managing fatigue?

[tired_magpie]

hello everybody!

i've been living with anxiety for a few years now and have yet to find a way to manage the kind of bone-deep fatigue it brings with it. i've done my best to keep to a consistent sleep schedule and commit to exercising as i can, but nothing seems to make a dent!

does anyone have any tips outside what i've found on the second (2) page of google?

thanks ☺️

[Deckt]

One of the things I've found in managing fatigue is letting go of stuff that is, in the grand scheme of things, not important. It's a LOT easier said than done. A technique that I've tried and found useful is "in a week, will it matter?"

If I'm too tired to have a shower today, in a week, will it matter? Nope.
If I order takeaway again, because I'm too tired to cook...
If I cancel on a friend...

Healthy diet, exercise, yup, all of those things are good and helpful. But also, give yourself a break. Mentally and physically.

[tired_magpie]

that's really good advice, thank you! i have a rather persistent perfectionistic streak that can make putting things in perspective difficult, but it's something i will endeavour to practice! thanks again 🙂

[smallwolf]

just tagging your post at the moment...noticed you mentioned being a perfectionistic which I can relate to. And I had to work on ways of allowing myself to make mistakes.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi tired_magpie,

I hear you with the fatigue. This is something that I've struggled with for such a long time. I'm the kind of person who can sleep for hours during the day and then sleep all over again all night.

Without hitting the word count and boring you, there's probably two things that feel important - one is similar to what Deckt said in looking at your priorities and what matters the most. If you've ever heard of 'spoonies' I think that one is really great in looking at where you want to allocate your energy - what are the things you can manage today? Will a short walk be doable for you or is this something you have to skip?

The other one is self-compassion, which has been the hardest ever thing for me to learn. Fatigue isn't just physical tiredness but also emotional and mental too - so noticing that and trying to be kind to yourself is so important. This is the difference with me pushing myself all day and feeling the fallout (like a hangover) and being able to pace myself and say that what I have done for now is really good enough.

While it's not for everyone, I always try and pick something that I can do for the day - even if it's little. It might get me really down if I've skipped the cleaning and the house is a mess, but if I can say 'yep, I've done this one thing' it's kind of a little win. Even if it's small.

Hope this helps

rt