6. Manage your stress levels
If you’re suffering from tiredness but you’re getting enough sleep, it’s possible that you could be experiencing stress-induced fatigue. Stress seriously drains energy levels and studies have shown that it has a direct correlation with fatigue symptoms, which leads to decreased body function and performance.
This is because stress has a stimulating effect on your nervous system, creating the release of stress hormones, including cortisol, into your bloodstream. These hormones are the cause of all the physical symptoms we typically experience under stress, from tension, to a fast pulse and an elevated heartbeat. This reaction happens to prepare us to respond in a situation that’s dangerous, but it can also be set off by things that aren’t putting us in immediate peril, like anxiety over work, or relationships.
Managing stress levels by eating a balanced diet, getting enough rest, and avoiding alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine can help to redress the balance, as can exercising, as research has shown this releases the feel good hormone serotonin.
Stress can be caused by taking on too much or not having adequate self-care, so knowing when to say no is an essential. If you find yourself worrying about things that are out of your control, try some deep breathing techniques to help calm yourself down, or focus your mind more proactively, by thinking about the things you can change instead.
