Fatigue is often something we associate with long days at work, physically tiring activities and stressful nights spent studying or finishing a project. Under these difficult conditions, it’s completely understandable that we’d feel tired and completely drained to a point that it’s difficult to focus or even just stay awake. However, there are also plenty of people in the world that feel tired on a regular basis even if they don’t perform physically strenuous or mentally taxing activities.
A lack of energy can sap away your strength and make it hard for you to do anything throughout the day, so we’ve put together a list of 10 reasons why you might be tired and how you can fix it.
1. You’re eating too much before going to bed
People often associate midnight snacks with putting on weight, but it can actually affect your quality of sleep as well. At most, you should be drinking a glass of water before going to bed. Absolutely no caffeine should be consumed shortly before bed because it has a negative effect on your quality of sleep and your body needs to continue working in order to digest the food you’ve just eaten, resulting in a poor overall quality of sleep that will leave you feeling fatigued and tired by the next day.
2. You’re simply not sleeping enough
Your fatigue could simply be caused by a lack of quality sleep. Perhaps you’re waking up on a regular basis at night because you can’t stay asleep or maybe there are distractions which are keeping you up at night. Everyone needs to sleep in order to recharge their bodies and clear their mind for the next day, so if you’re pulling 3-4 hours each night and wondering why you’re tired, then it’s time to take a closer look at how much time you really spend sleeping. Organizations such as the National Sleep Foundation have actually worked out how much sleep you really need each day. From the age of 18, getting in at least 7 hours of sleep each night is the recommended amount to stay healthy and alert. If you feel like this will be challenging, then it’s important to remember that building up a routine is the best way to adopt new sleeping habits. Force yourself to go to bed at the same time each night and make sure you wake up the next morning at the same time to build up a routine. This will ensure that you’re always getting enough sleep and training your internal clock to the same times will mean it’s much easier to wake up and feel satisfied with your sleep.
3. You’re napping a little too much
If you’re not sleeping enough then you might be taking regular naps to help recharge your energy throughout the day. When done correctly, a short 20-30 minute nap can actually be beneficial to your day by improving your short-term alertness and also having some psychological benefits. Unfortunately, it’s easy to overdo your naps and you might end up ruining your sleep pattern and affecting your quality of nighttime sleep. While naps can be a fantastic way to recharge your alertness throughout the day, it’s not something you want to rely on especially if the length of your naps continues to grow. You want to get as much quality nighttime sleep as possible instead of taking several naps throughout the day which could make you feel groggy and disoriented.
4. You’re relying too much on caffeine
And on the topic of sleep, many of us try to counteract our fatigue with coffee. It’s often thought of like a pick-me-up which can provide a temporary boost in your attention span and remove fatigue, but the reality is that drinking too much coffee for that energy boost can create a reliance on caffeine which causes harmful effects to your body. There are plenty of alternatives to caffeine such as green tea which can provide a short boost to your attention span without the negative effects of caffeine dependence. Drinking coffee for a long period of time and using it as a way to stay more alert and awake will ultimately lead to a dependence on caffeine and you’ll start feeling fatigued all the time.
5. You’re dehydrated and lack water
Fatigue can actually be a sign that you’re dehydrated. In fact, even mild dehydration has been shown to introduce fatigue and poor endurance so it’s incredibly important that you start drinking more water. The amount of water you need to drink will depend on your personal circumstances; some people are incredibly active throughout the day and lose a lot of water, thus they need to replenish it by drinking more. On the other hand, some people don’t lose much water because they’re not very active and can often get by with drinking less. A great way to check if you should drink more water is to simply examine the color of your urine. It should ideally be a rather pale yellow but not completely clear. If it’s dark and yellow then you need to drink more water. If it’s completely clear you’re drinking too much water.
