5 Ways to Stop Feeling SO Tired
Are you constantly feeling Tired? There are many reasons why you might feel tired and want to sleep all day. Lack of good sleep or an underlying medical condition are the first things to consider and investigate.
However, you may not be tired due to lack of sleep, but just exhausted because you simply have too much going on in life. When we are busy, we sometimes consume more caffeine or alcohol, and do less exercise, all of which will make us feel more tired. Often your body's reaction to needing a rest is to start to shut down.
So, if you are feeling like you're not in full control of life and are not living the happy, stress-free and enjoyable daily life you crave, something needs to change.
As Midlifers, this is one of the most hectic phases of our lives. We always have lots to do and spend our days multitasking. Many of us are responsible for supporting both younger and older generations, in addition to taking care of ourselves.
Cutting out unnecessary distractions is essential, so focus on removing all “unwanted noise” going on around you.
Unwanted noise is the things you spend time doing and getting distracted by every day, such as scrolling on social media or looking at promotional emails that you didn’t mean to subscribe to in the first place. You can then replace this time, with doing something more positive and rewarding. This will naturally make you happier and feel less tired and overwhelmed.
So here are 5 suggestions on how to cut out the unwanted noise which consumes your time, and some ideas to replace it with.
1 - Cut out the noise
The abundance of advertising, emails, news, and social media posts constantly tells us what we should be doing or accomplishing. Headlines compete for our attention, often suggesting that our well-being is at risk if we don’t read them. Social pressures and situations make us feel like we must be in specific places with specific people, or else we'll miss out.
Every day, we are bombarded with messages about new "miracle" foods we should eat to stay healthy, and new creams we need to rub all over our bodies to prevent ageing. There are updated versions of electronic devices we already own and even new emojis to use.
This constant onslaught can be overwhelming, leading to anxiety and a constant feeling of struggling to keep up with the pace of life. As a result, we spend even more time on our phones scrolling through content, always fearful of missing out on the next big thing.
However, we need to realise that there's no end to this cycle, there will always be another post to see. How often do we check the time and realise we've spent an entire hour looking at meaningless content? So much of the information we feel compelled to keep up with, especially on social media, isn't relevant to us.
Midlifers don't need to impress anyone or keep up with the latest trends. We should be proud of who we are, what we do, and how we live. There's no need to compare ourselves with others, especially non-midlifers. Remember when we were in our early twenties? The last thing we wanted was for our parents to copy what we were doing, dress like us, or start saying phrases we used. It was embarrassing for everyone!
So, if you start hearing or looking at unnecessary "noise," stop it or postpone it until you have time on another day. Focus on what you would like to achieve each day and be realistic about how long things take.
Clearing your mind of '“noise”, enables you to think more clearly and be more organised, making you feel like you have more time in the day.
"The secret to a simpler, stress-free, and enjoyable daily life, is to cut through all the unnecessary noise and eliminate irrelevant information from our minds. There are so many things that we can simply ignore."
2 - JOMO not FOMO
Midlifers are in a position where we don’t need to suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out). We can feel smug that we know how to live our lives. We can shut out all the noise we don’t need and just focus on the present and feel content where we are in life.
We have pretty much learned everything we need to know and got life figured out. Anything we don't know, we can just Google. So, nothing is stopping us now.
If we get it right, in jumps JOMO (joy of missing out). We will feel better for not knowing something we probably didn’t need to know in the first place, whilst everyone around us feels they need to spend time absorbing endless information to survive the day. Finding time in the day and creating free space in our minds, feels so good.
3 - Create Time to achieve Nothing
Creating Time to achieve ‘absolutely nothing’ every day is a great way to clear your mind. Having a beverage whilst looking out of the window, people-watching in a busy area, or sitting in your favourite yoga pose can help. Just resist having a look at your phone! Even if it's 15 minutes of nothing, you will feel the positive benefit.
4 - Find your bliss hour
To live the life you want, you must engage in activities that bring you joy. Taking time for yourself is crucial for happiness.
Identify a specific time for activities you enjoy and inform others that this is your designated "bliss hour." During this time, avoid phone calls, messages, emails, and distractions from others.
This could be an hour of watching TV, reading, or planning your next adventure. If you find it difficult to sit and relax, consider taking an exercise class, going for a walk, or spending time outdoors with your dog.
Remember you might feel tired because you're so busy that you don’t have time to do the exercise you enjoy. However, not doing enough exercise can also make you tired. It’s a cruel cycle that you need to break out of.
Prioritize this time in your schedule and stick to it. Remember life will still be waiting for you when you have finished your bliss hour.
5 - Absorbing relevant information in our own time
It's essential to stay informed about the ever-changing world around us. News, technology, advancements in medicine, and new products can greatly improve our lives and well-being.
So, we must not shut ourselves off completely. There's a lot of good information out there to make our lives even richer.
However, don’t stress and become overwhelmed, it's about controlling when we want to absorb information.
Once a day maximum is fine, perhaps during breakfast, whilst enjoying a morning beverage, or whenever you are in the mood.
It's okay to take your time processing the information and there's no need to feel pressured to make immediate decisions or purchases. Remember, information is meant to be informative, not to control or dictate to us. We have the power to decide when and how we want to incorporate it into our lives.