Of course, we all get tired - physically, intellectually, emotionally. In modern life there are many reasons for one type or another of fatigue. Even the eternal “electric brooms” (children) sometimes get tired, no matter what. But how do you understand whether this fatigue is just fatigue or real exhaustion and it’s time to call the “resuscitation team”? How to seize the moment in time and take care of yourself in a timely manner before it’s too late? What should you pay attention to and how to get in order if the feeling of fatigue not only looms, but already puts you on the couch or says that you won’t wash the dishes today? How to maintain the usual rhythm of life in this state and is it even possible? These are the questions I will try to answer in this article. A few definitions. Fatigue is difficulty in initiating and maintaining activity due to a lack of energy, which is accompanied by a desire to rest. Fatigue is a normal state after physical exertion, prolonged stress, lack of sleep. Exhaustion (asthenia) is a state of general weakness of the body, impotence. This is persistent physical, emotional and mental fatigue, accompanied by a decrease in motivation and performance, and a negative attitude towards oneself and others. It is the result of prolonged physical or mental stress or overwork. Fatigue can develop into chronic fatigue or exhaustion if a person ignores the signs of fatigue and takes insufficient measures to restore their physical, mental or emotional resources. The main difference between fatigue and exhaustion is that when tired, rest restores a person’s strength and he feels rested. For example, if a person gets tired during the work week and on the weekend his strength and resources have time to recover, then this is not exhaustion. Or, for example, a vacation gives a person the opportunity to come to his senses, and after a vacation you don’t want another vacation - everything is normal. But if you wake up already tired, the weekend does not bring you the long-awaited rest, the vacation is even more exhausting, the most ordinary things cause horror at the thought that now you will need to do something else, it has become difficult to communicate with people and you noticed that you have limited communication, here we can already talk about exhaustion. This state as a whole can be called “no strength for anything.” No strength, no desire. In this state, a person may experience irritable weakness. This is when even the most banal question from loved ones can cause a very strong emotional reaction, something that previously would not have even caused irritation begins to irritate, light is perceived more intensely, sounds seem to become louder, bodily sensations are perceived more acutely and also irritate. Sleep may become very light with frequent awakenings, or increased sleepiness may occur. In general, exhaustion or asthenia is a medical symptom of many things at once. From problems with the endocrine system and difficult to tolerate diseases to living in difficult life situations, chronic stress, personal crises, depression, etc. In general, you need to understand each case separately and carefully collect an “amnesis”. What to do with this and how to deal with it? In case of fatigue, it makes sense to stop actively resting for a while and just start resting at least sometimes. Observe how much time you need to sleep in order to feel sleepy and rested. Start taking breaks from work, if you haven’t had any, for 15-20 minutes every 2 hours, switching from intellectual to physical activity. Try to reduce the amount of information that you perceive - this is important, since many people think that if after work they scroll through the “feed” and watch “bugs”, the brain rests. But this is not so - it continues to process what you “feed” it. It’s just that at this moment it hangs from overload. Rest in this case is muscle relaxation, restoration of body and mental resources (food, water, psychological relief, emotional relief, sleep, walks in the fresh air).