What Is Fatigue and What Causes It?

Posted January 8th, 2007

Fatigue is simply defined as tiredness. A human factors definition could be performance impairment from lack of sleep and/or circadian rhythm disruption. Most humans need between seven and nine hours of sleep in every twenty-four day. Our circadian rhythms generally are high in the daytime and low at night. When a person works at night, the circadian rhythm is disrupted and it might be harder to sleep in the daytime. I’ll explain this more fully in other articles.

Adequate sleep is the only real solution to fatigue, although humans are always seeking quicker fixes. Fatigue, however, can be caused by other factors than lack of sleep due to being up for long amounts of time.

Let me explain with a Dale Carnegie quote: “Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration, and resentment.” Do you find it difficult to rest and sleep from those three factors? What are your strategies for eliminating worry, avoiding frustration, and losing resentment?

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Managing Fatigue.