Why am I so tired after work? How Coach Ofosu navigates post-work fatigue

May 13, 2025

& Meditation Expert

REVIEWED by

I’m writing this at the end of a very long day, and I have to admit: I’m pretty tired.

Does that ever happen to you? It may seem normal to us to be tired after a long workday. It makes sense—so much goes into each day, physically, mentally, and emotionally. And all of it takes energy!

But is there any way for us to not feel so wiped out after a long day?

Speaking for myself, sometimes feeling super tired after a long workday brings on feelings of guilt and inadequacy when I don’t have the energy to devote to the things I love, like spending time with my family, hitting the gym, or doing creative things just for fun.

Recently, I’ve been exploring if there are ways to battle post-work fatigue, and there are a few things I have found that have been helpful:

Decompressing through sharing: A key solution to post-work fatigue

Taking a moment to genuinely share with a friend or a loved one how my day was. I do this in a way that doesn’t perpetuate stress or frustration but simply states how the day was and how I felt about it. It allows me to express myself—and then let the day go. Sometimes, if there’s no one to talk to, just doing a recap of all of the various internal and external interactions that I’ve experienced throughout the day can help me feel more grounded in the present. Doing this also helps me to recognize and acknowledge all of my efforts, while also seeing the post-workday as a fresh opportunity for living. This practice can relieve the emotional weight that often contributes to the feeling of after work exhaustion.

Gentle movement: Boosting energy after work with small steps

I often find that when I’m overly ambitious about getting some physical activity in after a long workday, I end up not doing anything at all. I simply feel too fatigued. But when I lower my expectations and commit to just some really simple, gentle movement, whether it’s stretching or taking a quick walk around the neighborhood, I find that I have more energy than I thought. More often than not, I have more motivation to continue my physical activity, whether it’s extending my walk, stretching, or turning my walk into a trip to the gym.

Keeping the bar low and committing to some simple movement after a workday can give us access to energy we didn’t know was there. It’s one of the most effective answers to the question, “Why am I so tired after work?”

Meditation: A powerful reset for post-work exhaustion

I had an amazing experience at the airport. One time, I was sitting at a restaurant, and someone recognized my voice! He was a long-time Balance member.

We struck up a conversation, and he shared with me how every day after work, before he goes into his home to greet his wife and children, he spends 5 to 15 minutes in his car, meditating on the Balance app.

It helps him to process and let go of the workday and be in a refreshed state when he enters his house. I thought this was a beautiful way of working with feelings of work stress or fatigue after work, and I’ve applied it in my own life at times. It’s been a wonderful experience.

If you’re searching for ways to improve your after work energy levels, this is one simple and science-backed way to do it.