If you’re perpetually tired despite getting what should be enough sleep each night, it’s time to look for solutions. No matter how tired you are – even if it’s just a little bit – there’s a reason. Your exhaustion could stem from various factors, including poor circulation, nutritional deficiencies, stress, burnout, and even lifestyle habits. Understanding the underlying cause is crucial to finding a solution that works.
Here’s where to start.
1. Boost your circulation
Many people don’t realize that even slightly poor circulation can cause fatigue, especially in your legs and feet. If you sit or stand all day for work, circulation might be an issue. Poor circulation doesn’t transport oxygen properly, and the result is often exhaustion.
Try wearing compression socks to see if it makes a difference. These socks apply gentle pressure to your legs and feet in a way that promotes blood flow and reduces swelling. By improving circulation in your lower extremities, you can alleviate that feeling of heaviness you get in your legs that slows you down.
2. Assess your sleep quality
It’s just a myth that getting eight hours of sleep each night should be enough to feel rested. In truth, it’s the quality of sleep that matters. You could sleep all day, and if your sleep quality is poor, you’ll wake up exhausted, feeling like you haven’t slept at all.
Quality sleep consists of several things: uninterrupted sleep, comfort, and deep sleep.
Once you fall asleep, your body initiates stages that progress in a cycle until you reach REM sleep. With each interruption, your body has to start those cycles from the beginning, and if you don’t make it into REM sleep and complete a full sleep cycle, you won’t feel rested.
If there’s anything about your sleeping environment that makes you wake up multiple times in the night, or keeps you from falling into deep sleep, address those things immediately. This might include interruptions from pets, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or having to use the restroom frequently.
One issue that many people overlook is the use of screens before bedtime. Your body relies on melatonin to initiate sleep, but blue light exposure suppresses its release. Many people are able to recover their energy by not looking at screens a couple hours before bedtime.
3. Consider a new job
It’s nearly impossible to avoid stress in the workplace, even when you love your job. However, too much stress can take a serious toll on your health and wellbeing. A little bit of stress is healthy, but if you’re constantly frustrated, exhausted all day at work, and feeling grumpy, that could be a sign that your job is causing your fatigue.
If you’re among the 52% of people who experience burnout in the workplace, you have a big decision to make. If you stay where you are, you’re putting yourself at risk for serious stress-related illness, including heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure. It could be worth considering a less stressful job even if the pay is lower. Working too much and too hard in a stressful environment isn’t sustainable long-term.
4. Eat solid nutrition
Sometimes fatigue is caused by not eating enough or eating the wrong foods. Food is fuel for your body, and if you’re running on caffeine, sugar, and junk food, you’re depriving your body of the energy it needs to function.
Sustained energy comes from pairing carbohydrates with protein and healthy fats. For example, combining whole grains with lean protein and fiber-rich vegetables will give your body a steady release of energy and prevent that 2:00 p.m. crash.
5. Get a medical evaluation
If your fatigue isn’t caused by something easily within your control (like avoiding blue light before bed), it’s important to get a medical evaluation to either confirm or rule out serious medical conditions. For example, sleep apnea, insomnia, infections, heart conditions, autoimmune disorders, depression, anxiety, and other medical conditions might be the cause.
Image by Hamilton Viana Viana from PixabayIf you’ve tried simple solutions and nothing seems to work, make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible.
6. Check your medications
Some medications cause fatigue and drowsiness as a side effect. Even if you’ve been on a certain medication for years without issue, things can change. Your body creates billions of chemical reactions every second, and it’s not unheard of for people to suddenly start experiencing new side effects from medications they’ve been taking for a long time.
Be proactive about restoring your energy
Persistent fatigue makes it hard to function, but it could be caused by more than just an uncomfortable mattress or someone leaving the lights on in the hall. By addressing factors like circulation, stress, and underlying health conditions, you can restore your energy levels and finally kick fatigue to the curb.