How not to be tired when waking up


13 Quick Ways to Banish Morning Fatigue

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When waking up is hard to do, consider the following strategies.

We’ve all had those mornings when we just can’t shake a feeling of sluggishness, even when we’ve technically gotten enough sleep. In an effort to perk up on tired days, many of us load up on cup after cup of coffee.

But over-caffeinating can leave us jittery and anxious (not to mention perpetually running to the bathroom).

Perhaps there’s a better way to banish morning fatigue and get on with your day with the energy you need.

That beloved button on top of your alarm clock may not be so helpful after all.

Spending the last half hour or so of nighttime rest in what researchers call “fragmented sleep” has consequences for your ability to function throughout the day.

Pro-tip: Try the 90-minute sleep cycle hack by setting two alarms — one for 90 minutes before you want to wake up and one for when you actually want to wake up.

The theory is that the 90 minutes of sleep you get between snoozes will be a full sleep cycle, allowing you to wake up after your REM state, instead of during.

Fatigue is a classic symptom of dehydration, and even a mild case can trigger feelings of sleepiness, changes in cognitive ability, and mood disruptions. Let a glass of water freshen up your entire body before you get moving.

Pro-tip: If you find you still can’t shake morning lethargy, try upping your intake of water and other noncaffeinated beverages throughout the day.

There’s a reason it feels so good to stretch when you wake up. Overnight, during REM sleep, your muscles are literally paralyzed (atonia), 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 don’t 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 Saborino’s 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.

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The jury is still out on whether breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But 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 you’re working out in the morning, remember to eat after, not before. This will (a) burn more calories, (b) boost your metabolism, and (c) help you avoid an unsettled stomach.

Pro tip: Build a fatigue-fighting breakfast instead.Since what you eat at breakfast can affect how you feel for hours, making the right choice is critical for your morning.

Reach for a combination of fatigue-fighting foods like lean proteins, whole grains, nuts, and lower-sugar fruits.

All breakfasts are not created equal, so take stock of your morning food choices. Sugary items like sweetened coffee drinks, pastries, and breakfast cereals can lead to the classic blood sugar spike-and-drop that leaves you feeling drained.

Pro-tip: Pay attention to nutrition labels to see how much sugar you’re getting at breakfast — and cut back wherever possible. Keep whole foods like apples, carrots, and oranges on hand for easy access.

That’s right, we said less coffee — but not none! Though coffee has plenty of health benefits, chugging a lot in the morning may indirectly contribute to increased fatigue later in the day.

Participants in one study reported feeling more tired the day after they had consumed caffeinated drinks. Experimenting with a reduced amount of caffeine in the morning actually may make you less tired.

Pro-tip: Avoid the big mugs. Purchase a smaller cup, if you have to, to help reduce the amount you drink.

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Sunlight bumps up your body’s serotonin levels, leading to improved sleep — and, therefore, increased daytime energy. And, according to a series of studies at the University of Rochester, spending time in nature “makes people feel more alive.”

Sounds like a very good reason to carve out a portion of your morning in the great outdoors.

Pro-tip: If going outside is a chore in the early morning, adjust your curtain so that the sunlight seeps in when you’re getting ready to wake up.

Sure, when you want to crawl back into bed, exercise may sound pretty unappealing — but it may be exactly what your body needs to get help booting up. Research consistently correlates aerobic exercise with reduced fatigue.

See if you can squeeze in a quick walk or bike ride, or try a longer workout for even more benefit.

Pro-tip: When pressed for time, get your body up with a few rounds of high-knees and jumping jacks. Even 30 seconds of torso twists could do the trick, or plan a short cardio commute on your way to work.

Is it possible that negative feelings about your job or stressors at home are draining you of morning oomph?

You may not be able to fix certain situations overnight, but once you’ve identified them as a source of mental and physical exhaustion, you can often take some action to alleviate them.

Pro-tip: Streamline harried mornings at home by making school lunches the night before, or make time for morning meditations and create calm before your day begins.

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Sometimes all we need for an energy boost is a little excitement on the horizon.

To beat morning fatigue, consider scheduling a phone call with a friend during your commute, penciling in an outdoor walk on your midmorning break, or pre-making an appealing breakfast that calls you out of bed.

