How to “Ignore” Being Constantly Exhausted
There hasn’t been a single night in the past two and a half years where I have gone to bed and woken up the next morning feeling well rested. There isn’t a change in my exhaustion level if I go to sleep earlier or later, stay off of electronics hours before bed, drink water, exercise, eat before bed, nothing.
And it’s exhausting feeling exhausted.
Throughout these two and a half years, I’ve gotten pretty good at finding ways to “ignore” my exhaustion. In some sense, I’ve gotten used to it partially because I didn’t really know anything was wrong. I’ve developed a couple ways to distract myself from constantly thinking about how tired I am. Here are my most effective strategies.
SPEND TIME OUTSIDE
Being outdoors, whether that be sitting outside or going for a walk is a great way that I like to “ignore” exhaustion. Vitamin D enhances your energy levels and increases your mood so maybe that’s why I like spending time outside. If you do go outside, make sure to put on sunscreen and drink water. I like to sit on my deck and read a book or listen to music. I’ll occasionally go on walks with my dad which is a great form of exercise. Find something you enjoy doing outside and continue doing it. It can be incredibly calming listening to the birds chirping and feeling the wind in your hair and the sun on your skin. There aren’t too many feelings that beat that for me.
SPEND LESS TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA
This is just a lesson I think everyone could incorporate into their daily life. As a sports fan, I spend countless hours on Twitter trying to stay up to date with sports news and during game days I like to be involved in the discourse working its way around social media. However, when my average screen time is consistently around 7 hours, that’s a pretty good indicator that I need to do something else with my time.
Social media is exhausting. Constantly seeing negative comments under posts or conversations where people snap at one another is tiresome to watch. Social media is a wonderful tool. If you use it intentionally and construct it to a point in which you are getting something out of it, it can be great. But you can’t control everything. And sometimes you see things you wish you hadn’t. Set limits for yourself and spend that old “social media time” doing something else. Getting off social media could also be a mood booster which can make it feel like you have more energy than you actually do.
DO SOMETHING CREATIVE
For me, this consists of writing like I’m doing now, practicing hobbies I want to get better at, cooking something, planning/recording a podcast episode with my brother, or creating and editing Spotify playlists. These are ways I like to spend my time without having to think about how exhausted I am. It’s also just a couple ideas as to how to pass time.
Doing something creative forces your mind to focus on something other than your exhaustion. You have to actually spend time thinking about what you’re doing and you can’t always mindlessly wander through these creative things. I like to practice juggling and when I do, I pop my headphones in and listen to music. I listen to the lyrics in the song and don’t really have to concentrate on anything other than the act of juggling itself. It has proven to be a pretty solid distraction.
TAKE A NAP
You never have to force yourself to get through the day running on fumes if you don’t want to. Take a nap. From what I’ve read, 20–45 minute naps prove to be most effective if you want to wake up feeling better than you did when you fell asleep. This isn’t the case for me, but hopefully it can be for you. Remember, if you’re tired you do not have to be the most productive version of yourself. It’s not possible. Give yourself a break. Take it easy on yourself.
Being tired isn’t fun. Take it from someone with experience. Hopefully these things can prove to be a good source of ideas for how to cope with your exhaustion and I hope that we all feel well-rested soon.
In the meantime, remember to drink water, wear sunscreen, have fun and be safe.
