Do you always feel like you are running low on energy? Do you often feel tired? Or even overwhelmed by all your responsibilities?

Without realizing it, the majority of our energy is spent through a whirlwind of activities that we do on a daily basis, both at home and at work. Perhaps you dream a week-long sleep cure to deal with your fatigue problem. Unfortunately, energy cannot be stored for later use. You must therefore learn to manage it yourself on a day-to-day basis.

Often in occupational therapy we use techniques with people suffering from chronic fatigue or those who need to manage their energy carefully. They are, however, useful for many in preventing excessive fatigue.

Here are some easy solutions to apply in your daily life to prevent fatigue:

1. Plan a balanced schedule:

• Make sure you have enough time to set aside for your night's sleep so that it is restorative. You should NEVER neglect your sleep time.
• Organize your days to divide tasks requiring a high level of energy and alternating with less demanding tasks. This will prevent you from always operating at full capacity.
• Perform activities that require a lot of energy when you have it most.

2. Take some micro-breaks: 

A micro break is a voluntary active break lasting about 30 seconds to 1 minute. The micro-break can be useful several times during your working day or during a demanding task of long duration. The micro pause can be used for stretching or quick active exercise. Here are some examples:

• Get up and go talk to a colleague
• Go fill your water bottle
• Upper body stretching exercises
• Breathing exercises 

3. Adapt your tasks and your environment:

• Some tasks can be done while seated: Ex: ironing clothes, cutting vegetables.  (*Sitting down reduces energy demand by 25%)
• Muscles get tired more easily when they are static. So, it is important to alternate positions so you won’t have to stay in the same position for too long.
• When you move objects; favor pushing rather than pulling. It is easier for our body to push than to pull since we can put all the muscles and weight in our body to use while pushing.

If you would like personalized recommendations or more information about this service, contact us!