Pro-tip: Let another schedule determine yours. Make an earlier morning podcast or radio show part of your wake-up routine.

If morning fatigue becomes a chronic problem, it could be caused by depression or anxiety. People with depression can feel worse in the morning or only feel depressed in the morning.

The only way to know, however, is to track your mood or see a professional.

Pro-tip: Dig a little deeper. Asking some key questions about your mental health state may reveal an underlying condition that needs professional attention.

If your bedtime habits can have so profound an effect on your rest, so too could your waking routine. You’ve probably heard of sleep hygiene — the handful of best practices that help you fall asleep at night. These include:

  • turning off screens an hour before bed
  • turning in at the same time each night
  • creating a comfortable sleeping environment

Getting up at the same time each morning helps maintain circadian rhythm, the internal biological clock that’s responsible for feelings of sleepiness.

Make an effort to rise at the same time every day — even on weekends — to see if you can banish the midmorning slump.


Sarah Garone, NDTR, is a nutritionist, freelance health writer, and food blogger. She lives with her husband and three children in Mesa, Arizona. Find her sharing down-to-earth health and nutrition info and (mostly) healthy recipes at A Love Letter to Food.

Exercise, Sleep Environment, Aging, Other Causes

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We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Here’s our process.

It’s not unusual to wake up feeling a bit groggy. For many people, it’s nothing a cup of coffee or shower can’t fix.

But if you regularly wake up tired, especially if you continue to feel fatigued throughout the day, there may be something else going on.

Here’s a look at some common causes of waking up tired.

Chances are, your morning grogginess is just sleep inertia, which is a normal part of the waking process. Your brain typically doesn’t instantly wake up after sleeping. It transitions gradually to a wakeful state.

During this transition period, you may feel groggy or disoriented. If you aren’t careful, you can easily fall back asleep.

Sleep inertia slows down your motor and cognitive skills, which is why it sometimes feels impossible to do anything right after you wake up.

Sleep inertia can last anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour, though it typically improves within 15 to 60 minutes.

If within the first few hours of falling asleep, you suddenly wake up from a deep sleep and are in a confused state, you may have sleep drunkenness.

Also called confusional arousals, sleep drunkenness is a sleep disorder that bypasses the inertia phase. An episode may last for up to 30 to 40 minutes. You may not even remember it occurred when you wake up to start the day.

You’re more likely to experience symptoms of sleep inertia or sleep drunkenness when you:

  • don’t get enough sleep
  • wake up abruptly from a deep sleep
  • set your alarm for earlier than usual

Sleep inertia can also be worsened by shift work sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, and certain types of circadian rhythm sleep disorder.

what you can do

Sleep inertia is a natural part of waking up, but you can limit its effects by:

  • regularly getting a full night’s sleep
  • limiting naps to less than 30 minutes
  • drinking coffee or another caffeinated beverage when you get up

If your symptoms persist, visit your primary healthcare provider. They can rule out an underlying sleep disorder.

Blue light is any artificial lighting that emits blue wavelengths, which aren’t necessarily a bad thing. During daylight hours, they can boost alertness and mood. But this isn’t the vibe you’re going for when you’re heading off to bed.

Energy-efficient lighting and electronic screens have increased our exposure to blue light, especially after sundown.

Blue light, more than other types of light, suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your body’s circadian rhythm, which is your sleep-wake cycle. This makes it harder for you to get good-quality sleep, which can leave you feeling tired the next morning.

what you can do

To reduce the impact of blue light on your sleep:

  • Avoid screen time for two or three hours before you go to bed.
  • Use dim red lights at night, which don’t have as powerful of a melatonin-suppressing effect on your circadian rhythm.
  • Expose yourself to a lot of bright light during the day.
  • Use blue-blocking glasses at night or an app that filters blue light if you have to use electronics at night.

A poor sleep environment can have a big impact on the quality of your sleep.

Mattress problems

If your morning fatigue is accompanied by stiffness or aching body parts, your mattress could be to blame.

Research shows that a medium-firm mattress is best. The age of your mattress also matters. A small 2009 study found that participants reported better sleep quality and fewer aches and pains in the morning after sleeping on a new mattress.

