I once heard a saying that hard work never killed anyone. As I stop and reflect on that saying, I would have to conclude that  for the most part it has some truth.

I would assume that most people die more of boredom than they do from actually doing something they enjoy.  Unless of course, what you enjoy doing is wrestling crocodiles, in which case a certain level of risk may be present.

Putting silly crocodile jokes aside, how is it,  that in a time in history where we have more technology to help automate tasks, so as humans we don’t have to do much physical work,  are we still coming home at the end of the day exhausted to the point where we can barely think for ourselves and all we want to do is sit down on our couch and rest?

Are we really that exhausted from a day at the office? Is typing on a keyboard, answering a phone, chatting by the water cooler, or driving home really that physically demanding? No. Of course not.

It is a well known fact that your emotional attitude usually has far more to do with producing fatigue than has physical exertion.

Have you ever worked all day, come home and felt exhausted to the point that you didn’t want to do anything, then all of a sudden a good friend calls and invites you to go dancing or partying — you immediately spring up, with a sparkle in your eye, rush to get your favorite outfit on, go and stay out till the early morning and when you finally do get home, you’re not the slightest bit exhausted but instead exhilarated and can’t even fall asleep?

How is this possible? Were you faking your exhaustion? No. You really did feel exhausted. But why? You weren’t physically exerting yourself.Here’s why….

Mental work alone can’t make you tired.   There have been studies a few years back where scientist have tried to find out how long the human brain could labour without  reaching a  ” diminished capacity for work” ( a fancy scientific definition for fatigue).  Contrary to popular cultural belief the scientist discovered that the blood flowing through the brain  when it is active, shows no fatigue at all.  On the other hand if you were to take blood from a labourer while he was working,  you would find it full of “fatigue toxins” produced from the physical exertion he/she was doing.  But take a drop of blood from an office worker who uses their brains more than their might  and it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.

Interesting, isn’t it?  So if the brain is utterly tireless, what than causes you to feel tired if not from using it all day long?

Most fatigue is derived from our mental and emotional attitudes.  J. A. Hadfield a known psychiatrist had said that ” the greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin; in fact exhaustion from purely physical origin is rare.” I would like to add that exhaustion from purely physical means is easily eliminated through getting proper sleep.  If you ever exhausted yourself through physical labour you understand how great it feels to sleep and how refreshed you feel the next morning.  It’s amazing.

So what are the mental origins of  feeling tired? Is it from feeling joy and contentment at work? No! It’s boredom with work, resentment of work, futility with work, anxiety of work, hurry, worry — these are the emotional factors that exhaust office worker all around the world, everyday.

So how can you eliminate these emotional feelings that make you tired? Here’s a few tips to get you started on the right path.

1. Do something you love. If you don’t like what you are doing, then why on earth are you wasting your time in a job you hate? Find one that fits your interests.
2. If you’re not able to find a job that fits your interests than consider making your current job more interesting.  Challenge yourself to make a certain number of calls each day or learn new skills you can apply to your line of work.  If you do customer service, grab a book on interpersonal skills and how to provide great customer service — become the number one person on customer service in your company. ( I smell promotions )
3. If you can’t find a job that interests you and you hate your current job and therefore do not feel like researching how to be better at it, maybe you should consider what it is you enjoy doing and starting your own business utilizing those skills.

I hope this blog post has helped you gain a basic understanding why you feel the way you do, even if what you do isn’t physically demanding.  By knowing the emotional factors that cause your fatigue you are better equipped to look at them and figure out how to change them or your situation.  Awareness is always the starting point to fixing something.