Unfortunately, many of us forget to drink water especially throughout the day when we need something like a bottle to keep sipping at. Luckily, there’s are effective solutions that can help you stay hydrated even if you drink less. One such example is to consume sports drinks that contain certain ingredients which can help us hydrate ourselves faster. Another more convenient option is to add electrolytes such as Hydrant which come in powdered form. This means that it can simply be added and mixed into a bottle of water at any time, saving you a lot of money that would otherwise be spent on pricey energy drinks. By using an electrolyte mix, you can essentially drink less water throughout the day which is perfect for people that often forget to drink because they’re occupied with their work.
An electrolyte mix like Hydrant also comes with the added advantage of using fewer artificial ingredients and tasting like a natural product instead of something that is loaded with sugar or extra unneeded nutrients like carbohydrates. It’s a pure and convenient source of hydration that doesn’t require you to drink copious amounts of water each day.
6. You’re not doing any physical activities
Hydration and exercise are two of the most important things to consider for beating the effects of fatigue. This is because fatigue can be caused by factors other than physical activity such as stress, your diet and a lack of sleep. Many people believe that going to the gym and exerting yourself will cause you to be tired, but the reality is that physical activity can help you become more active and energetic, ultimately leading to fewer instances of severe fatigue. It doesn’t take much to start working the body and becoming more active and alert; even basic yoga poses and getting up to walk can help you feel more energetic. In short, it might sound strange and counterintuitive to exercise in order to beat your fatigue, but it’s a viable method of staying healthy and ensuring that your body is full of energy.
7. Your diet is working against you
Nutrition is a big issue when it comes to fighting fatigue. Lifestyle choices will always have a drastic effect on your diet (such as consuming alcohol at parties or snacking on greasy foods while watching a film) and these can have a negative impact on your body. Getting the right nutrition from energy-rich foods can help you fight off the fatigue so that you can be more productive throughout the day. A healthy balance of nutrients from a variety of foods can help ensure that you’re getting all the right nutrients which will power your body and give you the energy you need to make it through the day. If your diet focuses too much on one nutrient while giving up another, then it creates an imbalance in your body that must be addressed if you want to overcome your fatigue problems.
8. Your body lacks vitamin D
Vitamin D is one of the most essential chemicals in your body for regular body function. Many studies have shown that vitamin D deficiencies can lead to fatigue in the body and as a result, many people are looking into how they can get more vitamin D into their body throughout the day. One of the simplest ways to get more vitamin D is to walk around outside in full view of the sun. Our bodies automatically create vitamin D as a response to being exposed to the sun. If you find yourself spending a lot of time indoors instead of outside then you might be suffering from a lack of vitamin D which will ultimately cause you to feel fatigued.
9. Depression can be a fatigue trigger
Studies have shown that fatigue affects over 90 percent of people that are diagnosed with a depressive disorder. This statistic creates a clear link between fatigue and depression, but depression is a complicated subject that doesn’t have clear-cut solutions. In fact, other issues such as a lack of sleep and a poor diet can contribute to depressive orders while also directly affecting your fatigue levels. As such, it’s important to speak to an expert if you believe that your depressive disorder is causing you to become fatigued more easily. If you feel that your stress has affected other parts of your body and lifestyle such as making it hard for you to eat or even fall asleep, then it’s a cause for concern and you should immediately see a doctor when possible.
10. You’ve developed some kind of sleep disorder
If you’re having trouble sleeping then it might be because you’re experiencing some kind of sleep disorder. This could be anything from obstructive sleep apnea to even insomnia, both of which are conditions that must be dealt with in order to offer you a more stable and fatigue-free lifestyle. A good example would be sleep apnea, a condition that obstructs your sleeping and even disrupts your breathing patterns. This leads to a poor quality of sleep that will make you feel more tired and fatigued throughout the day due to a lack of quality nighttime rest that allows you to recharge your body. Luckily, sleep orders can often be dealt with quite easily by a specialist doctor who will give you solutions or remedies to help you get as much quality sleep as possible during the night.
