Fatigue is a result of prolonged mental or physical exertion. It can affect people's performance and impair their mental alertness. This can lead to dangerous errors, accidents, and losses. With long hours, little sleep, and poor nutrition, you can easily experience fatigue. But will you notice it? Lack of sleep is often a major contributor to fatigue, but feeling tired and sleep won't necessarily be a symptom of fatigue. Your body will give you signals - pay attention to them.

It's time to unplug, rest, and rejuvenate when these symptoms show up: 1) inability to concentrate increases; 2) emotions fluctuate, especially irritability; 3) conversational forgetfulness occurs - people may speak, and moments later, you won't recall what they said; 4) incidences of dizziness, clumsiness, forgetfulness, and misplacing things increase; 5) those who know you may say, "You look sad." (Research has shown "looking sad" is the key observation by others who are fatigued. When you are fatigued, think "SNL" - increase sleep, improve nutrition, lower your stress. See the EAP or your health care provider if fatigue is frequent so you can get a better understanding as to its cause and create action steps to address.