📘 Part 3: Feeling tired

This episode's vocabulary

Multitasking (noun) - a person's or product's ability to do more than one thing at a time.

To drain (verb) - to make someone very tired.

Complexity (noun) -the state of having many parts and being difficult to understand or find an answer to.

Nuance (noun) - a very slight difference in appearance, meaning, sound, etc.

To get to grips with something (idiom) - to make an effort to understand and deal with a problem or situation.

Fine (adj.) - very exact and delicate, or needing to be done, treated, or considered very carefully.

Taxing (adj.) - difficult or needing a lot of thought or effort.

To sanction (verb) - to formally give permission for something.

Automation (noun) - the use of machines and computers that can operate without needing human control.

Fatigued (adj.) - tired.

Geriatric (adj.) - for or relating to old people.

Practitioner (noun) - someone involved in a skilled job or activity.

To emit (verb) - to send out light, sound, or a smell, or a gas or other substance.

Blue light (noun) - a band of the visible light spectrum that has a shorter wavelength and produces higher energy than other colours of light: occurring in sunlight and emitted by electronic devices that use LED technology.

Questions and Answers

M: Why do people feel tired in today's world?

R: Oh, all kinds of reasons. There's a lot going on. Probably the biggest one is... It's when you try to do things at the same time. Multitasking. That's it. People are always trying to multitask. And I think that really drains your energy.

M: How could studying and learning make people tired today?

R: I'm not sure it does any more so that it has in the past. However, let's say it does, maybe it's all the complexity and nuance. Yes. The nuances that are required, or the nuances that students are required to be aware of at higher levels of education. So getting to grips with all those finer points could be quite taxing because of all the effort involved.

M: When do people usually feel tired?

R: Oh, we already talked about multitasking, but generally they have a lot on. There are more people to see, things to do, both in terms of raw numbers and what people have on their schedules. That's enough to make anyone feel drained.

M: Do people have fewer holidays now than in the past?

R: Well, that depends how you define the word holiday. I mean, they probably have more holidays given officially. No. Sanctioned. Yes. By the state compared to the past. And there are more opportunities to visit far flung places. However, if you just mean downtime away from work and school, then I think there actually might be fewer holidays. Yeah.

M: And what about the future? Do you think people will have fewer holidays in the future?

R: Well, if it's about official state-sanctioned holidays, then I imagine they might actually have more because as automation increases, we'll have more free time.

M: What are the differences between feeling tired after studying and after exercising?

R: Well, one is more psychological and the other is more... Oh, not psychological, physiological in nature. You can feel tired in your head after taking notes for ages, whereas you'll feel fatigued in your body after working out, though you could lie there and think clearly while you rest.

M: How can people solve the problems of old people getting tired easily?

R: I honestly have no idea. I'm not a doctor or a, what, specialist in old people, a geriatric practitioner. That's it. But if I were to guess, though, I'd imagine we could provide more nutritious food and opportunities to exercise and maintain or build energy to keep them up and running.

M: How can technology such as smartphones or computers contribute to feeling tired?

R: Oh, there's that thing that they emit. It's called... It's a colour. Blue light. Yes. The blue light makes people feel awake, even when it's the time when they would usually sleep. That's why it's always a good idea to spend an hour away from your phone before you sleep. Or maybe you could get some sort of anti-blue light screen or something like that.

Discussion

M: Why do people feel tired? So there are lots of reasons, all kinds of reasons why people get tired these days. The biggest reason is when you try to do things at the same time. So multitasking. So usually people do different things at the same time. So the double work, so people are always trying to multitask. And multitasking gets us tired according to Rory. Multitasking drains your energy. Drains your energy means?

R: It takes it away from you. Like a, like a, like a, like a, like water draining from a sink. It's slowly going away.

M: Right. Or you can say if a person doesn't like their work, it drains their energy. So when a person does something that they really hate every day. Yeah? So it drains your energy or, like if they're not happy in a marriage, it drains a person's energy and they get tired. Studying. Learning could make people tired. Right? So now lots of people study online, offline. So we have these massive numbers of different courses of everything. Yeah? And we could get tired. How?

R: How indeed. Just because you have so much to do. So that will increase the drain on your energy resources.

M: Yeah. And Rory told us, maybe it's all the complexity. It's about the complexity. So it's really complex. And due to this complexity, people get tired. And here, you forgot a word, and you used another word. So you see? When you say something, you might forget a word. So what to do if you forget a word? Rory, so which strategy did you use here?

R: I used the circumlocution. Baby. That's what we talked about last time. Yes. But that just means you talk around the problem.

M: Like maybe it's all the complexity and what's the word again, nuance, the nuances.

R: But the nuance is just the finer details of something.

M: So the nuances of learning, of studying that make you feel tired.

R: Well, the nuances of the subject as well.

M: Ah, of the subject, okay. So the nuances of the subject, the complexity of subjects that you are studying make you feel tired.

