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Guide

Fatigue Tracking for Knowledge Workers

A practical workflow for tracking fatigue during desk work without overreacting to short-term noise. This guide focuses on signal quality, reliable minutes, and better question framing.

What this guide helps you do
Build a baseline before making conclusions
Separate recorded minutes from reliable minutes
Choose time windows that reduce false patterns
Ask better AI questions for fatigue analysis

1. Start with a baseline, not a verdict

The most common mistake in fatigue tracking is trying to explain a trend too early. A few bad days can feel meaningful, but they are often just noise or incomplete coverage.

For most desk-work routines, a 7-day baseline is the minimum useful window. If you want to compare fatigue with active minutes or working sessions, 30 days is usually better.

2. Recorded minutes vs reliable minutes

Sarenica distinguishes total recorded minutes from reliable minutes. This matters because low-quality sensor conditions can produce data that is recorded but not trustworthy enough for stronger claims.

  • Use recorded minutes to understand coverage volume.
  • Use reliable minutes to judge whether comparison/correlation analysis is meaningful.
  • If reliable minutes are low, ask for a coverage summary before asking for causal explanations.

3. Ask time-window-first questions

Broad fatigue questions often trigger clarification because the system needs a time scope. You’ll get better results faster if you specify the window upfront.

Good examples

  • "Compare my fatigue and active minutes over the last 30 days."
  • "What fatigue pattern repeats most in my last 2 weeks of work sessions?"
  • "Summarize fatigue trends this month and highlight low-confidence areas."

4. Focus on repeatability before interpretation

Once you have enough coverage, look for repeated conditions: similar session lengths, weekdays, or time blocks. This gives you a stronger foundation than one-off observations.

If you are experimenting (sleep schedule, breaks, caffeine timing), label those changes. Labels help transform general fatigue tracking into real personal pattern research.

FAQ

Related guides

How to Measure Focus Patterns
Measure focus using sessions, activity signals, and consistent comparison windows instead of guesswork.
Work-Energy Trend Analysis
Compare work output, fatigue, and active minutes over time while accounting for coverage and reliability.
Desktop Fatigue Tracking (Privacy-First)
How to track fatigue on your desktop while preserving privacy, local control, and explicit sync choices.
Next step in Sarenica

Use a longer analysis window and ask a comparison question to reduce noise in fatigue interpretations.