Fatigued or just tired?

The week before my summer holiday, I had a sunny lunch with my colleagues. One of them brought up an interesting point, there’s not just one way to be tired — there are many! We all laughed and told him he should write a book on the topic, but the thought stuck with me.

Maybe this is my kind of bookish. But it’s worth thinking about, especially before a long break when we’re all craving rest. What kind of tired am I?

And then naturally, what do I need to really recover? Lay down and look at the sky?

Let’s go back to the initial question: are there different kinds of tired? We chatted about a few at lunch, and I’ve come up with more since then. Here’s a mix of what we discussed and my own ideas. You might have your unique ones too.

Muscle fatigue: The kind you get from lifting heavy or pushing through a workout. Your muscles get sore and full of lactic acid.

Heart rate tired: From running fast, riding a bike, or walking in deep snow, making your heart work overtime.

Emotionally drained: When you’ve had a lot of emotions running through you, mostly negative ones like sadness, irritation, jealousy, or hopelessness. Or when your emotions have been like a roller coaster.

Sleepy: Just plain exhausted from too little sleep.

Socially exhausted: From too many interactions with people. Not necessarily bad ones, but just a lot.

Mentally overloaded: From the pressure of solving complex problems.

Mentally restless: When everyday life feels too monotonous, making your brain bored and sluggish.

Physically restless: From a sedentary lifestyle, leaving your body feeling lazy from not moving enough.

Stressed: A kind of tiredness that might not even feel like tiredness until you allow yourself to rest.

Sore muscles: Due to long-term tension from emotions, stress, or an overloaded schedule—not from heavy lifting, but from ongoing strain.

We often say, “I’m tired,” but what kind of tired are we? Each type feels different and needs different remedies. Sometimes we experience multiple types at once, making it tricky to decide which one to address first. It’s easy to say you need more sleep, but what if you can’t sleep because you’re mentally overloaded? Maybe you need to handle the mental load first. Once you do, you might find it easier to fall asleep.

Feeling tired from poor sleep is different from feeling tired after a marathon or too much social interaction. This means we can’t use the same solution for every type of tiredness.

As I write this, almost one week of my summer holiday has already gone by, and it didn’t start as I hoped, even though the pictures don’t lie. But it has one upside, it has given me time to reflect on what’s important to me this summer.

In my former career, when summer approached, I was often physically drained from a lot of physical work over a long period and, to be honest, quite stressed. This isn’t the case now. Trust me, programmers don’t have the problem of moving too much. Okay, so I don’t have the same needs now. I’m not physically tired or sleepy, but I’ve faced emotional and social challenges, and the pace has been high despite having a lot of fun. What will be my main focus?

I don’t need to cut down on physical training or catch up on sleep. I need to wind down, have an open schedule, and spend time with my own thoughts (a challenge with kids!). I also need to be outside, get inspired, and create things with my hands. That’s my focus this summer. What’s yours?

What do you really need?