R: Yeah. Because you have to dedicate more energy to understanding and that is tiring.

M: You dedicate, you devote, you give more energy to understanding a problem, and it makes you feel tired.

R: Yes.

M: When you get to grips with what? So to get to grips with something.

R: Yeah. That's to establish a strong understanding of whatever it is that we're studying.

M: So to get to grips with different information, with the different points, it could be quite taxing. So what is taxing? It's quite taxing.

R: It just pulls and drains on your resources. It doesn't... It's just another way of saying it's training. If something is taxing then it drains your energy and makes you tired.

M: Yeah. Or kind of, it's difficult, it needs a lot of your thought and effort. So it's taxing, it's tiring. And could you please give us another example with get to grips? So in terms of like studying, learning.

R: It's difficult to get to grips with different ways of talking about energy being drained in English. I had to really think about how to paraphrase. It's difficult to get to grips with driving a car or learning to drive a car because it's very complex.

M: Oh, yeah. There we go. Or it's difficult to get to grips with learning a new language. It's difficult. It's complex. You need to spend your time and effort on doing this. When do people feel tired? Oh, all the time.

R: All the time. No, like you feel tired... Well, we talked about it. There's more stuff to do.

M: Multitasking. So people get tired when they multitask.

R: They have a lot on.

M: They have a lot of things going on. Yeah? So they feel tired.

R: Yeah. Or you could just say they have a lot on. I have a lot on. I have the podcast, my classes, I'm writing another book foolishly.

M: Oh, you are writing another book?

R: I am, but only to avoid doing my diploma. So this is not something impressive, you should actually be chastising me for being lazy and actually doing something challenging.

M: Rory, you're lazy. Stop it.

R: No.

M: Do your diploma.

R: I will. I'll get to it. I did the research.

M: Good, good.

R: I just need a guinea pig. I need somebody to take classes with me. And I could design a course for them and write a report about it to Cambridge University. If anybody's interested then please get in touch.

M: Oh, boring. Ah...

R: It's not boring. It's interesting. It's just a lot of work. And I'd rather write another book. Unless somebody comes to me directly and says you can teach me English and write about it and it's okay. Then I'll do it. That's my challenge for you, listeners.

M: Okay, now, people get tired because they have a lot of things on their schedules. So they have a lot on. They have a lot of things on their schedules. And they feel drained. So they feel out of energy, they feel exhausted, they feel drained. And also when, when do people get tired? After work, after intensive workouts in the gym. After... I don't know, after their holidays, people get tired after, family events. So after events where they're out of emotions.

R: But you can't just list the events, you have to explain why.

M: Yeah, you have to say why. About holidays, mind you, dear listener, we say fewer holidays than in the past. So now, people have fewer holidays than in the past, for example.

R: In my opinion.

M: And Rory started off with that depends on how you define the word holiday. So what's a holiday?

R: Well, a holiday is like time off.

M: Time off. Right. But it's kind of a national holiday. Like officially we have these days as holidays. And you call them sanctioned. Right? So what's the whole phrase?

R: State-sanctioned holidays.

M: State-sanctioned holidays.

R: Yes. So the state tells you, this day is a holiday.

M: Yeah. The government, the state tells you, that the 31st of December is a holiday. What did you mean, when you said to visit far-flung places? What are flung places?

R: Oh, far-flung places are places that are far away.

M: So you can say that today we have far more holidays compared to the past.

R: Oh, well, we have far more official days for it. I actually think people have less free time now than they did in the past. I watched a presentation about how much free time people had in the Middle Ages compared to now. And peasants had about a third of their time away from work. In terms of like, so they had 100 days where they didn't work. And then 200 days where they did. Compare that to now. The figures I am simplifying, but... I feel like we're doing... I think things are more intense now. They shouldn't be.

M: You can feel tired after studying and you can feel tired after physical exercise, right? So Rory told us that one is psychological. Yeah, like, tired after studying, like your brain is tired psychologically. And another one is more physiological. Like physiological in nature. So physical activity, yeah? So kind of your body is tired or your mind is tired. Yeah? So you can feel tired in your head, you take notes, you take a lot of notes for ages, for a long time. And then you feel tired in your head. Or you feel fatigued. So to feel fatigued is another synonym for feeling tired, you will feel fatigued in your body after working out. So you work out in the gym, you feel fatigued. Can you use fatigue in a sentence? Like fatigue like a noun. Fatigue.

R: You suffer from fatigue when you don't take regular breaks, and you just work all the time.

M: Yeah, but it's kind of like an illness, right? To suffer from fatigue. So a person gets tired all the time. No?

R: I think it can also be something to do with non-human structures as well. You have metal fatigue, which is when the metal starts to lose its strength.

M: Oh, interesting.

R: So really, here, it's connected to being tired, but it's not exactly the same. You start to lose your strength. Those are different things compared to being tired. That's why we have different words.

