This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 1776 Running on Empty.
How to talk about your energy level in English.
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In the average American workplace, a super common topic among colleagues is how tired people are.
Today, learn how to participate in these conversations and connect at work in English.
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Hello, Michelle.
How's it going today?
Good.
Good, good.
How are you, Lindsay?
Good to see you.
Yeah, good to see you too.
As always, I'm excited to be on the mic today.
And are you feeling tired today?
How are you feeling?
How's your energy level?
I feel like I'm always a little bit tired, but I'm feeling okay.
I do.
It's kind of cool because I feel like I can be tired and then I get on the mic and then I kind of get this burst.
Do you feel that?
A hundred percent, Michelle, a hundred percent.
And our listeners feel that too, because we are known for our energy and it's because we love podcasting.
We love helping our listeners.
You know, I imagine our listeners in Japan, in Brazil, in Europe and listening to us and getting inspired.
So that's what gives me energy on this show.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's also fun.
We really get into it.
We focus on the topics.
I think we've talked about before how it's kind of like a meditative practice, you know, in a weird way.
Yeah, because we can't think of anything else.
We really can't.
We can't be thinking, what are we going to do after this?
What did we do last night?
We are totally 100% present.
Exactly.
But yeah, I was a little tired before this.
I mean, what about you?
You feel tired?
Well, the last time I felt tired was on Saturday when I had to ski a bump run.
I went skiing in Colorado and I ended up meeting up with some friends and they said hey, do you ski bumps?
I said, kind of.
And, you know, bumps are moguls right in the trail.
This guy just bombed his way down the trail and I had to stop and I, my heart was beating out of my chest.
I was exhausted, Michelle.
Wow.
Exhausted.
And I realized I'm actually kind of out of shape.
Oh, well, that's kind of surprising because you seem very in shape to me.
Not for those kinds of runs.
I'm telling you because you're at altitude and then you're just going over these mountains of snow and it takes a lot out of your muscles.
It's insane.
Yeah.
Yeah, I bet.
I bet.
Wow.
I can't even imagine because I've never been skiing at all.
Oh, really?
You've never been skiing?
Never.
Okay.
You're like, okay, well, I don't know.
Yeah.
No judgment.
You're like, judging, judging.
No, Michelle.
No, I just never did.
So, I mean, Lindsay, so with this, you mentioned the word exhausted.
Yes.
What does that mean?
This is a great way to make, if you're not just a little bit tired, you're extremely tired.
You know, this is, guys, we want you to speak and be able to emphasize your true feelings, right?
Not just like kind of boring, average feelings, but extreme feelings.
Exhausted is great for that.
Yeah, exhausted is – it's just extra tired, right?
Extra tired, yeah.
And you can be tired from a day right just for a day because of sleep, or maybe you're like kind of mentally exhausted.
But, you know, you don't –
Today we're going to talk about different fun ways to talk about being tired.
Guys, don't fall asleep during this episode, we promise.
It's only the words are about being tired, not the way we're going to talk about them.
Exactly, Michelle.
Don't worry.
We're not going to take a nap on the episode.
But it's good to have a variety of words to describe how you're feeling.
So we're going to give you some of those now.
These are really good ones for talking about exhaustion.
Exhaustion.
And it's important to know that these are good for not just...
Physical exhaustion, right, Michelle?
So I can imagine the situation where I go to a conference.
I'm not going to be physically exhausted at the end of the day, but I'm going to be totally mentally exhausted because of all the stimuli that's been coming at me all day talking to people going to sessions.
Oh, that is exhausting.
Yeah, like I could go run a mile and I'd be okay, but mentally I'm exhausted, right?
Right?
Yeah, I definitely see what you mean.
Those things can be exhausting.
So guys, we're gonna get into this.
But we want to remind you, if you haven't hit, follow on wherever.
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What Lindsay, why should they follow us?
Oh my gosh guys.
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Fantastic.
All right.
So, Lindsay, should you say the first one or should I?
Because it's hilarious.
All right.
You take that one away, Michelle.
All right.
I'm going to take it away.
All right.
The first one is pooped.
Okay, and we're not talking about going to the bathroom here, right?
Not at all.
Describing a feeling.
It's more of it's like a physical feeling.
It's, it just means tired.
It's a funny way to say tired.
I know, isn't that weird?
I'm pooped.
I don't know where that came from.
Why do we say that?
How did that happen?
I really don't know why.
It must go back to something.
But yeah, I'm pooped.
I'm exhausted.
I remember saying this a lot, you know, as a kid, right?
Or, you know, your parents say it to you.
Are you pooped after all that running around outside?
Yeah.
I mean, this is pretty common, right?
It's pretty common.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
It's so funny.
It's just one of those things like where it's a funny word.
It's a weird word.
It's not what it's about.
