Fatigue and Productivity

Frequent fatigue affects one out of three workers. Overwork, multitasking, and workplace demands are the main culprits. Although work pressures can feel inescapable, the strain you experience from them combined with communication and information-sharing technology makes fatigue a major health issue for the modern workplace. Proper management and awareness of fatigue is a personal health responsibility in the modern era. Fatigue is not just feeling tired. You feel exhausted, slow, and lethargic. Fatigue can lead to cognitive errors, safety infractions and injury, coworker conflicts, a higher risk of depression, health problems, and negative impacts on children and families. Ironically, it is not work per se that creates fatigue; rather, it is how you work that creates fatigue. Fatigue builds with effort and decreases with rest. You can combat fatigue by working intensely in the morning, much more slowly in the middle of the day, and then intensely at the end of the day. Or simply plan breaks—go for a walk for a change of scenery or spend time in a quiet room. Don’t just rest when you feel tired. Make rest a part of a healthier day. For more information, visit https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu [search: “give it a rest”].

6/13/2017

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