce excess, unpleasant sensory input in your life.
3. Give yourself permission to relax.
4. Stop being unrealistic about how much you can get done.
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Stretch Out Your Tired Body With Yoga
Theres a reason it feels so good to stretch when you wake up. Overnight, during REM sleep, your muscles are literally paralyzed , and reactivating them releases energy-stimulating endorphins.
Pro-tip: If you have a bit of time for morning yoga, take it just 25 minutes has been shown to boost energy levels and brain function.
Cold showers are reported to reduce sick-day absences from work. If you dont want to take a full shower, a splash of cold water to the face, to signal a temperature change to your body, may also do the trick.
Is getting out of bed the main problem? Keep a spray bottle or water mist by your bedside table so you can lean over and mist yourself without even opening your eyes!
Pro-tip: One cult-favorite product is Saborinos Morning Face Mask from Japan, which has essential oils to activate your senses. In one minute, this sheet mask cleanses, invigorates, and moisturizes your skin.
Note: People with sensitive skin may want to avoid this product.
research does say that skipping this first meal can negatively affect your energy and ability to pay attention throughout the day.
Food is fuel. Give your body some calories to put it into action at the start of the day.
But if youre working out in the morning, remember to eat after, not before. This will burn more calories, boost your metabolism, and help you avoid an unsettled stomach.
Reach for a combination of fatigue-fighting foods like lean proteins, whole grains, nuts, and lower-sugar fruits.
Sleep Suggestions For Fighting Fatigue
A common cause of fatigue is not enough sleep, or poor quality sleep. Suggestions include:
- Get enough sleep two-thirds of us suffer from sleep problems, and many people dont get the sleep they need to stay alert through the day. Some recommendations on getting a good nights sleep include: go to bed and get up in the morning at the same time every day, avoid naps through the day, and have a warm bath or shower before bed.
- Limit caffeine too much caffeine, particularly in the evening, can cause insomnia. Limit caffeinated drinks to five or less per day, and avoid these types of drinks after dinner.
- Learn how to relax a common cause of insomnia is fretting about problems while lying in bed. Experiment with different relaxation techniques until you find one or two that work for you for example, you could think of a restful scene, focus on your breathing, or silently repeat a calming mantra or phrase.
- Avoid sleeping pills sleeping pills are not a long-term solution because they dont address the causes of insomnia.
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Reconsider Your Working Conditions
If your job consistently demands more time and mental energy than you can realistically put in, it may not be a sustainable long-term career option.
Of course, you may not necessarily have the option of giving notice and taking time to search for another job. Also, coming home from work and spending the small amount of free time you do have on job hunting might only exhaust you more.
However, it can help to consider the options you do have open to you. For example, you might:
- set firmer boundaries around working hours so you can rest and relax each day
- ask your supervisor about potential workplace changes that could ease some of the burden
- set aside a few hours each week to search for a new job
- take 20 minutes each day to network and explore job opportunities
Mental Fatigue And Modern Lifestyle
In the past, the vast majority of jobs demanded physical effort. Nowadays, prevailing jobs are knowledge-based and demand mental effort. As a result, people have too much on their plate: long working hours, commuting, families, mortgages, and deadlines. When we continually deal with stressful situations, our cortisol levels increase, and mental exhaustion takes its place.
In a survey in 2007, 65.7% of USA workers stated that they experienced mental exhaustion at work. Consequently, it negatively affected their productivity at work. Apart from its influence on work-life, mental fatigue tremendously affects peoples social and private lives. Furthermore, this type of exhaustion is one of the symptoms in serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimers disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and many others.
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Give Your Eyes A Break
Staring at a computer for long hours while you work causes eye fatigue, which can tire you out and affect your ability to focus.
Every once in a while, look away from your computer screen. Focus on distant objects or gaze out the window for a minute. Lowering your screen’s brightness can also help your eyes.
If you manage a workplace, consider this computer workstations advice from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration .
Be Selfish With Your Time
You need to learn to be selfish with your time in a variety of ways. You cannot say yes to everything and you need to be sure that you set aside time each day for your own self-care needs. Whether this is working out, taking a nap, seeing a therapist, or meditating, you need to be sure that you have the time that you need to take care of yourself. You should also be selfish with your time at work and when engaging with family. If you feel too tired to engage in an extra activity like a party or an extra project, say no.
Your mental well-being is more important than making a family member happy or taking on extra work that you do not have the emotional bandwidth for at work.
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Build Your Workday Around Your Energy Levels
No matter how much you sleep, how many miles you run, or how even you keep your blood sugar levels, youll experience natural ebbs and flows in your energy throughout the day. Those are your ultradian rhythms.
Ultaradian rhythms are driven by a whole host of things happening in your body hormone levels, metabolic processes, cardiovascular functioning and they affect your energy, mood, and cognitive functioning. These rhythms take the form of 90-minute peaks of energy followed by a 20-minute trough that repeats throughout the day with the peaks trending lower and lower as the day goes on.
You cant escape the natural rhythms of your body, so plan your day to work with them. Heres how:
- Identify your rhythms. While everyone experiences ultradian rhythms, they wont occur at the same time for everyone. Take a week to note your energy levels throughout the day. Look for patterns for when your energy levels are highest and lowest. Heres a weekly log courtesy of Daniel Pink you can print and keep at your desk. Set an alarm every 90 minutes and rate your mental alertness and energy levels.
When your energy levels are high do:
- Your not urgent and important tasks the ones that always get pushed off to later because they dont have deadlines
- Your cognitively demanding tasks that require focus aka your deep work
- Any important decision-making and planning
When your energy levels are low:
Lifestyle Suggestions For Fighting Fatigue
Suggestions include:
- Dont smoke cigarette smoke contains many harmful substances. There are many reasons why smokers typically have lower energy levels than non-smokers for example, for the body to make energy it needs to combine glucose with oxygen, but the carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the amount of oxygen available in the blood.
- Increase physical activity physical activity boosts energy levels, while a sedentary lifestyle is a known cause of fatigue. Physical activity has many good effects on the body and mind. A good bout of exercise also helps you sleep better at night. Seek advice and encouragement regarding the steps you can take toward a more active lifestyle and talk to your doctor if you havent exercised in a long time, are obese, are aged over 40 years or have a chronic medical condition.
- Move more, sit less reduce sedentary behaviours such as watching television and using computers, and break up long bouts of sitting.
- Seek treatment for substance abuse excessive alcohol consumption or recreational drug use contribute to fatigue, and are unhealthy and potentially dangerous.
- Workplace issues demanding jobs, conflicts at work and burnout are common causes of fatigue. Take steps to address your work problems. A good place to start is to talk with your human resources officer.
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Mental Fatigue: Proven Methods For Overcoming A Tired Brain
Do you feel drained, exhausted, and overwhelmed? Youre not alone. Like millions of others, youre likely suffering from mental fatigue. Below, youll learn exactly what mental fatigue is, its main causes, and what steps you can take to overcome it. Achieve mental clarity and inner peace with this guide to beating mental fatigue.
Tips To Overcome Mental Fatigue
Knowing the root cause of your fatigue is the first step to overcoming it. Reflect on your lifestyle and routine to discover what causes mental fatigue. You can then work with the best solution to regain clarity and energy. Remember to give yourself some time to heal and regain strength, as there is no quick-fix cure for mental fatigue. Here are seven tips to get you started.
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Tips For Fighting Mental Fatigue
Presentation Skills Training, Author, Columnist Business Trends & Insights, Clarion Enterprises Ltd.
Summary
If you deal with mental fatigue, it’s probably time to take action. Learn how to improve mental fatigue with these seven tips.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed just thinking about all your responsibilities? Do you find yourself snapping at others who seem too laid back? Have you given up your favorite hobbies because of work and personal responsibilities?
You may be suffering from mental fatigue, and there are ways to fight it so you can refocus your energy and improve your mood.
Hold On To Healthy Habits
Getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, and eating a nutritious diet can have major effects on your mental health. In fact, a study recently showed that high amounts of sugar in ones diet can have negative effects on cognitive function and increase addictive behaviors and mood issues.
