How much fatigue is caused with the act of transitioning between tasks or activities? I mean how difficult is it to change gears, change focus when you’re working on one thing and then need to shift into something totally different. Maybe you’re writing up a document, something that is a solo task, requires introspection, examination and mapped out organization of thought and then you have to go into a meeting, having to listen, speak, engage, state your case, articulate and communicate complex and deep concepts or opinions.
Or maybe it’s transitioning into and out of things you don’t want to do or dread doing. Maybe that’s the real energy drain. Stress or anxiety about something you don’t want to do, or have some low-key fear of doing that is draining you before you even do it. Your thoughts are somewhere else, and it’s requiring you to double, triple your energy to stay focused on what you’re doing in the here and now. The stress is like a wet, heavy blanket weighing you down with every step. The transition is just the crossing point of you not being able to be fully here and fully there. You feel stressed about the impending task and then when you finally get to it you feel stressed and guilty that you couldn’t really focus on the prior one.
I think the only way to neutralize this transition fatigue between tasks is to really be present and connected to what you’re doing in the here and now. Diverting any amount of attention or thought to an upcoming task or regretting the previous effort is splitting your attention, taxing and draining your energy reserve. Give yourself a defined time frame to give what you have, all that you have so that you can do the same for the next activity, without regret without anxiety and stress.