Understanding Fatigue Triggers: How to Extend Your Energy Battery By Pacing Yourself by Activity Type
By Katarina Zulak
Recently, one of my oldest friends developed Long Covid, and is trying to manage severe fatigue. It's hard to hear about someone going through the pain and confusion of illness onset. I've shared a bit of what I have learned over the years about managing fatigue, and in those discussions, some interesting questions emerged. What fatigues you? How do you pace yourself when there are different types of fatigue triggers?
Learning Your Limits: Different Types of Fatigue Triggers
When I started to list all of the things I find particularly tiring, I quickly noticed they fit into organic categories. My energy zappers, or fatigue triggers, fall into the following buckets, with the caveat that bad sleep, pain, or stress makes everything more fatiguing:
· interpersonal activities (socialising/appointments/meetings): it takes energy to be 'on' around other people, to actively listen, respond, and share. Limit: 30 min to 2 hours, depending on who I'm with and where.
· concentrating: focusing my attention to write, categorise, edit, or plan takes up a lot of mental resources. Limit: 1.5 hrs.
· sensory overload: Going to a place with a cacophony of people, sounds, sights, and smells, is draining, especially with a task to do. For example, I find it very taxing to go to a grocery store, walk down an aisle of cereal boxes, and find which one I want. I don't know what you call this challenge; it's partly visual overload and partly difficulty sorting and identifying one thing from many things. Limit: 15-30 minutes.
· physical overexertion: Usually my pain boundaries mean I don't physically over-do it badly enough to have a fatigue crash but it can happen, especially on very hot days, or days where I am out of the house for more than a few hours.
Understanding that different activities will tire you for different reasons can improve efforts to pace yourself. When I developed fibromyalgia, I thought 'fatigue' came only from physical exertion or social plans. I didn't factor sensory stimulation or concentration into my calculations on what would drain my energy. This meant that I overdid certain types of activities and crashed more frequently. The best way to identify your limits by types of fatigue triggers is to keep a log of all your activities, how long you did them, and their effect on your fatigue. For example:
Time
Activity & Fatigue Trigger Type
Fatigue Level
Notes
9:30 - 11:30 am
(2 hrs)
Computer Work (Concentrating)
Before: 2/5
After: 4/5
Crashed in bed afterwards; word recall worse
Planning Around Fatigue Triggers: Sequencing and the Combined Multiplier Effect
In order to pace yourself, you need to be able to roughly predict how your planned activities will contribute to your fatigue. It becomes clear quickly that scheduling a sequence of draining activities will make you more exhausted than if you stick to a limit of only doing one or two activities per day/week.
My experience is that I drain my overall energy battery faster by overdoing one type of trigger in one day. That's why it is important to mix up different types of fatigue triggers in one day. For example, I know that limiting my productive activities on a single day to 1 hour of writing (concentrating) and a 20 minute walk (physical exertion) will protect my energy from crashing. But, if I schedule multiple tasks involving the same type of fatigue trigger in one day, I will crash. So, if I do 2 concentrating activities (like computer work and meal planning), or 2 physical activities (like a walk and housecleaning), then I will have no energy left.
The 'advanced' fatigue trigger math comes when you need to calculate the combined multiplier effect of an activity that includes two or more fatigue triggers (concentrating, physical exertion, sensory overload, and interpersonal activities). If I go to a local farmer's market, I will find it more exhausting than a neighbourhood walk, even if I take the same number of steps (physical exertion x sensory overload). If I meet a group of people in a crowded, noisy space (pre-covid), my battery will drain much faster than a quiet one-on-one lunch (sensory overload x socialising). If I meet up with a friend while shopping, I will become more tired than if I'm sitting for the visit (physical exertion x socialising). If I try to concentrate anywhere noisy (cognitive x sensory) or social (cognitive x socialising), my brain will short circuit more quickly than if I'm at home.
The key to this strategy is to be able to analyse your anticipated plan ahead of time to simplify them and minimise fatigue triggers down to 1 type per activity to save yourself from the combined effect of multiple fatigue triggers. Next time you meet a friend, do it somewhere quiet, seated, and one-on-one.
Putting it all Together: How do you pace yourself when there are different types of fatigue triggers?
1. Identify the daily activity time limits by type of fatigue trigger, on an otherwise normal day, by keeping a log.
2. Note the effects of any extra pain, stress, or insomnia that might contribute to how draining an activity is.
3. Sequence your activities carefully, requiring only 1 or 2 energy demanding activities per day, depending on your day limits. Mix up your activities each day by type of fatigue trigger.
4. Try to limit the combined multiplier effects of any one activity. For each plan, ask: What will the sensory environment be? Will it involve physical exertion? Will it require me to concentrate or pay attention? How much socializing will be required?
5. Consider your weekly activity limits by type of fatigue trigger. How does what you did yesterday impact you today? Does one block of concentrating work yesterday mean you are brain fogged today? Set your limits based on how many days of recovery you need following a type of activity so you do not crash. For example, I can only handle 1-2 social interactions per week. If I have 2 appointments this week, then I cannot meet a friend or have a phone-call with my brother until next week.