So yeah, you could say, for example, I'm pooped.
Lindsay, I'm going to go to sleep.
Yeah, you might have that after a big day of hiking or after an exam.
You know, I'm thinking of our listeners who are taking the IELTS exam.
You guys are going to be pooped after the exam mentally exhausted, right?
You won't be able to do anything but go to bed.
Exactly.
Oh, man.
It's such a great feeling sometimes to get to the end of the day and when you poop and just be like I did it.
Yes, you did it.
You did it.
All right.
So that's the first one.
Now, this one, Michelle, you're going to teach me about this one because this is new for me.
You always come up with words I don't know.
Oh, yeah.
Well, happy to help, Lindsay.
So the next one is bushed.
You don't hear that?
No, I don't know this one.
I don't know.
I think I've been living under a rock or something.
I don't know.
I think I missed a lot.
I mean, I might have a very special vocabulary or I might, you know, it might be very New York.
I don't know.
But I hear this one a lot.
So guys, you know, listen out for this one.
If you don't hear it, you know, maybe you won't hear it in certain parts of the country, or who knows?
But this one is bushed.
So this is similar to pooped.
Yeah.
Okay.
You could say something like she's bushed from the drive.
She's already in bed.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
So someone shows up at the house and they ask where this person is and you say she's bushed from that drive.
She's already in bed, right?
She's done for the evening.
Perfect.
Exactly.
What about the next one, Lindsay?
Okay.
Yeah, this one I obviously know, right?
I'm beat, right?
So also more about like a day, you've had a big day, right?
So I'm beat.
Let's make it an early night.
Really common.
Now, which of these three, Michelle, do you tend to use more?
Oh, I feel like I might use pooped the most.
Do you really?
That's so funny.
I don't know.
I feel like I might because it's fun to say.
What about you?
Probably, honestly, exhausted is the one that I use the most.
Oh, well, okay.
I wasn't counting exhausted.
Yes, exhausted.
I would say that that's like the safe common one.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
And then we have a couple of more fun ones right that are a little bit more.
Could be mental or emotional or physical, I guess.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
What's the first one?
So running on empty.
So it's the idea that your energy storage stores are like a gas tank and you're running on empty.
This makes me think of at Orange Theory, the teacher, our favorite teacher.
Oh, at the end, right before the last sprint of the day, he says, empty the tank.
Oh, really?
Empty the tank.
It means this is the last thing you're going to do in this class.
So you better give it.
Give it your all you know and just get all your.
It's also the end of the day.
So it's basically that's it for you.
And I find that inspiring.
Yeah, that's kind of a cool visual to just empty the tank.
Like, that's it.
You're going for it.
I like that.
It is kind of cool.
I like that.
I mean, there's so much about gas.
We compare our bodies to a gas tank.
Yeah, it's true.
That's true.
So what's an example?
How might you use that?
So, all right.
So coming back to the original phrase, guys, is running on empty.
You could say, I'm running on empty.
It may be time to reevaluate this relationship.
Interesting.
So here, I'm not exactly talking about my physical energy.
I'm talking about my energy for this relationship and this person.
Right.
Right.
So you could use it in a deeper way as well.
Right.
So you could use it on at Orange Theory.
Right.
Oh, I'm running out of empty.
This is going to be my last two minutes.
This is fun.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But or you could use it in a more serious, deep kind of way.
Yeah.
Yeah, this is smart for our high level listeners, guys.
This is why you listen to All Ears English.
We show you phrases like this.
Very interesting phrases.
Good ways to describe how you're feeling emotionally or physically.
So good.
Yeah exactly, exactly.
And then we got one more.
Uh is drained.
Yeah, this could be also mental emotional, you know physical, whatever it is um, but you could say something like i'm mentally and physically drained, but i will have my break in a few weeks.
So yeah drained, it's like everything is sucked out.
Basically, Exactly.
Exactly.
To be drained.
I mean, a lot of things could drain you.
In some ways, if you're in a difficult work environment with colleagues that are kind of toxic, that could really drain you.
Right?
Have you ever been in that situation where your colleagues you know, the people around you at the office just kind of drain you Michelle?
I'm trying to think.
Maybe not.
Yes, I have.
I have been in negative situations before.
And yeah, it's definitely something where you could use that word.
Yeah, for sure.
Not really.
Actually, I've been lucky.
I've been lucky.
Knock on wood.
I've been lucky so far.
Not really.
I mean, the people I work with, I like and enjoy.
And yeah, I just feel fortunate for that.
So it's all good.
Not too, too much.
It's not like I've never been in a situation where the whole job was, you know, draining and everything was draining about it.
But, you know, there have been situations that have been that have been tough.
You know, what can actually be kind of draining honestly in an office environment is having nothing to do.
Not knowing what to do or having nothing to do.
