Wake up at 5.30am to catch the bus to the train station, then hop on the LRT to work. Clock in at 8am, then answer the 245 emails that somehow sprouted in the night. Department meeting at 10am, then off to the gerai to tapau lunch. Eat your beehoon goreng in front of the screen while you finish up that powerpoint presentation. Before you know it, it’s 7pm and your tummy’s growling again. You hop on the train for the long commute home, head to the coffee shop to tapau char kway teow, and pass out in front of the TV.
Sounds like your day? So many of us have our schedules packed to the brim. Juggling work, long commutes, and social lives, we end up having no time for ourselves to relax and revive our energy. As time passes, this slowly develops into fatigue. Sometimes, we are so tired that we even fail to realise that we are low on energy!
How Can I Identify Fatigue?
Fatigue can be defined as a stage of extreme tiredness or inability to cope with physical or mental stress in day to day life.
Energy Boosters that Deal with Fatigue
1. Exercise
“Are you crazy? I’m already tired enough. Exercising is only going to tire me out even more!” Wrong. People who exercise regularly actually get more energy and feel happier overall.
Try the Jacobson Progressive Relaxation exercises for 10 minutes a day regularly and soon you’ll notice the difference. Method here. This may help relax you and pave the way for better sleep. This method may also be used by those with insomnia and anxiety.
2. Sleep
Try to sleep early. Research shows that lack of sleep may affect your cognitive abilities, and that good quality sleep is crucial to increase your memory and activity level. You would’ve noticed that after a good night’s sleep you can enjoy the day better, and feel better overall. But the trend today is to maximise your day by minimising your sleep. People sleep late and aim to recover all the lost sleep during the weekends, which isn’t very sustainable in the long run, especially if you have lots of things to do during the weekend too!
What to do:
- If you can’t sleep enough during the week, try sneaking naps whenever you get the chance. Science says short naps (less than 20 mins) can revive your energy.
- Cultivate a sleeping schedule. Instead of tuning into the telly or devouring social media, try going to bed at a set time every night. Maybe try starting at midnight, then if you can, move it forward to 11pm. And so on. Or try going to bed 15 minutes earlier each day until you achieve the optimal hours of sleep (usually 6-8 hours for a healthy adult, some might need more, some less).
3. Do Breathing Exercises
Regular and proper pattern of breathing exercises can help you to calm and soothe your worries. At the same time, a proper breathing pattern established through the exercises can help you maintain intricate areas of lung airspace and breathing muscles.
4. Lose weight
Being overweight or obese could be contributing to your fatigue, as it may increase the strain on your hearts and lungs as well as the larger joints like knee and hip joints. Making better nutritional choices, having a balanced diet and exercising could help drop the pounds.
5. Make time for breaks
Schedule time off from work for a break. It can be a long weekend or a whole week away, as long as you get some time off. It’s better to take a break, than to break down yourself.
6. Take up a hobby
Work can be monotonous, and a hobby could help you take your mind off the stress. It could be your favourite sports like futsal or badminton, it could also be simple things like riding your bicycle, reading or doodling. Indulging in anything that gives you pleasure will help lessen the symptoms of fatigue.
7. Reduce your stress
Stress saps up your energy and leaves you feeling moodless and well, stressed. See the ways you can de-stress here.
Good luck on gaining back your energy!
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Have any tips on how we can reduce fatigue? Share with us in the comments below or on our Facebook page!