Are you battling fatigue?

It's not uncommon to feel sluggish at this time of the year. Perhaps you're wondering if it's end-year fatigue or burnout and if it's possible to beat. We roped in COMENSA Registered Master Life Coach Judy Klipin to shed some light.

- By Thobeka Phanyeko

Year-end fatigue can feel like burnout, especially when you're in the thick of it. Judy Klipin enlightens that year-end fatigue, or what she sometimes calls Novemberitis, is very different from burnout.

"The former is tiredness resulting from a busy year and the knowledge that the end of the year - and rest -are coming. It's the tiredness you feel after a busy day. When you rest and have a good holiday, you address your year-end fatigue and can start the year renewed and refreshed," she says.

Burnout, on the other hand, is systemic exhaustion that affects every part of us, mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and relational. "It's a feeling of deep, abiding exhaustion you can't remedy with rest alone because it's a consequence of pushing yourself too far and doing too many things that aren't right or good for you.

"You must change the way you think and behave and many of your beliefs if you want to recover."

Glamour: Have we these conditions?

Judy Klipin: I wouldn't say we've normalised them, but I think they're more prevalent than they used to be. I think we were starting to pay more attention to them in 2019, and then this pandemic exacerbated them and made burnout more serious. I hope we never normalise them because burnout, in particular, is very harmful and can become a life-threatening disease that we should all be mindful of preventing.

G: What habits or practices can you adopt to prevent these conditions?