Mattresses are also home to common allergens — such as dust mites, which can cause nighttime sneezing and coughing, especially in people with allergies and asthma.

Shop all expert-verified mattresses in our sleep shop to work toward your best snooze possible.

What you can do

Make sure your mattress isn’t hurting your sleep quality by:

  • replacing your mattress every 9 or 10 years, ideally with a medium-firm mattress
  • using a hypoallergenic mattress cover if you have allergies

Too-cold or too-hot bedroom

Being too hot or too cold can cause restlessness and make it hard for you to fall or stay asleep. Personal preference should play a role in your bedroom’s temperature, but a cooler room is better when it comes to a comfortable sleep, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

If you still have trouble sleeping, warming your feet by wearing socks may help dilate blood vessels and adjust your internal thermostat.

A 2007 study shows that adults who wore unheated or heated socks to bed were able to fall asleep faster.

Shop all Healthline-approved products for hot sleepers in our sleep shop.

what you can do

Create the optimal temperature for quality sleep by:

  • keeping your bedroom between 60°F and 67°F (16°C and 19°C)
  • wearing socks to bed or placing a hot water bottle at your feet
  • choosing appropriate sleepwear and bedding for your local climate

Loud noises

Even if you’re the type of person who can fall asleep with the TV on, noise can still have a big impact on your sleep quality.

Reducing background noise can help to increase the amount of deep sleep you get each night and decrease the number of times you wake up during the night.

What you can do

Even if you can’t get rid of the source of noise, you can try:

  • sleeping with earplugs
  • using a sound machine, which you can find on Amazon
  • keeping your windows and bedroom door closed

What you consume before bed can keep you up at night and make you feel tired in the morning.

Too much caffeine

Caffeine is a natural stimulant that promotes alertness.

Having too much caffeine during the day or having it too close to bedtime can:

  • make it harder to fall asleep
  • make it harder to stay asleep
  • increase the number of times you go to the bathroom overnight

Coffee, chocolate, and certain teas and soft drinks all contain caffeine. Caffeine can also be found in certain medications, including some prescription and over-the-counter pain-relieving medications.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

To keep caffeine from interfering with your sleep:

  • Avoid having caffeine three to seven hours before bed.
  • Limit your intake of coffee or other caffeinated beverages to one or two servings a day.
  • Check medications for caffeine content.

Drinking alcohol

Alcohol has been shown to have a sedative effect and make you sleepy, but it doesn’t lead to a good sleep. According to the Cleveland Clinic, alcohol increases the number of times you wake up once the relaxing effect wears off and prevents you from getting deep sleep.

The more alcohol you consume before bed, the more it disrupts your sleep, increasing your likelihood of waking up tired.

what you can do

You can prevent alcohol from affecting your sleep by:

  • avoiding drinking alcohol in the evening
  • limiting your alcohol consumption to no more than one drink a day for women and two drinks for men

Frequent urination

Drinking too much of anything too close to bedtime can make you frequently get up to urinate throughout the night. This can also happen in certain situations if you’re retaining a lot of fluid.

Excessive urination at night, also called nocturia, may also be a sign of an underlying medical condition. If you continue to wake up two or more times per night to urinate after limiting how much you drink before bed, speak to your doctor.

what you can do

You can reduce how often you get up to urinate by:

  • avoiding drinking liquids for at least two hours before bedtime
  • cutting back on caffeine and alcohol-containing beverages
  • wearing compression socks during the day if you have swollen ankles and legs or certain states of water retention

If nothing seems to be helping your morning grogginess, you may have an undiagnosed sleep disorder.

Sleep disorders require diagnosis and treatment by a healthcare professional, who’ll likely have you come in for a sleep study.

Sleep movement disorders

Sleep movement disorders are conditions that cause movement before or during sleep, making it hard to fall or stay asleep.

Some common sleep movement disorders are:

  • restless leg syndrome, which causes uncomfortable sensations in your legs and a strong urge to move them that intensifies when trying to sleep
  • periodic limb movement disorder, which causes your limbs to flex, twitch, or jerk during sleep. Movements may occur every 20 to 40 seconds and may last up to an hour.
  • bruxism, which involves clenching or grinding your teeth during sleep

Sleep apnea

Sleep apnea, usually obstructive sleep apnea, is a serious sleep disorder that causes your breathing to stop periodically in your sleep. You may not even realize you have the condition.

