Why is sitting down at your desk all day so tiring?

Sitting down all day can cause numerous aches and pains, and can make us feel both physically and mentally tired, but why is this when all we are doing is sitting down? It’s hardly a strenuous activity, is it?

Mental Fatigue

The reason such fatigue occurs even though we are sitting at a desk all day is due to the mental stress we incur. Whether you are simply completing a task on your computer at work or whether you are running a marathon, you will feel a certain amount of pressure. This pressure will release a similar amount of adrenaline around the body, and this adrenaline will take up a lot of your body’s energy which will, in turn, create the feeling of being tired.

Catching Feelings

It’s important for our mental well-being to surround ourselves with people who make us feel good and happy. The reason for this is that you can genuinely start to feel similar emotions to the people that are around you the most. If you work with people who are stressed and tired and talk about this a lot, then it is likely you will catch those feelings and start to feel the same. When experiencing the same feelings as those that are around us, you will be in the process of forming emotional and mental responses, this can take a lot of energy from our brains as well, therefore we feel tired.

Feeling Anxious

If you work in a stressful work environment you may start to feel emotions like anxiety. When you feel this emotion, individuals are often thinking and worrying about the future. When thinking about the possibilities of what could happen next in a situation, your body is preparing for when the situation may occur, and the body starts to act as if that situation is really happening right there and then. If you are anxious about numerous things at once, then your body will be acting as if the various situations are happening all at once, which can cause us to feel very exhausted as feeling anxious take energy from our brain.

Tips to feel less tired

• Sleep for a little longer at night.
• Have regular breaks at work to walk around for a couple of minutes.
• Do a workout or go for a run/walk when you get home.
• Drink a lot of water.
• Sit near an open window to breathe in the fresh air.
• Take a break from looking at your computer screen.
• Expose yourself to natural light.

DSE Assessment

One thing that can help is the correct setup of your desk or workstation. Everybody’s body is different, and therefore you may need a specific workstation setup. Our DSE Assessments can help you identify any issues with current setups or identify specific products that may allow DSE related issues to be resolved.