I remember I had an internship the summer after my graduate program in mass and I didn't really have much to do.
And I sat there in front of my computer and I was constantly worrying, should I be doing something?
Am I supposed to invent a project?
Yeah.
And all day, nine to five, the days felt so long.
Oh, my God.
And I said to myself, I'm not going to work for anyone ever again.
This is it.
I'm done.
Yeah, I remember.
I mean, I don't think that makes me think of I think I we never did an episode on temping, did we?
I've talked about my experiences, but I don't like to do that.
Yeah.
Next time, Michelle.
I'm going to plan that one.
But yeah, like when I did temping and a lot of the tasks are like very tedious and there was a lot of like data entry.
And honestly, I remember sitting there with tears in my eyes.
And because it was so like draining in that kind of way, like not using my strengths, not you know.
So I feel fortunate that I was able to get out of that.
I mean, that is something to think about, right?
That's why in our business course, we interviewed Alyssa, the expert in StrengthsFinder.
And we've done StrengthsFinder as a team.
We've identified all of our strengths, our top four, top five, because if you're not working in your strengths, you do actually get drained.
Don't you, Michelle?
Mm-hmm.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
For sure.
So yeah, for like this, like when we, you know, I was saying that I get on and I, you know, maybe I feel drained before, but then I feel an energy from doing this, whereas you know something else that's not using my strength is very draining.
Right.
And someone else who's just not like a natural person presenter performer like we are.
They may not.
They may be more drained being on the podcast, right.
So that's true, because it certainly requires a lot of energy, but if it's like a natural thing to you, that's a strength, then yeah, it's interesting.
Somebody might find oh, entering information into tables and things is like takes less energy, is less tiring.
It's just everybody has their different Yeah, it's really interesting.
But guys, check out our business course to look at that.
You'll be able to watch that interview that I did with Alyssa and you can get some resources on how to actually take StrengthsFinder yourself.
So go over to allersenglish.com slash business to check that out.
So good.
So good.
Awesome.
All right.
Well, let's try this out in a role play.
Okay.
So here, oh, of course, my famous... I put you on a red eye.
How do you know me so well by this point?
I don't know.
I put you on it.
I just was like, Lindsay's getting on a red eye in this role play.
And I might be planning another one soon, actually.
Oh, was that right?
Oh, every time, every time.
Well, flight prices have gone up so much, Michelle.
At this point, I don't have a choice, you know, to get back to the East Coast.
It's crazy.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
You gotta do what you gotta do.
Gotta do what you gotta do.
All right.
So I'm arriving.
I just arrived on a red eye.
Here we go.
How was your trip?
You must be bushed.
Oh, I am definitely pooped.
Yeah, I'd be beat after that long trip too.
Well, I've been running on empty since tax season started.
I'm so drained.
Well, hopefully now you can relax a bit.
Nice, nice.
Do you find?
– well actually, let's go back and then I'll ask you that question Michelle, real quick.
What did we say here for our listeners?
I said you must be bushed. bushed.
Yeah.
And then I said, I am definitely pooped, right?
Other ways to say you're exhausted.
These are fun guys.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then I said, yeah, I'd be beat after that long trip too.
Yeah.
And then I said, I've been running on empty.
So now this is talking more about how I've been feeling in the last few months, right?
So this is good to tell what's been up in your life, right?
Right.
And then you said, I'm so drained.
Yeah, good.
And I think this episode's really useful because I find not so much in our world, you know, podcasting remotely, but in other jobs I've had.
A very, very common topic of conversation has been how tired people are.
Do you ever notice that?
That people are always like, how are you?
Tired.
I think I'm guilty of that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But people do at work at just your typical like nine to five job.
People are going to have these conversations.
I think, yeah, in different places.
If you work in retail, you're probably going to hear that a lot.
When I go to the grocery store, I overhear people working there talking to each other.
And the main topic of conversation often, sadly, is how tired they are.
Okay, guys, so that means this is very useful vocabulary. right?
Yes.
Oh, absolutely.
Good connection topic.
I'm so tired.
I'm so tired, too.
I'm pooped.
I'm bushed.
It is.
And it's an epidemic, right?
And that we could get into that another day.
Like, why are we so tired as Americans in American culture?
What are we doing wrong?
But the point is, you want to be able to connect.
And this is how you do it, guys, by engaging in those conversations.
If someone says they're tired, ask them more questions.
Be able to say if you're tired too.
Right, Michelle?
Yeah.
Right, right, right.
Exactly.
Misery loves company.
That's right.
All right.
Good stuff, guys.
Don't forget to hit follow so you don't miss a single episode of All Ears English.
Michelle, I'm exhausted.
I'm going to go take a nap now.
All right.
I'm pooped.
Bye, Lindsay.
Bye, Michelle.
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