Other signs and symptoms of sleep apnea include:

  • snoring
  • gasping for air during sleep
  • feeling tired after a full night’s sleep
  • trouble staying asleep
  • waking with dry mouth
  • morning headaches

Shop all Healthline-approved products for snoring & sleep apnea in our sleep shop.

Insomnia

Insomnia involves having a hard time falling asleep or waking up too early and not being able to go back to sleep. Short-term insomnia is very common and often caused by stress, a traumatic event, or sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings, such as a hotel room.

Insomnia that lasts a month or more is considered chronic insomnia. This can be a condition itself or a symptom of an underlying issue.

Along with waking up tired, insomnia can also cause:

  • difficulty concentrating
  • irritability
  • depression
  • anxiety over not getting enough sleep

Waking up tired can often be remedied with a few changes to your sleeping habits and cutting back on caffeine or alcohol. If nothing seems to be helping, it’s best to follow up with your doctor to check for underlying conditions.

How to deal with constant fatigue - Personal experience on vc.ru

One morning I woke up and realized that I did not have the strength to get out of bed. I find it hard to make myself coffee and just want to lie down and do nothing. I didn't have a hard workout yesterday, and I haven't really worked out much in the last week.

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The feeling of constant fatigue could last for several days, I could not cheer up, drinking 5 cups of coffee a day, I put things off for later, watched TV shows in one gulp and felt like I was 70 years old and had no strength to do anything. I decided to figure out what is the cause of constant fatigue. What happens and where does energy go when you are 20-30 years old.

After researching the subject more deeply and experimenting with my schedule, I found.

Three simple items that most affect my well-being. This is rest, movement and vitamins for the soul.

We have all heard the same thing many times, you need to get enough sleep, play sports and so on, but for some reason I didn’t do this before and just decided to try.

To understand how it all works together, I will describe my typical day.

Day before fatigue

morning stories

I get up at 7:00 in the morning, open social networks and look through new messages and stories. I wash my face, pour myself coffee and have a snack in front of the computer. I check my mail and plan tasks for the day, answer messages, and at 9:00 a planning meeting and a working day begin, until 13:00 I communicate with clients and the team, having time to hold 2-3 meetings on zoom.

Next break for lunch, go to the store to buy something to eat and spend it watching Youtube or reading the news. After lunch, I feel tired and want to sleep, but I still continue to work. Letters, tasks, phone calls and a few cups of coffee in breaks until 18:00. Then I meet my daughter from the kindergarten, take her home and check the chats on the phone along the way.

In the evening I don't feel like anything anymore and it's hard to even get up from the couch, I eat a lot and always eat something sweet, ice cream or cookies. Because I did a great job today, solved a lot of problems and just want to take some rest. I go to bed close to 12 and can’t sleep for a long time, unfinished tasks are still spinning in my head, and I worry about what I will do tomorrow.

In the morning I wake up already tired and again check what messages and stories are there. In this mode, I work 5 days a week, and on weekends I sleep off and take care of family affairs, working only half a day on Sunday.

Where does energy and strength go

You may have noticed that I had almost no time to recover

I, like a squirrel in a wheel, moved from the phone to the computer and then to the TV and constantly expended energy and attention.

I just didn't give myself time to rest or be active, because there are always more important things to do.

Fatigue accumulated like a snowball, and if at first I kept on willpower and motivation, then gradually I began to get tired and my strength became less and less every day.

I thought it would be nice to get sick and have an excuse to do nothing and get some rest. Unfortunately, the cause of constant fatigue will not go anywhere, and the disease will only aggravate the situation, and in fact it is just a way to escape from problems.

allow yourself to rest

I started by changing my sleep pattern and set myself the goal of sleeping for at least 7 hours and waking up at the same time. For several days I tried to fall asleep before 23:00 and wake up at 6:00, there were no problems with getting up, but falling asleep at 11 was not easy.

