If you’re feeling tired all the time, then you are certainly not alone. Modern life and juggling your responsibilities can make anyone feel tired. However, in some cases, excessive tiredness can have a specific cause, which means it can be remedied. If you often feel sleepy halfway through the day, here are some things you should check.
- Your diet
A lack of proper nutrition can lead to you feeling tired and sluggish. If you regularly down lots of diet soda or fill up on carbs for a quick energy boost, this is often followed by a blood sugar crash that can make you feel even worse than before. Try energy boosting foods like fruit, vegetables, nuts and lean protein to keep your energy levels steady throughout the day.
- Your schedule
Whether it’s caring responsibilities, hobbies, extra hours at work or running errands for neighbours, it’s common for people to take on too much. Make a spreadsheet of your average week and note how much time you spend on each task. Make sure you have time to unwind, even if it’s a long bath in the evening or some mindless TV time. If you can’t fit some ‘me-time’ into your schedule, then you need to carefully consider reducing some of your responsibilities.
- Your sleep patterns
Most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep a night, so if you’re not getting this much, you need to work on the amount and quality of sleep you get. You can do this by:
- Setting an alarm to remind you when it’s bedtime
- Banning mobile phones, tablets and TVs from the bedroom
- Having some wind-down time before you go to bed
- Using a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow
If you aren’t sure how much sleep you are getting, some smartwatches allow you to track your sleep patterns, so you can identify whether you have a problem.
- Vitamin deficiencies
It’s common for people to be deficient in certain vitamins and minerals, and one of the signs of this can be tiredness. Visit a New Zealand online health shop and consider buying some supplements, even if you have a healthy diet, as this will ensure your body is getting everything it needs.
- Medical causes
If you’ve checked all the above and generally live a healthy lifestyle, yet find you are still tired a lot of the time, then it may be time to see a medical professional. There can be lots of medical reasons why you may be tired, from depression to anaemia, but the only way to know for sure is to see a doctor to discuss your concerns. They can run tests to ensure that nothing serious is going on to cause your tiredness.
Feeling tired is usually down to lifestyle factors, rather than being a medical condition, so it’s worth checking whether you’re balancing your diet, sleep and schedule properly. However, if you are concerned about your health, your first stop should always be a doctor, who can help you figure out the root cause of your tiredness.
