“Why am I feeling so tired or exhausted?” Most of us ask this to ourselves at some point of the day. Feeling exhausted is not a great deal isn’t? It is so natural that we feel tired, with no energy at all, either to do physical and/or mental tasks.
There are some days, when we just don’t feel right, when we want to go back to sleep at any time of the day! For some of us, even getting out of bed feels like a great task to do, that needs a lot of effort (note that feeling sleepy is different from feeling exhausted). And at work, we might have those blur eyes in front of the computer and could never concentrate in anything.There can be two kinds of exhaustion as I said earlier: Physical and Mental exhaustion.
Physical exhaustion is somewhat better than the mental exhaustion in the sense that you can at least do some mental work by sitting at one place (or even lying in the bed) when you are mentally active. On the other hand, when you are mentally tired, you simply couldn’t either do physical or mental work.
This post is to help you to manage that exhausted feel and help you to maintain your productivity level.
Warning: Don’t take this article as a medical advice, and further, if you are dealing with this for a long time, better consult your doctor!
Move it:
When you feel that you really want to sleep right now, during a busy schedule at your office, just stop whatever you are doing and take a short walk. You might choose to climb up a couple of stairs or, far better, you can choose to go out of your office to get some fresh air and refresh. In any case, when you start moving, you will feel a lot fresher and you just help more blood circulation to the brain.
Moving also helps you to briefly divert your mind and physical self from what you are doing. So you are essentially taking a short break; this break is called as productivity break. When you are exhausted and just couldn’t proceed with your work, there is no point in sitting there endlessly.
If you choose to divert yourself briefly and take a productive break, you can recharge yourself, become fresh. If you take such breaks at regular intervals, say 5 mins for every 1 hour, you can keep your productivity at a high and constant level throughout the day.
Nap?!:
Well, this might sound absolutely crazy, taking a nap in your office! OK, this option will not suit everybody, but seriously, if you can arrange some private time, may be during your lunch, or if you work in a separate room or cabin, you could lock the door (with a notice outside ‘Do not disturb’) and take a little nap.
Note that you really be a nap and not a sleep, so keep the duration in between 20 and 30 minutes. Any longer will make you feel worse.
The Caffeine:
Ask your brain what to do if you are feeling exhausted, and you will be directed to the nearest coffee point in the next 5-10 minutes. Drinking coffee to boost up at times of exhaustion will give you the desired result immediately. But wait, when your caffeine level drops, you are on it again! Then you need another shot of a double espresso and this goes on. Going on and off is not recommended to keep you healthy over the long run!
Sweet treat:
Donuts, candybars, sweet cupcakes, what more! Whenever you feel like, not feeling bubbly, you want it! This is just the inner feeling, or more of a psychological thing, though one could not deny that sugar gives you a bit of temporary buzz. But it is again the same story as with the caffeine, you will need more and more sugar to keep it going. Instead, grab a healthy snack bar, preferably made of wholegrain stuff, seeds and fruits are also good!
Switch task:
When you cannot take breaks or if that is not ‘allowed’ at your work place, the last thing you can try to do is to switch tasks. This is not bad and do not underestimate the power of this method. Actually this will make you more productive than any other methods mentioned above.
When you feel exhausted, it could be because you are dealing with the same boring stuff for more than 3 hours. Your brain needs a break from that routine boring work or a work that requires high level of concentration throughout. In this case, take a short break from what you are doing and switch to another task, briefly. The key is ‘briefly’.
The other task should be either interesting, exciting or entertaining. Make sure you have real interest in the task; don’t just pick another boring task, you will only make the situation worse. Switching tasks helps you to briefly do some other task, which is also part of your work. So even if you are taking a break from the task you were originally, you are now working on another task without wasting your time; while at the same time you are taking a break and refreshing yourself. Isn’t that great?
Have you used any of these methods? How do you manage when you feel exhausted?
I know what you are thinking. I am not asking you to multitask. This is different.
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Article by JaneSheeba
+Jane is the founder of Problogging Success. She is an expert blogger, consultant, freelance writer and blog designer. Don't forget to get your hands on two FREE Ebooks she offers.
Jane has written 264 awesome posts for Problogging Success.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m recovering from a lengthy illness, and exhaustion is one symptom. Naps, small amounts of caffeine (I’ve switched to half caff to avoid overdoing), switching tasks, balancing active and physically passive tasks - all are valuable tips. Knowing my limits makes a big difference, too.
Daisy recently posted..Simple Pleasures
You seem to do a right combination of stuff to deal with tiresome feelings. Yes of course, every one should work according to their limits.
Jane.
These are very good tips and for me, the physical exercise, napping and right nutrition makes wonders.
However, I have also noticed that the lack of sleep makes me to under-perform. For example, my concentration is more difficult, I have difficulties of remembering stuff … things like that which are actually easy to fix (in most of the cases) with enough sleep.
Timo Kiander recently posted..4 reasons why you should appreciate your day job – even if you hate it
Oh ya, that is a great thing to do. Lack of sleep can cause a lot of problems and it will make you feel drowsy and tired the entire day. Sleeping will flush out the sluggishness and will make you feel fresh.
Jane.
I know that what i’m about to say is too good to be true but whenever i’m really exhausted, i just talk to myself and convince myself that i’m not that tired. I”ll say to myself that i need to work in order to meet my goals. I think that’s what we called the power of affirmation. It can reprogram ourselves to do task that we feel not doing and it also helps us avoid procrastinating.
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