9 Reasons You May Feel Tired During the Day & What You Can Do About It

It’s 2 PM on a Thursday. You have something to complete at work, but you can’t seem to find the energy to get it done. Everything is a chore to complete, and you just feel weary down to your bones.

Your health is essential, so taking care of your body is vital. If this kind of situation is happening to you, there may be something happening in your body to make you feel tired. Here are some common reasons why your tank is running on empty during the day.

What Can Make You Feel Tired?

1. Not enough sleep

Let’s start off this list with an obvious choice. To clarify, tiredness is feeling like you have no energy and common problems feel like climbing a mountain. Sleepiness can go hand in hand with tiredness, but not always; you can be utterly exhausted without wanting to go to sleep. After a bad night of sleep, you will likely be feeling both.

Many factors build the connection between sleep and energy, including the quantity and quality of sleep. For example, you may get a full eight hours of sleep but still wake up the next morning with no energy. In this case, your sleep quality may have been the problem. Certain activities like drinking alcohol and watching TV before bed can reduce the amount of deep sleep you get or disrupt your internal clock. Other things, like your diet and stress levels, can make it hard to fall asleep. When this happens, you don’t get the rest you need and your body takes a hit.

If sleep problems persist, you may have an underlying problem such as a sleep disorder. Talk to your doctor if getting good-quality sleep is a challenge, as it may be something serious.

2. Skipping the gym

When you’re tired, the last thing you want to do is go for a run. While definitely relatable, skipping your workout may make you more tired in the future.

People with jobs that involve a lot of sitting can develop a sedentary lifestyle, or the sitting disease. If you sit for more than eight hours a day, you have a higher risk of illnesses like heart disease, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. It can also make you feel more lethargic and reduce your energy levels.

The best way to combat the sitting disease is through movement. If you exercise daily, you can maintain your energy levels, muscle mass, and healthy lifestyle. Studies also show that regular exercise helps you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper. With this better sleep, you will wake up refreshed and ready to go for your morning jog.

3. Dehydration

Hydration has a significant impact on your health. One of the most tell-tale signs of dehydration is fatigue and exhaustion.

Throughout the day, the body loses water through sweat, respiration, urine, and other bodily functions. If you don’t replace this water, the body can no longer function at maximum capacity and you will start feeling tired.

To avoid this fatigue, you should drink water consistently throughout the day, not just when you are thirsty. The feeling of thirst is actually a sign of dehydration; if you feel parched, then you are already dehydrated. Drinking water throughout the day will prevent you from getting thirsty, which will keep you performing your best.

4. Excess carbon dioxide

Even though we don’t think of it on the daily, carbon dioxide is all around us. Odorless and colorless, people exhale it with every breath. While carbon dioxide, or CO2, is not harmful at normal quantities, high levels of the gas can replace oxygen and impact how you feel. At levels commonly found in office meeting rooms and schools, you may feel tired and suffer from a loss of concentration. At extreme levels, CO2 can cause dizziness and loss of consciousness.

The best way to avoid the effects of CO2 is to keep rooms properly ventilated. Whether this is opening a window or turning on the air conditioner, proper ventilation dilutes indoor air with outdoor air, keeping CO2 levels down.

5. Mental illness

Mental illnesses can severely impact your energy levels. From medication to sleep cycles to recovery, mental illnesses take a toll on your body and leave you exhausted. Anxiety and depression, the two most common mental illnesses in the U.S., are closely linked to the feeling of tiredness and chronic fatigue.

If you think you might be suffering from mental illness, talk to your doctor about ways to manage your symptoms, including fatigue.

6. Stress

Stress is a difficult word to define; it can take many different forms and have many various symptoms and manifestations. Stress is characterized by tension in your body over some time, difficulty with digestion, and mental cloudiness. One common symptom of chronic stress is fatigue; all that tension will tire your body out and leave you feeling exhausted.

To prevent this from happening, try some ways to de-stress yourself, including meditation, music, mild exercise, and socializing. Taking a break from your worries will help keep you from getting stressed out and, by extension, feeling as drained. If your stress becomes chronic, talk to your doctor about ways to manage your stress.

7. Clutter

Most people would not think that clutter or a messy work area would affect their energy levels, but they can. Clutter, both physical and mental, can stress you out and make your life more hectic. This stress can wear you down and make you feel tired.

Spending a little time each day to organize and clean can do wonders for stress and fatigue. While coming home from work and cleaning sounds unappealing, you will likely see an improvement in your mood and energy levels if you make this simple change in behavior.

8. Food

Sometimes the foods you eat drain your energy. Foods with high sugar content will give you a quick boost but will burn quickly. Afterward, you will experience a sugar crash, and your energy levels will flag. Avoiding foods with a lot of sugar, as well as inflammatory, high-fat, and tryptophan-rich foods, will keep your energy levels higher.

How much you eat can also affect your energy levels. Your body relies on calories and nutrients from food to create energy. If you don’t eat the food you need, you will feel more and more tired as your body tries to keep up with energy demands. By eating enough fuel to keep your body going, and eating the right foods, you can maximize your energy levels and prevent tiredness.

9. Caffeine

A cup of coffee in the morning is the standard for working adults across the globe; sometimes it’s the only thing getting you out of bed in the morning. While the caffeine in coffee acts as a stimulant to wake you up, there are a couple of things to consider:

First, caffeine is a drug. While it’s harmless, drinking it every day will make you addicted. If you miss your morning cup, you will experience withdrawal symptoms, including headaches, loss of concentration, and fatigue.

Second, drinking caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea, or soda at night may throw off your circadian clock and keep you from sleeping. To prevent this from happening, you shouldn’t drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages less than a few hours before you sleep. If you find it difficult to sleep, try increasing this amount of time to be sure that caffeine is not keeping you up.