One of the questions I have asked myself consistently over years is, Why do we as humans have to get tired or fatigue? What could we achieve if we never had to worry about fatigue? This is definitely a flaw in the human design, of course it might be necessary, but its still a flaw

You see we humans have so much going for us. But we also have this nasty thing called fatigue.

Talk about a hidden monster lurking around in dark corners, ready to pounce when you least expect it.
There is no dispute in the fact that fatigue is the force that drives us to get the necessary rest for rejuvenation—it's a double-edged sword, this same fatigue can be the same force that can sap us of all energy and leave us feeling like a pile of vegetable deprived of moisture.

Lets be practical here, throughout life, fatigue robs you a part of what we refer to as a 24 hours in day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a years and it does this in no other way other than making your body betray you, ever heard the saying " the spirit is willing but the flesh (that is the body) is weak".

Now why does the human body have such an annoying design flaw?

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What Is Fatigue and Why It Occurs

Yeah, we're all beautiful and complex creatures, but there's one major flaw like I said before – fatigue. Let's break it down: here we are, going through life like some sort of all-seeing, all-knowing gods...until BAM! Outta' nowhere comes the dozy curtain of fatigue. Talk about a timeout

Look at it this, just imagine, okay, you trying to get something done allright, and your brain is like: "What do you think you doing? You mean you wanna do something? can't you see or maybe you don't you know, let me remind you, buddy, it's the middle of the day, Do us both a favor and Take a nap, bro."

It's simple biology at work – everyday activities take energy, and our bodies need rest to replenish that energy. That's why fatigue kicks in: when our bodies sense that we're running low on juice.

So next time your body starts to feel heavy and sluggish...try not to blame yourself - blame evolution instead!

Why Fatigue Has Always Been Present in Humans

If the world were a shiny new car, human fatigue would be its cracked windshield. It's been with us since, well it has been with us even when we were hunters, huntees (if there is anything like that), and gatherers.

Fatigue has always been a part of our life, the question now is why?

Well you see, frankly, it's all has to do with how we were designed, whoever the designer was, a little update and bit of upgrade here and there would definite go a long way . Us humans are creatures of habit – just one routine day after another. We've got this specific inner clock that dictates when we need to eat, sleep and generally just take breaks from our everyday activities.

Taking into consideration that our bodies are constantly in work mode throughout the day or night for the nocturnals, it would rather make sense that rest would also be a necessity if we are going to function properly over time. But if you don't give your body the chances it needs to recuperate – like regular breaks during lengthy tasks or adequate sleep each night – eventually, fatigue will set in and start wreaking havoc on your daily performance.

Now, this is not a suggestion to go back living in the woods, but it's crucial and highly preferential to remember that human fatigue is part and parcel of our lives so make sure to build rest into your routine and listen to your body whenever possible!

The Impacts of Fatigue on the Human Body

From the constant demands of our physical and mental energy, fatigue can creep up on us before we realize it. It's been hammered that if only we were designed to last longer, then fatigue wouldn't be such an issue—but I beg to differ.

See, as much as fatigue is a flaw in the human design—it's more than likely been built in as an evolutionary advantage. It's a much-needed signal from our body telling us that we need a break, or else there could be unwanted and unwarranted consequences.

You're definitely more likely to make mistakes or be involved in an accident at work due to lack of alertness

Your metabolism drops down and your body fails to optimally manage stress as well

Your immune system is weakened and like an open door that lets all illness in.

You become less effective at making decisions and assessing risk

Concentration decreases and creativity is blocked

Body aches from lack of movement due to exhaustion

Mood changes as hormone levels are affected negatively

When you start receiving the sign from your body being too tired, you know it's time for a break and that could very well be part of the design rather than a flaw.

The Physiological Causes of Fatigue

As far as I belong to humans, we just weren't made to go all day every day. I swear that's why energy drinks were invented in the first place! But what physiological causes are actually behind fatigue? In my opinion, there are three.

Hormones

Surprise, surprise, it can all boil down to hormones. Whenever we exercise or use physical effort, our bodies release adrenaline and cortisol (aka the stress hormones) which increase our alertness and heartbeat rate. But you see as good as these may sound they only allow for short-term spikes; in the long term, these hormones can make us feel drowsy, foggy and tired.

Stress

Even though we already trashed on it a bit, it's worth emphasizing that stress plays such a huge role in our overall wellbeing. Being stressed has all sorts of crazy effects: lack of sleep (thanks to disrupted melatonin production), poor nutrition, and even depression or anxiety can lead to chronic fatigue symptoms.

Dehydration

And last but not least, dehydration is another major factor behind feeling fatigued. When we don't drink enough water (which unfortunately is all too common) our cells don't get enough oxygen or nutrients which leads to feeling run-down and depleted—kind of like they're running on empty without any gas in the tank.

Studies Conducted on the Effects of Fatigue

No matter how much the caffeine I gulped, it just wasnt enough to keep me going on some occasions, and I am definitely not alone on this. Studies have been initiated on the effects of fatigue for years, and the results were nothing short of enlightenly eye-opening.

Long hours are correlated with higher levels of fatigue

From an evidence-based perspective, a study confirmed that those who worked more than 52-55 hours a week (Hive aside I usually work about 42 hours a week) were usually more prone to feeling fatigued than those who worked fewer hours. No matter how much of coffee (or energy drinks) you consume, when you push yourself too hard, you are in fatigue debt and you definitely have to pay up.

Fatigue increases the risk of accidents and errors

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A study on pilots as subject themselves found that they were 2-3 times more likely to make piloting mistakes when they were fatigued. Yikes!

Sometimes when dealing with fatigue, forget being resilient, it goes beyond tha, the only thing that could be done is getting regular rest and making sure to take breaks during our workday. Otherwise, this flawed design in our human makeup isn't going away anytime soon!

Ultimately, Left and right, up and down, I think the flawed human design of fatigue can be summed up in a single phrase: "If life gives you lemons, please have a nice good nap and take some lemonade!" After all, we can't just be robots and work 24/7; there's only so much a person can do in a day before it catches up with them.

The most important if your priorities is to remember and have a solid awareness of yourself and your limits. Forget pushing yourself to the extreme, because you are bound to crash and burn on a platter of gold

We are definitely not machines, and you see having that in mind can help us all take better care of our bodies and minds.

Thanks for reading Sayonara 🖐️

Resources used

https://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/fatigue.htm

https://medium.com/illumination/8-biggest-design-flaws-in-the-human-body-5b386416e938

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8579431/

https://www.britannica.com/science/fatigue-physiology

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3479364/