Another finding explained how dehydration is linked to depression and other mental health issues, and people should be drinking about half of their body weight in oz of water each day. And of course, most adults should be allowing themselves at least seven hours of sleep per night according to the Center for Disease Control.
Work to maintain the healthy habits youve established, even if you are extremely tired. While mental exhaustion can make it even harder to maintain healthy habits, giving in to the temptation to make negative changes to your lifestyle often makes the problem worse.
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Fix Your Circadian Rhythm
Lack of sleep is a common cause or a side-effect of brain fog. If youre not getting enough sleep, take steps to reset your sleep clock and improve your sleep hygiene.
Improving your sleep alleviates anxiety and stress, lessening the symptoms of mental fatigue. If youre struggling with insomnia, you can reach out to a mental health provider for medical advice or treatment.
Take Care Of Your Physical And Mental Health
In order to look after your mental health, you need to get rid of the bad habits. Instead of eating processed sugars and fast food, you should maintain a healthy diet. Its crucial to drink water avoid soda and commercial juices. Exercising is of the utmost importance! Also, dont ignore the signals that your body is sending you reach out to a friend, or seek help from a specialist. Theres no shame in that.
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Plan Your Tasks Around Your Energy
When you feel you have quite a lot of energy, consider working on important tasks that may not have a specific deadline . You can also focus on deep work tasks, meaning the ones that require a significant amount of focus and cognitive energy. You should also consider giving your attention to any planning that is required, as well as to important decision-making tasks when you have higher levels of energy.
When your energy levels are low, consider tackling personal administrative tasks, responding to emails, reading articles, working on smaller tasks that dont require a lot of cognitive energy, or finding ways to be creative with your work or organizational tasks.
Mental Fatigue Does Not Exacerbate Central Fatigue Induced By Whole
Muscle fatigue can be caused by peripheral and/or central alterations . As expected, mental fatigue did not exacerbate peripheral fatigue induced by the whole-body ET. The main aim of this study was to investigate whether mental fatigue exacerbates central fatigue induced by whole-body endurance exercise. Contrary to our hypothesis, the reduction in VAL induced by the whole-body ET did not differ between conditions. These results demonstrate for the first time that prolonged engagement with a CT requiring self-regulation does not exacerbate central fatigue during subsequent whole-body endurance exercise. The present findings are similar to those of our previous study showing that mental fatigue does not exacerbate central fatigue induced by submaximal single-joint exercise when measured at exhaustion . Therefore, the present study provides further evidence that the negative effect of mental fatigue on whole-body endurance performance is not mediated by central fatigue.
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Check In With Basic Needs
Sometimes, rest can prove elusive no matter how exhausted you feel.
If youre finding it difficult to recover from prolonged mental or physical fatigue, a good next step might involve exploring whether youre meeting other important needs:
- Nutrition. Aim to eat a balanced diet and drink water throughout the day.
- Physical activity. Even if you dont feel up to a workout, try yoga, gardening, or a walk through your neighborhood.
- Sunlight and fresh air. Spending some time in natural light each day, especially if you arent able to exercise, can also offer health benefits.
- Social support. Sharing your experience with loved ones can help you get the emotional support you need and perhaps even more tangible help from friends and family in a position to offer assistance.
Another important part of self-care? Reaching out for help when you need it. Trusted loved ones can listen and offer emotional support, certainly, but a trained mental health professional can offer guidance with actionable ways to cope with stress and relieve mental fatigue.
Remember, you dont need to have a specific mental health diagnosis to seek therapy. Therapists can offer support with navigating any of lifes challenges and stressors.
Symptoms Of Mental Exhaustion
Although mental exhaustion is primarily associated with your mental health, it can also be detrimental to your physical and emotional wellbeing.
Emotionally, you can experience:
- Chronic physical fatigue, weakness, tiredness
- Trouble sleeping, including insomnia
- Greater susceptibility to illness
Chronic mental fatigue will heighten physical and emotional symptoms. What may otherwise be a minor headache can become a crushing pain when mentally exhausted. A fleeting bout of anxiety in normal circumstances can result in uncontrolled worry.
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