The method that has worked for me is listening to audiobooks with one earphone at minimum volume, when you need to listen to every word. So attention is switched from thoughts to the author, and for the first couple of days I just lay and listened to books until 12 or one, but got up anyway at 6. Of course, there is also a minus. I have been listening to the last chapter of the book for more than 2 weeks.

Next, I started adding short breaks throughout the day. Not only to make yourself a coffee, but also to stretch, breathe for a couple of minutes or take a walk if the weather is fine outside.

During breaks I don't think about current tasks and give myself a break, and when I return to work, new or non-standard solutions often appear.

All day activity

I've started and quit the gym many times when my goal was to lose weight or get fit for summer. So I decided to just make a habit out of it. Do sports every day.

I start my morning with a 5-minute exercise to cheer up. 5 days a week I work out in the gym, 3 strength workouts for 45 minutes and 2 group workouts for stretching or cardio, as well as 2 volleyball workouts

At first, of course, you get tired and feel sorry for yourself, but the most important thing is not to miss 2 days in a row. One day of rest is essential and that's fine, but 2 days in a row is a good excuse to skip training for a week or more.

Another important point for me is that all classes are different. Time, load. I can train alone or in a team. monotony quickly kills my interest in any business.

Now the whole day is divided into segments of work, rest and activity, and it is easy for me to switch between them and feel normal.

Sport during the day is a surge of energy and clarity of thought. The opportunity to take a break from work with your head and be productive all day, and not the first 4 hours.

Sports in the evening, stress reduction after many calls and meetings. Fighting anxiety and worry when needed and just feeling good.

Vitamins for the soul

This is how a friend of mine calls small pleasures that she specially plans in advance. My vitamins are listening to history podcasts, playing my favorite games, meeting up with friends, or having a Sunday family dinner. This is what I really like and bring joy.

When in my life there is only work, fatigue and bad mood accumulate very quickly and there is no strength to spend quality time with loved ones, I just want to lie down and not be touched by anyone.

The best prevention of fatigue - favorite activities

Sometimes it may seem that there are no particular hobbies, then you just need to try new things or develop old interests.

For example, at school I had a 5 in history and I really liked this subject and recently I came across podcasts about history and they are great. Even this year I tried to run in the morning, went to theater courses and table tennis school and constantly continue to try new things.

Total

Everything you have heard here, you probably already know, but such simple things as sleep and rest, sports and small pleasures helped me get rid of constant fatigue and changed my attitude to life.

After all, when we have a lot of energy, we can easily solve everyday tasks and achieve goals faster.

Thank you for reading to the end, in my materials I listen to myself, try new things and share my experience.

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Other articles on VC

How to work less tired and work more productively?

We tend to feel tired at the end of the day, after hard work or exercise. But if such fatigue does not go away after sleep or rest, this is an alarm signal. In the article we understand why strength disappears and how to increase efficiency without harm to health.

Contents

  • Where does energy come from and where is it spent
  • How sleep helps fight fatigue
  • Why sometimes fatigue does not go away after sleep and rest
  • What else can cause fatigue
  • How to improve efficiency

Where does energy come from and where is it spent

Often, speaking of fatigue, we say that we have no strength or energy. But is this really the point?

There are energy carriers in the body - ATP molecules. They are synthesized by all human cells. With the participation of ATP, physiological processes of different levels occur: from intracellular metabolism to walking or running, which involves many structures and systems.

ATP is the body's energy currency. No process will happen if there is no ATP.

In order for cells to synthesize ATP, it is necessary that they receive glucose and oxygen. We get glucose from food, and oxygen from the air we breathe.

Energy is wasted all the time, even when we “do nothing” something is constantly happening in the body: the heart beats, muscles work, the stomach and intestines digest food, cells and tissues are renewed, necessary substances are synthesized. The brain regulates these processes and processes information, which also consumes energy.

When we work - physically or intellectually - even more energy is expended. But if fatigue after a couple of hours in the gym is clear to us, then why we get tired when we solve math problems or come up with a project plan is not so obvious. It can be assumed that thinking is a very energy-consuming process, and we get tired because we think intensively.

The brain does consume a lot of energy. Especially a lot of it is required by those neurons that are currently involved. But the brain, like the whole organism, is active all the time, and not just when we think. It constantly regulates the processes occurring in the body, processes information and spends about 20% of the energy consumed on it. The "thinking" brain requires more energy, but this increase is not significant.

