Here’s Why Your Desk Job Is So Exhausting

Trending News: Feeling Sleepy At Work? Here's The Real Reason Why

Feeling a little sleepy at your desk today? You’re not alone. Indeed, the mid-afternoon slump is so common in workplaces that we almost take it for granted. But the psychology behind why your desk job makes you so damn sleepy isn’t nearly resolved. How can we spend a whole day doing nothing but typing and reading emails and get home feeling absolutely exhausted?

Earlier this month, Vox produced a fascinating story on this subject, in an attempt to shed some light on the phenomenon. The story dives into the two theories dictating why we get so bushed sitting at our desks after doing not all that much -- in a sense.

WE DEPLETE AN INTERNAL STORE OF ENERGY

This should be pretty straightforward to understand. The idea is called “ego depletion”. We use willpower to get at a goal and when this store runs out, we get tired. Easy.

But psychologists aren’t so sure this is the answer, basically because all the science indicates that a hardworking brain hardly draws on any more energy than a brain at rest — most of our energy expenditure goes into the background of keeping our organs running.

Which leads to the second hypothesis.

IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH MOTIVATION AND TEMPTATION

The theory goes like this: as we work we struggle to focus on a task and eventually lose interest and motivation to complete it. We then become drawn to things we want to do and it’s this tension between the task and what we want that causes fatigue.

The Vox story draws attention to a new study of nurses in the UK working 12-hour shifts. Interestingly, their fatigue didn’t match to how much physical activity they performed during the shift (some found physical exertion draining, others invigorating). Nor was there a correlation between fatigue and how demanding they found their jobs.

The correlation that did exist was that those who experienced less fatigue felt most in control of their work and also the most rewarded. Researchers figured that this might boost their motivation and in turn their perceptions of how much energy they had.

“If you’re typing at work, and if you’re anything like me, you got a few browsers open, you got Twitter open. These lead us down these rabbit holes that lead to temptations,” Michael Inzlicht, a University of Toronto psychologist, told Vox. Temptation drains our motivation for work, and that is what makes us feel tired.

WHAT’S THE ANSWER?

Still, plenty more research is needed before we nail down a definitive link between fatigue and motivation. In the meantime, if you’re struggling to get through work without falling asleep on your keyboard, these tips might come in handy.

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