M: And then, dear listener, the question of the year. What can we do to solve the problem of old people easily getting tired? Wow.

R: I mean, no.

M: Rory, what did you say? What strategy did you use here?

R: I said, I'm not a geriatric professional. So I have no idea. But most of the time, it's like, if you give people food and opportunities to exercise, then they're fine. But what a silly question.

M: Oh my gosh, yeah.

R: I might turn around to an examiner one day and just say what a silly question.

M: So you can say I honestly have no idea. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a specialist in older people's problems. And I'm not a... Which practitioner?

R: A geriatric practitioner. Geriatrics is the, it's the medicine of old people.

M: So I'm not an old people doctor, right? So I'm not a geriatric practitioner. And then our strategy, our phrase, if I were to guess though, I would imagine that... So we provide more nutritious food. Nutritious? Healthy food. And we provide more opportunities to exercise, to boost the energy levels and auto maintain energy. Okay? So kind of to, to give older people nutritious food, to keep them up and running. So if you keep somebody up and running, what *does it mean*?

R: It just means you keep them going, keep them functioning.

M: Yeah. And you can say that older people tend to suffer from fatigue, like a chronic illness. So it could be like a chronic illness, like chronic fatigue or something. So they suffer from exhaustion. They get up and they feel exhausted. So they have no energy on a permanent basis. Right? So it's an illness. Okay? And like what to do with it? I don't know, I'm looking at an article from washingtonpost.com.

R: If they mention food and exercise, I'm going to be annoyed that I am more well-informed than The Washington Post. Or as well as, as well informed. Just by guessing.

M: Okay, okay, so the strategies. Yoga, walking, tai chi. Okay? Low-impact exercises, there we go. You see? According to The Washington Post, dear listener. Now you know. Set realistic goals. Cognitive behavioural therapy. So therapy. Physical activities, sleep, healthy sleep, emotional health, dear listener, support from family and friends. All right? Yeah. Now you know.

R: Anything about food?

M: Well, yeah, good food, obviously.

R: Like, that's just a given, though. That's not specifically for old people. Support from family and friends. You should be getting that anyway.

M: No, no. Well, according to The Washington Post, older people should get support from family and friends.

R: Just older people. That's all.

M: To fight fatigue. Those people, those old people who feel fatigued.

R: That's silly. That's just people running out of things to say. Like...

M: Support from family and friends, love, happiness.

R: Love will set us free.

M: Another interesting question is about technology.

R: Yeah.

M: So do we feel tired because of technology?

R: And we absolutely do.

M: Technology contributes to feeling tired. And here, Rory, the scientist, told us about the blue light. So what's this blue light?

R: Blue light, it's a spectrum of light that's emitted by your phone screen to help it light up. And it's useful for seeing. However, it's also a component of daylight. And if you're on your phone in the middle of the night, then your body thinks that you're still awake, and it's the middle of the day. So it can keep you awake past when you should be going to bed. And that's a problem. Because you wake up in the morning feeling exhausted when you should be getting a good night's sleep.

M: Yes. And smartphones, and computers emit blue light, so they release blue light. So the blue light makes people feel tired.

R: Yeah.

M: That's why they say spend an hour away from your phone before you go to sleep. Or you can get an anti-blue light screen or something like this. I'm not sure people do it.

R: I'm not sure it's a thing. Well, no, I'm sure it's a thing. I'm just not sure it's called that. I mean, on my phone, I can have a blue light screen. But I'm sure it's not called that. It's probably something else.

M: And also, I think that we get tired because there is too much information in our smartphones, in our computers, on the internet. And we get tired just because of this amount of information we have to process. So yeah. And also you can say that technology is sad to be associated with sleep problems. And if we don't sleep well, we feel tired. There we go. Digital fatigue, dear listener, if you want some science behind it. So digital fatigue is a feeling of tiredness and lack of energy that comes from using digital devices. Okay? So people suffer from digital fatigue. And here now you can read some articles online, just Google digital fatigue, this could be very useful for your essays as well as speaking because it's like technology, and if you don't know what to say, you start speaking about technology. Digital fatigue is real.

R: I didn't just make it up.

M: Rory, are you suffering from digital fatigue?

R: No, well, not since I learned to turn off my phone, and go to bed at a proper time.

M: Yep, so just basically people look at a screen for long periods. And then this leads to eyestrain or dry eyes. And also a person could feel irritated and tired. Ooh, yeah, lots of things about digital fatigue. So it's kind of like a new illness. You know? What are the problems of people today? Digital fatigue, too much choice.

R: Too much choice is something that gives you digital fatigue.

M: Yeah.

R: Oh, wow. Okay.

M: Thank you very much for listening! Dear listener, we hope that you are all well and happy. Okay?

R: And not digitally fatigued.

M: So keep your phone away an hour before going to sleep. All right? Promise? Pinky swear? Okay. Good. Thank you for listening! Bye!

R: Bye!

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