20%

the brain consumes energy

If we do not diet, then usually our well-being does not depend too much on how much energy we have spent during the day. Therefore, by the evening we will feel tired, regardless of whether we were doing hard work or watching a series. Fatigue is manifested in inhibition of reactions. The man says that he "difficulty thinking and concentrating."

The first remedy for fatigue that comes to mind is sleep.

How sleep helps fight fatigue

Normally, fatigue disappears after sleep. But how exactly does it help in the fight against fatigue? Clearly, sleep isn't just about replenishing your energy reserves, as a piece of the pie would do.

In fact, scientists do not know exactly why a person sleeps. But they know that without it recovery is impossible.

Most research suggests one thing: lack of sleep leads to various failures and disorders. Thus, it has been shown that with lack of sleep, carbohydrate metabolism is disturbed, the risk of developing diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity increases.

The psyche is also not happy with the lack of sleep: anxiety and aggressiveness increase.

Sleep supports the health and normal functioning of the body, but it is not yet clear how exactly.

What about the brain? Previously, it was believed that the brain in a dream turns off for a while and “reboots”. But later, technical capabilities made it possible to see what was really happening. It turned out that in a dream the brain works no less intensively than during wakefulness. It processes the information received during the day, new knowledge is built into the network of existing ones, “recorded” in memory or deleted from it (this is called the consolidation of memories).

And yet the "reboot" seems to be happening. There is a hypothesis of synaptic homeostasis, according to which sleep is needed to maintain synaptic connections in order, weaken and clean them up.

New neural connections are formed constantly. If they were automatically fixed, it would be very easy for a person to form new useful habits, memorize complex concepts and formulas, and so on. But at the same time, there would be too many connections, and the neurons could not provide them all with energy. In addition, “noise” would arise in neural networks, which would prevent a person from thinking normally, and the brain from processing and storing information. Therefore, some neural connections are weakened, and some are completely destroyed. And, apparently, it happens in a dream.

One study supporting this hypothesis found that the size of the synapses in the brain of mice does decrease after sleep, by about 18%. And its strength directly depends on the size of the neural connection.

During sleep, mainly those synapses that are not so important are affected. The largest, and therefore the strongest and most important, retain their size.

It turns out that sleep does not restore energy in the literal sense of the word, however, it relieves the superfluous, literally “freeing” the head from unnecessary thoughts and information – a kind of “clearing the cache”. This helps us feel rested.

Scientists have discovered that insomnia can be inherited. In addition, researchers have established a genetic link between insomnia and type II diabetes. The Atlas genetic test can analyze the genetic predisposition to insomnia.

Why sometimes fatigue does not go away after sleep and rest

But after sleep we are not always alert and full of energy. Sometimes, when we wake up, we feel tired and overwhelmed, although we have slept enough. If this rarely happens, don't worry. But if fatigue is with you all the time, this is a wake-up call.

The body may actually lack energy. As already mentioned, cells need glucose and oxygen to synthesize ATP. If somewhere there is a failure, and there is little oxygen or glucose in the cells, there will also be little energy.

So it can be - banal - when we eat little. There is simply nowhere for glucose to come from, since normally the body receives it from food. Therefore, starvation, strict diets and lack of energy always go somewhere nearby.

Chronic fatigue can also be a symptom of many diseases.

Oxygen deficiency in cells can occur, for example, due to iron deficiency anemia (IDA) . The fact is that oxygen gets to the cells as part of the protein hemoglobin , which is contained in red blood cells - erythrocytes . With IDA, there may be little in the body of both hemoglobin and erythrocytes, that is, couriers that deliver oxygen to all tissues and organs.

Glucose may not be enough due to diabetes mellitus . In order for glucose to enter the cells, the hormone insulin must act on them. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas produces little or no insulin, so the hormone is virtually absent from the body. In type 2 diabetes, cells lose their sensitivity to insulin, or insulin is not produced in sufficient quantities to cover the needs of the body. Both in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, glucose practically does not enter the cells.

