If you’re giving your everything building your startup, chances are that you might feel exhausted and close to burnout at some point.
Therefore, it is important not forget to maintain your vitality and if you see any incurable problem, address it immediately. Fatigue and a longer period with lack of sleep can cause serious health issues. Reasons why Fatigue occurs can be stress, a busy lifestyle, and a lack of physical activity. You definitely should talk to a doctor if your fatigue symptoms stay for a longer period and start damaging your mental and physical health.
Below you’ll find 5 recommendations for exhausted entrepreneurs about how to fight fatigue and to prevent burnout:
1. Optimise your sleeping environment
One of the most common reasons for fatigue is a lack of sleep and it is the easiest problem to sort out. Start removing sleep disruptors like too high/low temperature in your bedroom. Research shows that good sleep normally happens in a slightly cooler environment. 16° to 20° seems to be the best room temperature to maintain sleep, but try for youself to see what works best for you. Another sleep disruptor is the constant glow of digital screens. Melatonin production of your body can be disturbed by the blue light emitting from these devices. Moreover, it can also hijack your circadian rhythms which also leads to bad sleep. For better sleep you should make sure your bedroom is a dark and quiet place. Also important are a comfortable bed, a good mattress and a cozy pillow.
2. Keep track of your diet, sleep and exercise habits
Nutrition, sleep and exercise are three of the main factors that affect your energy and fatigue level. You can maintain an overview regarding those factors using spreadsheets or a basic calendar. This will help you over time to find out how nutrition, sleep and exercise are influencing your health and mental state. Note down when and what you eat. Also write down your physical activities or any other workout you’ve done. Tracking those things will help you to notice patterns and different aspects that have an effect on your fatigue. For example, you might notice that your fatigue level is spiking after adding an exercise in your daily routine or when you eat too much sweets too often. As with most things in business and personal life, tracking is the first step towards improvements.
3. If you’re feeling exhausted, take some time off
If your fatigue is not getting better after improving your diet, sleep and exercise habits, try taking a break from your workplace. Just because your the founder or a co-founder doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t take holidays at some point. Your mind and body both need and deserve a break. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you should spend your time at a wellness resort or a massage centre. Just by staying at home with a break from your daily work routine can make you feel better and can lead to a more relaxed mental state for you. During such break try to see if it has an effect on your fatigue problem. If it works for you, then make sure to include enough breaks and holiday days in your working routine in order to not feel exhausted all the time.
4. Check your allergies and health
Your sleep can also be affected by allergies and sinus infections. The respiratory system disturbs when allergy signs inflame nasal and sinus tissues. An allergy makes your body’s immune system fighting with it and this negatively influences your ability for good and healthy sleep. If you think that allergies could be the reason for your fatigue, you should consult your doctor for the right allergy treatment. You can also try using anti-allergy medications if the problem is not too serious, otherwise contact your doctor. Beside this you should clean your room well using a vacuum cleaner. This way you’ll get rid of dust and pet dander. Your bed sheets must be clean and pillows should be comfortable. Your windows should be closed. You may also want to take a shower or take bath to make sure that you have washed allergens off your body.
After doing all these things you are not feeling better, then you should contact your doctor for a general check-up (incl. blood test). If your blood, blood pressure and blood circulation is normal, talk to your doctor about less common causes, such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and other chronic illnesses. There are also some physical problems that can cause fatigue like heart problems, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes and anaemia. Depression and mental health issues can also reasons for causing physical symptoms like muscle spasms, body pain, headaches and fatigue.
5. Take fatigue seriously – and take action!
If you have the problem of fatigue and it is lasting for more than two weeks in a row, you should not take it light since it can turn into a serious problem. Great businesses are not developed by exhausted entrepreneurs. Your decision-making power, creativity and analytical skills can be destructed by fatigue. It’s also very unpleasant if you are the boss and you are affecting others with your fatigue. Keep in mind that the whole company and staff will be impacted by your fatigue. So, take its presence gravely and take action the sooner the better. Getting exhausted is a natural phenomenon and getting over it is important to stay happy and to continuously achieve good work results.
