How to improve team members' performance using information about mental fatigue

Did you know that when we make decisions, our brain builds up a chemical? This can make us mentally tired. If we try to fight this tiredness on purpose, we can get more work done. This could help your company make up to $3000 more per year for each person who works there. It's necessary to distinguish between general and mental fatigue, as they affect employee productivity differently and require various approaches to address.

General tiredness

General tiredness is a state of physical and psychological exhaustion that can be caused by various factors:

1. Physical exertion;
2. Lack of sleep;
3. Poor nutrition;
4. Stress;
5. Medical issues.

Symptoms of general tiredness may include:

• Drowsiness;
• Muscle weakness;
• Headaches;
• Overall decrease in energy.

Mental tiredness

Mental tiredness is when someone's thinking skills get worse after doing brain work for a long time. This can happen even if the person doesn't feel physically tired.

Main causes of mental tiredness in a business environment:

1. Extended concentration on complex tasks;
2. Constant decision-making (even simple ones);
3. Information overload;
4. Multitasking.

Symptoms of mental tiredness include:

• Difficulties with focusing attention;
• Decreased information processing speed;
• Memory deterioration;
• Difficulties with decision-making;
• Irritability.

In a business context, mental fatigue can manifest as:

• Reduced quality of decisions made;
• Increased number of errors;
• Decreased creativity and innovative thinking;
• Difficulties in communication between employees.

Understanding the differences between general and mental fatigue is critical for effective human resource management in business.

General fatigue is often addressed through traditional methods:

• Providing sufficient time for rest;
• Encouraging a healthy lifestyle;
• Creating ergonomic workplaces.

Mental fatigue requires a more specific approach:

• Optimizing work processes to reduce cognitive load;
• Implementing decision support systems;
• Training in mental relaxation and concentration techniques;
• Planning the workday considering cognitive activity cycles.

Christopher Barnes, a professor of organizational behavior and management at the University of Washington, notes: "Many companies successfully combat general employee fatigue, but often overlook mental fatigue. Yet it can be a key factor affecting work quality in modern intellectually demanding industries."

What about glutamate?

Research from the Paris Brain Institute highlights the importance of considering mental fatigue in business processes. When people keep making decisions, a chemical called glutamate builds up in their brain. This can make workers less effective, even if they don't feel tired in their body.

Glutamate is a key brain chemical that helps nerve cells talk to each other. The problem arises with its excessive accumulation.

In normal brain functioning, glutamate is released and quickly removed from the synaptic cleft. But when we constantly make decisions, even simple ones, glutamate levels can rise faster than the brain can utilize it.

The Paris Brain Institute study showed that this excessive accumulation of glutamate can lead to a temporary decrease in the efficiency of signal transmission between neurons. This, in turn, can cause a sense of mental fatigue and make further decision-making difficult.

Thus, glutamate itself is neither "bad" nor "good" - it's necessary for brain function. The problem occurs when the balance of its production and utilization is disrupted, which can happen during prolonged cognitive load.

Rosalind Adam from the University of Aberdeen states: "For modern companies, where workers' thinking skills are often vital, handling mental tiredness well can give them an edge over competitors."

Mental tiredness is a regular outcome of hard brain work. With good rest, it goes away. Burnout is different. It builds up over time and needs big changes in how people work and view their jobs.

If mental tiredness keeps happening and isn't dealt with, it can turn into burnout. So, companies should watch out for both to keep workers healthy and productive in the long run.

Integrated approach to fatigue management

Considering the differences between general and mental fatigue, it's necessary to develop comprehensive strategies aimed at combating both types of fatigue:

1. Creating a culture of mindful attitude towards fatigue, where employees and managers can recognize signs of both general and mental fatigue.
2. Implementing flexible work schedules allowing employees to work during their peak productivity periods.
3. Teaching time management techniques and task prioritization to reduce cognitive load.
4. Investing in technologies and tools that automate routine tasks and support the decision-making process.
5. Regular monitoring of employee fatigue levels and adjusting work processes based on the data obtained.
6. Creating a work environment that promotes both physical and mental recovery (quiet rest areas, meditation rooms, sports corners).

This all-around method will help your company handle both regular and mental tiredness of workers. This can boost output, make work better, and give your business an advantage over others.

Christopher Barnes, who teaches about work behavior at the University of Washington in Seattle and looks into how lack of sleep affects work, says: "When workers are tired, it's not just their own issue. It's a problem for the whole business and can really hurt the company's profits."

How making choices makes us tired

A study done in 2022 by the Paris Brain Institute found new things about how making choices tires us out. They learned that it's how many tasks we do, not how hard they are, that makes a chemical called glutamate build up in a part of our brain. This part, the lateral prefrontal cortex, is what we use for tricky tasks and making choices.

Scientists found that constant decision-making throughout the day - even simple ones - exhausts us. It turns out that the traditional idea that multitasking increases efficiency may be incorrect. Instead, an approach where complex tasks requiring decision-making are evenly distributed throughout the workday may be more productive.

Based on the conducted research, several strategies can be identified to combat mental fatigue in a business environment:

1. Regular breaks. A 2021 study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that short breaks help "replenish" the attention span. It's advised to take short breaks in work, thus slightly "rebooting" the brain.
2. Planning important decisions for the morning. Given that we make more rational decisions earlier in the day, it's better to schedule important business decisions for the morning.
3. Optimizing the decision-making process. Implementing automation and artificial intelligence systems can help reduce the cognitive load on employees, leaving them more resources for strategic tasks.
4. Creating a favorable work environment. This might mean making the lights better, giving workers comfy chairs and desks that are good for their bodies, and making places where they can rest and relax.
5. Helping workers live healthier. Companies can let workers use gyms, offer good food at work, and teach ways to handle stress.
6. Flexible work schedule. Allowing employees to work during the hours when they are most productive can significantly increase efficiency.

Economic effect of combating fatigue

When businesses work to reduce mental tiredness in their workers, they can see big benefits. A 2016 study by RAND Europe found that when workers don't get enough sleep, it costs the US economy $411 billion each year. If workers could sleep just 1-1.6 hours more per day, it could add $226.4 billion to the country's total money made.

Companies that start programs to help workers handle stress and feel better overall see fewer sick days, more work getting done, and a nicer work environment.

Workers who are tired don't work as well, make more mistakes, and take more sick days. A big study in 2023 looked at 91 smaller studies across three continents. It found that one out of every five adults in the world feels very tired for up to six months, even when they're not sick. In the US, 44% of more than 1,000 adults asked said they feel sleepy two to four days every week.

The National Safety Council (NSC) in the US did a study that showed when workers are tired, it costs companies between $1200 and $3100 for each worker every year. For a company with 1000 workers, that means they lose $1.2-$3.1 million a year because of tired workers. The NSC thinks about a third of this money is lost because workers don't come to work, and the rest is because workers are there but not working well.

In the UK, the damage to business caused only by workers' lack of sleep is estimated at approximately 50 billion pounds sterling annually. This leads to a loss of over 200,000 working hours.

Rosalind Adam, a teacher at the University of Aberdeen who studies how being tired affects work, says: "When companies know about the different ways people get tired and how it changes work, they can make better plans to get more work done."

We now see that mental tiredness at work is a big issue that needs a full plan to fix. Companies that put money into making sure their workers feel good and can work well end up with a team that works harder and likes their job more. This isn't just about being a good company anymore - it's a smart way to run a business.