Occassionally, I feel like a constant chant in my conversations is the whisper of “I’m so tired”. Technically, in the way of physical activities i don’t do so much so i always wondernwhere the feeling comes from. Mentally, i know my brain gets fried when i overthink and undersleep and the cycle is vicious. When thining about h=the cause of my feeling drained tdid not suffice, i started looking outwards.
the questions I often ask are; Is this burnout? Am I just lazy? Why do I feel so tired all the time? How do I deal with this? On and on and on the questions in my head go. I realized that the feeling was common among my friends too so I was technically not alone in my perpetual tiredness you see. This led me on a personal quest to find stuff to help me relax me and the list below is a curation of my top five activities.
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I go outside to touch grass, literally.
As an idoor ambassador, I can spend days in the house without stepping a foot out. Sometimes, i even avoid activities that would take me outside for the sun to touch my skin. When my tiredness is at an all time high, I go out immediately to look at the plants and touch them. If I’m in a place where the plants are out of reach, I find a space to sit and enjoy the breeze.
Looking at how blue the sky is or the moon at night instantly calms me a little bit. A deep dive on the internet showed that indeed, looking at pretty things releases dopamine because the brain recognizes it as a pleasurable activity. I personally recommend looking up at the sky at least once in your day, you’d find something new in the colours.
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I write in my journal just because.
As someone who yaps and journals a lot, I find that sitting to journal without planning helps me relax. It acts as this means to unravel the knot in my brain and just let my words flow. Most of the time, I’m not armed with a prompt list with the aim to really answer any questions. I just start with a sentence that pops into mind first and allow the words to come until they stop.
As Michael G. Scott succinctly put it, “Sometimes I’ll start a sentence, and I don’t even know where it’s going. I just hope I find it along the way. Like an improv conversation, an improversation.” This usually frees me of any pressure to discover “something”, I just write and write and dump all the contents in my brain at that moment.
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I choose an activity I enjoy, and do it.
Not just any activity, but low-key things that do not stress me. Making stickers for my journal I’ve found helps me relax. I almost always have a stack of printed pictures so I choose some, colour them in and start cutting them up. The entire process grounds me and makes the hours go by quickly.
If I’m in the mood for it, I watch a feel-good anime. I listen to a podcast or I listen to music but the truth is that I hardly hear what they’re talking about. I know silence causes my head to wander and then I overthink or ruminate on anything my brain grasps. A friend of mine says folding laundry and cleaning her room helps her relax but i found that does not work for me cause I don’t enjoy doing it.
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I allow myself to do nothing i.e I rest.
Naps I find are quite rejuvenating. I might not necessarily sleep for a long time but like staring at the sky, I stare at my ceiling or lay down and close my eyes. After feeling like taking time off to let my body be was laziness for the longest time, i have thrown the guilt I feel away. for me, the closing of my eyes lures me into slumber that is often hard to find at night time. I wake up feeling refreshed and life feels good again.
- I find a way to express love to someone or something.
Kindness is one feel good emotion that can never go out of style for me. Smiling at my face in the mirror, hugging my mum or delivering baked goods to a neighbour, sign me up please. At times, I go out to pet our dogs and roll in a little mud with them to feel like myself again. If my friends live close by, i plan impromptu visits to exist in silence and breathe. Yes, my introvet needs people too and that works.
Conclusion
Feeling drained is a problem of mine that I can often push back when I do a few things to counter it. I do hope you take a leaf from my book and go on a quest to find what helps you recharge and regain your energy. It does not have to be anything I listed here and blah…. What do you do when you feel drained?
