It is possible that even though you maintain your health in almost every possible way, you still suffer from persistent fatigue that never ends. Even if you exercise regularly, sleep 7-8 hours every night and eat healthy food, you still feel exhausted all the time. If that's the case, there's a good chance your brain feels like it's under constant attack, and you feel like you're running all the time and not getting a good rest. If that's the case, there are eight things you can do to reduce the mental exhaustion you suffer from. Once you know them you can regain the energy levels you once had and considerably improve your quality of life.
When your boss puts you in a position of pressure, and at the same time doesn’t guide you on how to optimize your work or isn’t supportive of you in any way, you might experience exhaustion that comes from your daily stress. In such a situation, you should have a conversation with your boss about things that are important to you and that you’re not getting, such as teamwork, respect in the workplace or open communication, and ultimately it will help both you and improve the situation at work. Also, emphasize your boundaries and listen to your gut feeling - you're not spoiled. It will help to bring to the surface things that your boss may not know exist, and if they act on your words, the load you’re carrying now will be reduced. This tip is not limited to use only in the workplace, you may have to act similarly in other settings in your life.
Of the following options, what do you think will help you gain more energy throughout the day:
Choose the way you want to start your day, and such a small change can change the whole course of your day. Even if you get to the office and have a hefty workload, your brain will be ready to handle everything, and you won’t even feel the stress.
When you or even people close to you express anger, fear, sadness or frustration, it is easy to sink into a deep pit of negative feelings that draw energy from you. However, if you invest effort into coming up with solutions to these situations instead of just the problems themselves, you’ll feel a sense of empowerment that creates energy and does not draw from it. Try it: complain or listen to complaints for no more than 20 minutes, then think of one or two possible solutions. Also, don’t turn yourself into someone else's punching bag, and don’t let them draw energy from you. If they don’t want to find a solution to their situation, explain to them that you’re not going to waste time on their problems - but if they want to solve them, they can reach out and you’ll help them think of something.
Stress does not allow you to maintain concentration and focus, and so your productive power fades away. In order to regain your concentration, you must reach a state where your brain feels relaxed and the levels of dopamine in it increase, therefore, you need to make a conscious choice to relax in a way that will help you. If you feel exhausted, take 5-10 minutes to do something relaxing, whether it’s reading an empowering article or just a few minutes of self-observation and trying to see the world in a more positive way. A break like this will help you get back to the right rhythm of life and avoid the exhaustion that harms you.
Everyone has their own way of increasing motivation, but there are some simple methods that anyone can use to increase mental energy. Gratitude is one of them because it helps the brain feel safe and happy in the present and forget about the negative pressures and thoughts that bother it which in turn prevent us from being able to act effectively. Be creative and think about every little thing you have to be thankful for in your life that makes you smile – the look in your children's eyes when they see you coming home or all the things that have changed in your life for the better in the last 5 years. Close your eyes and do it every time you feel the stress come on, even for only 2 minutes, and you will already feel the smile forming on your lips.
If you tell yourself that you are mentally exhausted, you will turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy and you won’t be able to get out of the situation easily. However, when you promise yourself that you have vital energy, you will already have taken the first step to truly accepting it. Most of the time we put labels on our feelings that intensify them, and we can change them in just a few moments if we just put on new and positive labels that we want to see.
This tip is not easy to apply, but it is a very important part of trying to change your mental state. If you spend too much time with people who draw energy from you, you should stop surrounding yourself with them and understand that these relationships don’t contribute positively to your life and in fact only detract from your mental state. If you're watching and listening to the news regularly, stop that too - you'll soon see that your life will change if you stop hearing about the bad news, but only for the better. If there is news that is important to hear, you will probably hear about it through work acquaintances who will talk about it themselves or through the main headlines, but most of the stories in the news are simply not worth the stress they create in life.
Procrastination is a "disease" that many people have, and the more you try to resist it without doing anything, its negative effect on your mental state will only get worse. You will experience guilt, disappointment, and stress that will damage your mental state. However, sometimes we have to rest and push off what can be done tomorrow, but we need to know how to do it right. Give yourself permission to take a break, and do so with a certain time limit that you set yourself up. During this break, relax as you should and let yourself enjoy it. When you start doing what you need to do, don’t commit yourself to completing the task, just let yourself be engaged until you get tired of it and return to it at another time. If you take small steps it will help you a lot more than avoiding taking big scary steps, and you will see for yourself that once you start with such an attitude, you won’t want to stop and things will actually get done a lot faster.
