Feeling fatigued? Stand in the queue

A 27-year-old female client tells me, “I’m fatigued all the time and so is everyone around me. I wait for plans to be cancelled so that I don’t have to cancel them. The weekend also doesn’t help. I begin Mondays by feeling tired, if I have socialized on previous days I have social fatigue, and the cycle goes on. Going for my workouts has become tough because of the fatigue. I don’t want to feel this way”.

Since 2020, fatigue has been a theme that consistently makes it to therapy sessions. Earlier, it seemed that uncertainty, having to work from home due to Covid -19 and then a consistent anxiety about health was leading to hypervigilance, feeling wired and in turn fatigued. However, while all other issues have abated somewhat, the mention of fatigue has remained consistent through 2022 and now in 2023 from folks across age groups. In fact, Mintel, a global market intelligence and research agency in their Global Consumer trends 2023 report, talks about ‘hyper fatigue’ as one of the key themes for 2023. Their report adds this feeling of fatigue will eventually impact consumer choices and decision-making.

‘Hyper fatigue’ is the term that describes a state where people feel overwhelmed, constantly tired of managing their multiple responsibilities. They find themselves stretched physically, emotionally, and even socially. This shows up in ways where our bodies consistently seem to carry a sense of tightness or tension. Clients in therapy sessions report how their social plans are getting impacted which in turn leads to feeling of loneliness and anomie. The chronic exhaustion impacts our capacity for enthusiasm, hope, and the ability to mindfully show up in friendships, relationships, as also at work. What I also see is that such people then begin to operate from a place of low engagement, or passivity, which creates a cycle of constantly feeling unhappy, guilty, and even more fatigued.

What’s contributing to this state is the fact that we are living at a time when the economy is volatile and unsteady, there is a constant hypervigilance and fear about layoffs and pay cuts across sectors. The climate crisis, increased cost of living, the lack of physical and psychological safety that people are facing given the global events, is adding to our feeling of being emotionally tired which is impacting our overall sense of optimism. Beyond that our increased screen time where we are constantly bombarded with information is creating a cognitive overload, leaving no time to rest or enjoy real world leisure. The consumption overload, in relation to social media, shows, videos and other content on various platforms is real and impacting people’s sleep, in turn leading to bedtime procrastination and eventual fatigue. One constantly hears of people waking up after a night’s sleep feeling unrefreshed and tired. Another source of fatigue is the what’s app groups that bombard messages through the day, and if you use smartwatch, then possibly you are constantly paying attention to each of these, unless you have chosen to mute notifications.

With more and more people switching to online delivery platforms for groceries, medicines and other shopping, it invariably means task switching as we order stuff in midst of the workday and then pay attention back to work. We don’t realize it but task switching adds to overall strain on the brain.

Choosing to recognize what contributes to our fatigue the most is the first step.

Learning to cut down consumption of social media, television shows, random scrolling and phone usage has made huge difference for me, and it will for you as well. Figuring out what gives us energy whether it’s being in nature, better scheduling of work and leisure or even sleeping full 8 hours can help.

Get out of the hyper-mediatized environment and constant stimuli to rebuild energy and get enthusiasm back in your life.