Overcome fatigue

Fatigue adé: Here’s how to get rid of it!

You perform your evening routine, drink a milk with honey, go to bed on time and still feel tired and listless the next day? Fatigue knows different causes, which can be both physical and psychological. In the exam phase or when you are under a lot of stress at work, having problems falling asleep or sleeping through the night for a while and suffering from fatigue the next day is quite normal and no cause for concern. However, if you feel tired and listless all the time, it’s a signal from your body. It is not normal to feel tired and listless all the time and not be able to get out of bed in the morning. To help you overcome fatigue and tiredness, we’ll first tell you the most common causes and show you how you can finally feel more rested and awake by following 5 simple steps.

Causes of fatigue

Poor bed hygiene or sleep quality

The most common cause of fatigue, as well as listlessness and listlessness during the day, is poor bed hygiene or sleep quality. Bed hygiene includes, for example, going to bed at the same time every day, maintaining a regular evening routine and having the right pillow or side sleeper pill ow (for allergy sufferers also special variants such as spelt pillows). It goes without saying that you should not eat or work in bed. If you take care of your bed hygiene and still feel tired the next day, your sleep quality is probably poor. Identify the causes of your problems falling asleep or staying asleep and try to address them.

Mental stress causes fatigue

Inner turmoil prevents us from falling asleep quickly and often causes us to wake up frequently at night. The next day we suffer from lack of sleep and wonder how to overcome fatigue. Even if we have slept sufficiently, psychological stress, worries and sorrow lead to fatigue and make us sluggish and listless. It becomes especially problematic when fatigue develops into depressive moods, depression or burn-out.

Lack of exercise or overexertion

If you don’t do any sports or don’t move enough in general, you will feel tired and worn out. Exercise boosts circulation and metabolism. If you neglect physical exercise, your bodily functions will slacken and a feeling of listlessness will creep in, making you even less inclined to exercise – a vicious circle. Here, too, the right measure is important: Anyone who overdoes it with sports, exposes his body to too much strain and at the same time does not allow the body any rest breaks for regeneration, also suffers from permanent fatigue and exhaustion and there is a risk of so-called “athlete burnout”.

The wrong diet and too little fluid

Humans need fats, proteins, carbohydrates and various nutrients – a versatile diet. A deficiency of certain nutrients, such as iron, often leads to fatigue. That’s why caution is advised with diets that prevent a well-rounded diet. As always, avoid the other extreme: too much food that is too high in calories. Those who drink too little also feel tired and lack energy, and may often suffer from headaches. Soft drinks, however, are not the right choice for supplying our bodies with sufficient fluids, because the high sugar content makes us feel awake for a short time, but a short time later we feel even more tired and knackered than before. Those who drink a lot of alcohol or smoke are also accompanied by fatigue during the day.

External and physical influences

External influences, such as the occurrence of the two seasons of autumn and winter, affect our state of mind and make us feel sluggish and tired – some even lapse into winter depression during the cold seasons. Excessively high temperatures, on the other hand, have an equally negative effect on our energy levels, because on very hot summer days we sweat without a fan or air conditioning in the house and thus lose a lot of fluid. But physical characteristics can also be the cause of fatigue during the day. For example, women often feel tired and listless during hormonal changes, such as pregnancy. Likewise, people who are overweight or underweight complain of sleepiness and exhaustion because their bodies use up the necessary energy reserves too quickly when they are overweight and do not receive them at all when they are underweight. Weight is often accompanied by other problems such as sleep apnea or excessive snoring, which in turn has a negative effect on the quality of sleep. Here, however, such small aids as snore stoppers can provide at least a little relief.

Tiredness before a cold or because of an illness

Often, fatigue and sluggishness, when accompanied by other physical ailments, such as headache or sore throat, is the first sign of a cold creeping in. In other cases, fatigue is not a sign but the result of an illness. For example, hypothyroidism, low blood pressure, high blood pressure or metabolic disorders can also cause fatigue. If you’re taking medication, there’s a chance that you can’t tolerate certain active ingredients and therefore feel sleepy. An eating disorder or a lack of vitamins or nutrients can also make you feel sleepy and tired. However, the following applies here: self-diagnosis is dangerous and medication should never be discontinued without consulting a doctor! In case of severe fatigue, sluggishness or lack of motivation, it is worth going to the doctor.

Overcome fatigue: 5 simple tips

Tip 1: Find a healthy balance

If you want to overcome fatigue, change something in your lifestyle. Fatigue occurs on very warm days or in the very cold seasons, when you overwork or underwork, when you are overweight or underweight. As you notice, all extremes stress your body and make you sleepy and powerless. Therefore, always try to find a healthy balance. Lying around all day makes your body functions slack, but too much work also exhausts you. Exercise and be productive, but don’t overdo it. Eat a balanced diet and make sure your room temperature is comfortable. If you want to feel fitter in the long run, give yourself and your body some time to adjust.

Tip 2: Wake up at the right time

Probably everyone has experienced this – you’ve slept more than you have in a long time and yet you still feel like you’re exhausted. How can this be? A simple explanation is that you woke up or were woken up at the wrong time. By wrong time is meant especially the deep sleep phase. If we wake up in this sleep phase or if this phase is too short, we can sleep for as long as we want – we still feel tired the next day. This problem can be solved with the so-called sleep phase alarm clock, for which you only need a suitable app and a simple sleep tracker. This is based on our natural sleep phases and wakes us up exactly when it is optimal for us.

Tip 3: Adapt your environment

After getting up, it is recommended to let sunlight into the room. So raise the blinds and move the curtains to the side! Sunlight releases the hormone melatonin, which makes us more alert and helps us overcome fatigue. Next, air out your room and get some fresh air in the room. A few deep breaths will provide your body with fresh oxygen and activate energy reserves. If you have the day off and don’t swing out of your sleep clothes, you won’t get out of sleep mode either. So no matter what you’re up to – get changed and get ready for the day.

Tip 4: What about taking a nap?

Naps are always a thing – some people swear by them, others feel even more tired afterwards. If you want to get some sleep during the day, limit yourself to a power nap. It’s best to set an alarm for 15-20 minutes, put on a sleep mask if you need darkness to fall asleep, and snuggle up in an electric blanket if you have one. Avoid sleeping longer than 30 minutes at all costs, though, because you just want to get over the big fatigue and not fall asleep properly. Your body will otherwise go into a deep sleep phase and you’ll actually feel more tired and exhausted than before. So there’s nothing wrong with a short nap. Experts even claim that a power nap can provide energy for the next 4-5 hours.

Tip 5: For fatigue emergencies

You just couldn’t fall asleep last night, but you have an important appointment today and you just don’t know how to overcome your tiredness? Drink enough water first after waking up, as we exhale almost a liter of water while sleeping and wake up dehydrated. Do some stretching exercises after waking up and then swing into the shower. To overcome your fatigue, a cold shower or washing your face with cold water is especially effective. Drink a coffee and if you have time, go for a walk in the fresh air. Music also wakes you up and additionally puts you in a good mood. Throw on your favorite song and shake a leg. If all that doesn’t help, try to keep yourself busy with creative tasks that day, because tiredness usually gives you the best and sometimes the craziest ideas, right?