Where can you get more energy to cope with everyday life and work?

Topics

• Member benefit
• Well-being and leisure

Everyone can be tired sometimes, and occasional fatigue is nothing to worry about. Our state of alertness does not stay the same all the time. Long-term fatigue, on the other hand, needs to be addressed and often requires a change in routine or lifestyle. This means that both physical and mental stress factors, some of which are within our control, have an impact on our ability to cope with everyday life and work.

Guest pen: Puhti Lab Oy

Many factors affect your ability to cope

There are many ways to promote personal well-being. It goes without saying that getting enough sleep at night, eating a nutritious and varied diet and getting the right amount of exercise boosts energy. Other factors than work can also drain your energy; for example, relationships can also be stressful at times. Each of these factors is worth paying attention to from time to time.

Stress and too little sleep at night are common causes of fatigue today. Stress can be very sensitive to sleep quality, insomnia and sleep duration. Stress keeps you awake and can make it difficult to fall asleep.

On average, an adult person needs 7-9 hours of sleep per night. The amount varies; sleep needs are very individual. In addition to quantity, sleep needs to be of good quality.

In addition, many people nowadays spend a lot of time in front of screens. Light from TV, mobile phones and computers can interfere with melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep. A quick check of work before bedtime can make you feel too alert and make it harder to fall asleep. In addition, the quality of sleep is reduced for these reasons.

Sometimes there may also be other causes of fatigue that require investigation and treatment. Sometimes a laboratory test can reveal the cause of fatigue. Certain physical factors can cause fatigue; some of these can be controlled by your own lifestyle, others may require treatment.

A clean health check helps to identify the state of your body and the factors affecting your wellbeing

Puhti is a service that makes it easy to check basic health indicators without a doctor’s visit or referral. The Soft Health Check helps you to check how your body is doing and to find out what factors you can change, and how, to give you more energy for everyday life.

A variety of conditions such as diabetes, hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, anaemia, kidney or liver disease can cause fatigue. If fatigue is caused by a medical condition, it should be treated properly.

Fatigue can also be affected by factors such as vitamin levels and iron stores in the body, which can be easily determined by laboratory tests. A clean bill of health includes measurements such as ferritin, which indicates iron stores, vitamin D levels and tests reflecting thyroid, liver and kidney function. Based on the results, you can start lifestyle changes, take a dietary supplement or, if necessary, see a doctor.

Tips to help you cope better

Lifestyle changes and getting more sleep can make a big difference to your well-being. Increasing daily exercise can help reduce fatigue and add a boost to your daily life, especially if you don’t exercise much. A short burst of exercise calms a stressed body and mind, and regular exercise improves sleep quality. If you do a lot of sport, pay attention to recovery.

Replenishing your iron stores can help prevent iron deficiency anaemia, the most common symptoms of which are fatigue and lack of energy. Eating a varied diet rich in vitamins and minerals will also help you to stay fit. If necessary, dietary supplements can be added to the diet.

Monitoring blood glucose and cholesterol levels can help reduce the risk of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease by making lifestyle changes early. Invest in food quality and maintain a regular eating rhythm. Replace hard fats with soft vegetable fats. Foods high in sugar, fat and carbohydrates often make you tired. Too rich a lunch, on the other hand, can make you feel hungry in the afternoon, which can interfere with your work. If necessary, attention should also be paid to high caffeine intake.

Take breaks during the day; in the workplace, breaks are there for a reason. People cannot concentrate for a whole working day in a row without breaks. Remember to take breaks for domestic work and leisure activities too. Also, remember to do things you enjoy on weekdays to balance work and responsibilities. Spare your evenings for work and checking email. In addition, invest in good sleep hygiene and blackout curtains to improve the quality and quantity of sleep.