Feeling tired? You might be emotionally drained

We tend to associate over tiredness with lack of sleep. It makes sense. Logically if you're sleep deprived you are going to feel tired. However, mental excursion is often at the route of daily tiredness and in fact is often the cause of sleep deprivation. 

Many people complain of sheer exhaustion and feeling Burnt out at the end of a hard day at work. As a result they associate the environment and actual job with tiredness. However, a lot of the tiredness comes from worrying about external factors, such as everything of their to-do list, their ability to perform a task in a particular time, or complete a job to a particular standard.

 

A 2012 article in the Psychology Today magazine defined feeling burnt out as:

"...a state of chronic stress and frustration that leads to:

• physical and emotional exhaustion; 
• feelings of cynicism and detachment; and
• a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment." See: http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/high-octane-women/201205/where-do-you-fall-the-burnout-continuum

Whilst you may not be experiencing all these symptoms, if you are regularly feeling mentally drained at the end of the day, it's time to start having a look at how you are processing information throughout your day. For instance, if you engage in a lot of negative thinking throughout the day (such as complaining about people that upset you at work), you are straining your mind and filling it with very draining thoughts. These thoughts then lead to negative feelings.

Office politics often results in employees feeling as though they are not being heard. They thus turn to each other for support and to vent. Whilst this can be helpful, regularly complaining about the same issues is detrimental to your health and rarely actually improves the issues being discussed. A better approach is to focus on what you can control and then take action to either rectify the issues internally in the current workplace, or start to make plans to move on. Staying where you are and complaining every day about it simply exhausts you mentally and physically.

If you enjoy your job but the workload is just too high, it's important to take time out from your current environment and make plans to set better boundaries and processes. Complaining about his much  work you have on your plate is highly unlikely to alter your situation because most people feel they are overworked in a busy workplace and with hence find it difficult to emplathise with you. Instead, be open about what you are capable of achieving. Set clear expectations and don't over promise to deliver work when you have the opportunity to set more realistic goals and expectations.

Each day make a commitment to first plan out your day and then operate in the here and now, rather than worrying about what you still want to do, or are dreading doing. Most importantly, when walk out of the office door - mentally switch off and leave your work stress where it belongs - back in the office. This simple process will begin to reduce negative mental stress and will provide you with more sustained positive energy throughout your whole day. It will also reduce the reliance on medication, stimulants and relaxants to get you through the day.

For more support and inspiration visit Happy Life at: www.happylife.net.au or follow us on Twitter @lohalloran72