Other hormonal imbalances can also lead to energy imbalance and a constant feeling of fatigue. For example, lack of thyroid hormones .

Cancer can also cause fatigue. Scientists attribute such fatigue to inflammation in the body: inflammatory cytokine molecules send signals, in response to which, the brain "triggers" the symptoms of fatigue. In addition, fatigue increases the stress caused by the diagnosis and the process of treatment itself.

Deficiencies of certain vitamins (particularly D and B vitamins) and trace elements (iron, magnesium, zinc) can lead to permanent fatigue.

What else can cause fatigue

  • Burnout and stress. Normally, the body is able to respond to acute stress and recover when the stress is over - this is called adaptation. Fatigue from stress appears when a person lives in it all the time, adaptation does not occur. Because of this, stress hormones - cortisol and adrenaline - are produced all the time, disrupting the body. In the brain, synaptic connections are destroyed, memory, concentration, and, in general, the ability to think deteriorate. This leads to emotional exhaustion, in which any action requires gigantic effort.
  • Thoughts about work. Not only thoughts can be exhausting, but also the situation when, instead of going to write a report, you sit and worry about the fact that you basically need to write it, or whether your boss will like it. The brain doesn’t care whether we think about work or do it, we literally spend the same amount of effort on it. And if “get it and do it” is a short hundred-meter sprint, then long reflections are a marathon several tens of kilometers long. The sprint would have been much less tiring. For the same reason, it is harmful to think about work outside of working hours.
  • Rumination . It is endless “mind chewing”, that is, thinking the same thoughts over and over again. Rumination is tiring, simply because we spend too much time on it (see previous point). In addition, if the thoughts are negative, we experience the same stress.

Also mental or mental fatigue may cause a feeling of physical fatigue. Participants in one study exercised on an exercise bike. One group had previously watched the movie, while the other group took an hour and a half test of attention. As a result, the second group was able to pedal not as long as the first, and, according to the subjective assessment, it was harder for them. It turns out that a significant part of our fatigue is in the head.

Therefore, scrolling through social networks or watching funny videos will most likely not help recovery either. First, as with rumination, concentration is lost: if you generally find it difficult to focus on work, then you will spend a lot of energy returning to it. And each break will be accompanied by a new effort, which will negate the effect of such a rest. Secondly, by flipping through social networks, you somehow receive and assimilate new information. And if you already have a lot of tasks to keep in mind, the situation can get worse.

How to improve your performance

If your fatigue is related to health problems, you can't do without a doctor. If with constant stress and overload, then you need to work on this. Excessive fatigue will pass when you eliminate the causes.

But if you're okay, you don't feel overwhelmed, and you just want to be more productive, you can try to change your lifestyle or approach to work a little.

The obvious advice is: get enough sleep, eat a varied and balanced diet, exercise, and walk more often in the fresh air.

Less obvious:

  • Give your body a little exercise in between mental exercise. Studies show that after a short sports workout, it is easier to think.
  • Create a working environment. Ideally, you need to work where you do nothing else, so that the place itself evokes an association with work. Especially if you work remotely. In this case, it is better to work not from home, or at least not from the bedroom. Otherwise, it may turn out that neither work nor rest will work normally - the situation will relax during working hours and strain during non-working hours.
  • Work less, rest more. This advice is really relevant for workaholics and anyone who thinks that the time spent is directly proportional to the amount of work done. Working 55 or more hours a week is harmful: people who work constantly overtime have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and subsequent death (compared to those who work 35–40 hours a week). In addition, such work is also useless: working too much, you get tired, and productivity drops.
  • Rest before you get tired. This is necessary to avoid burnout. Plan and set aside special time for rest in advance if you often forget about it.
  • Have a good rest. Not “I will work slower or less” on the day off, but “I will not work at all”. The same applies to household chores, because they are also work.

Tip: don't spend the whole weekend cleaning and cooking, it's better to distribute household chores evenly throughout the week.

  • Fight routine. Get out of the house and go where you haven't been before. So you are more likely to be distracted from work and recuperate.

More articles on how to feel better on the Atlas blog:

  • How anemia leads to constant fatigue and whether it can be avoided
  • 9 ways to prevent stress
  • 6 ways to beat insomnia and improve sleep patterns