5 Ways to Reduce Fatigue Through Minor Shifts In Your Lifestyle

Fatigue is normal after high energy exertion, but what about when fatigue follows us all day? 5 tips to curb the effects of fatigue in your life.

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Who does not know that sudden fatigue that rolls in right after dinner? But how do you deal with regular fatigue and maintain your courage and energy throughout the day? What can we change in our lifestyle to make every day richer, more saturated and full of color?

Shifting Your Habits

Leaving aside the obvious advice about getting more sleep — this critical component for energy cannot be understated. While no scientific studies have yet been able to give a definite answer about the amount of sleep a person needs, most specialists concur that 7 hours is usually enough to wake up fresh and rested. But how else can you keep yourself feeling more vibrant? 

Here are 5 proven ways to maintain good spirits — and energy — throughout the day:

1. Hands off the smartphone (at least at night)

A study published in the scientific journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision proved that people using their work mobile phone after 9:00 in the evening feel more squeezed the next day than people postponing a smartphone until the next working day. The reason for this is quite simple — processing work and responsibilities before bedtime makes it harder for us to turn off the brain, and it becomes almost impossible to fully relax in a dream.

2. Hydrate more

Especially in the summer, it is very important to drink enough liquids every day. The less we drink, the thicker our blood becomes and the more difficult it is to supply our brain with oxygen, which causes us to feel tired. Depending on height and weight, a person needs to drink about two liters (roughly 2 quarts) of water per day. Tip: A bottle of water on your desktop will serve as a constant reminder for you!

3. Avoid alcohol before bedtime

Many people are familiar with the feeling of fatigue that comes after drinking alcohol. It undoubtedly helps to fall asleep, but it also has an extremely negative effect on the quality of sleep: in processing alcohol, our body releases a large amount of adrenaline into the blood. As a result, we sleep very restlessly and may even wake up in the middle of the night. Consume alcohol in moderation, ideally in conjunction with drinking water, and avoid alcohol completely within 2 hours of sleeping.

4. Keep order

As we are exposed to an enormous flow of information in the modern age, it’s important for us to distinguish between what is important to address and what can be ignored, eliminated or delegated. Putting in place systems for organizing your inbox, tasks, and even the clutter on your desktop will help you navigate this information tsunami, require less mental and emotional processing, and in turn mitigate the fatigue that results from overwhelm. A study published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience was able to prove that even messy and disorganized desktop can increase our fatigue.

5. Avoid fatty and processed foods

The fattier the food, the greater the sleep disturbance: this conclusion was made by scientists who studied this topic in 2010. It’s important to note that there is a profound difference between healthy fats, which our bodies require for proper metabolic and brain health, and unhealthy fats — point being, choose your foods (and fats) wisely. The scientists also proved that not only the quality of sleep but also the subjective perception of one’s own fatigue throughout the day suffers from too many fatty foods. Processed foods also contribute to fatigue and should be avoided (they are typically high in sodium and sugar, both of which jolt your body rather than relax it, and lack nutritional benefits). So, not only does your body benefit from healthy foods, but also your everyday sleep and, consequently, your mental state.

You can learn more here about fatigue, it’s correlation to mental and physical health disorders, and effective remedies. 

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You may also enjoy reading The Ultimate Guide To Stress Management by John Parrott