Why Do Some People Have Energy After Work (And You Don't)

Does this sound like you?

After every workday, you feel mentally exhausted and end up in the same repetitive routine. Same thing on the weekends. After the workweek, you feel exhausted and you don't want to do anything. Saturdays are like a full recovery day, and on Sunday you have a little energy to do something and then back to the workweek.

Your evenings after work are pretty much laid out: get home, eat dinner, brush teeth, watch a TV show, and then go to bed.

However, you have colleagues who are very energetic, and they are always doing something. They go to the movies, gym, etc. They even play sports before work.

What is their secret?

As someone who has dealt with tiredness my whole life I can assure you I'm no stranger to that draining feeling, and for me it was never a motivation issue - it was a skill issue.

What you need is a system gives your body all the things you need to have energy. It's really that simple. Your energy is drained because you literally have none!

The Energy Flywheel

A flywheel is a system where each part feeds into the next part and it all feeds back into itself. The energy flywheel is a system of 5 parts. If you can get all 5 parts working together then your body battery will be maxed out. But if one part is off, the whole system gets thrown out of balance and you'll end up feeling drained.

1. Sleep - Literally number one. Sleep is the foundation; and guess what? You are sleeping wrong!

   NO ONE EVER TAUGHT ME HOW TO SLEEP. It turns out that sleep has a lot to do with what you do while you are not sleeping. (more on that soon)

2. Exercise - Sleep's little helper. Exercise used intentionally makes your body work like it should. Without exercise you rust, you degrade, you just straight up start falling apart. Because the body evolved in motion. It was built to be used and the more you use it, the better it works, and the better you sleep! If you don't exercise enough then your sleep gets confused. It's like wait "you didn't do anything all day so maybe you don't need to sleep?"

3. Food - Sleep's fuel. What happens when we sleep? Our body upgrades! Sleep installs the next version of you. But it needs high nutrient fuel for that. Think mediterranean diet: vegetables, chicken/fish, nuts, berries, olive oil, parmesan/feta. If you aren't a vegetable person, you'll literally have to suck it up (suck up the vegetables). And don't worry, once your gut bacteria adjust to the new food you will start to enjoy the taste and you will crave healthy food which will be great for your energy. If you have food sensitivies and want to take it a step further look into the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet which is a more strict version of the mediterranean diet. It eliminates all the food known to cause minor (and sometimes major) unwanted reactions inside your body. AIP can heal chronic illnesses and make you feel like a million bucks.

4. Digestion - Foods sneaky downside. Eating requires digestion but digestion requires energy. So the trick is to only eat as much as you need. This means no snacking, and no junk food. Zero junk! No sugar! No chips! No low-nutrient food. Because as soon as that little piece of candy or as soon as that chip hits your tongue it triggers digestion to turn on and drain your energy. So just eat your 3 healthy meals and nothing else. Once you get out of the tired phase and start listening to your body more you will learn how to make exceptions and have some treats here and there.

5. Caffeine - Let's be honest. Coffee & tea is everywhere! All the time. We all love it. The trick is just have your cup in the morning and be done. 1 cup. Thats it. You'll still have energy in the evenings once you fix the above issues. But if you try to sneak a cup of coffee at 6pm it will wreck your sleep. One more thing - go extra light on the milk/sugar. Drop it to zero if you can. Remember digestion requires energy and any amount of calories will kick on your digestion and drain your energy. So you need to only eat high nutrient food at the right times.

If you made it this far and you are thinking "wait... I'm doing all that stuff already and I still don't have energy" then you are probably doing one or two things just slightly wrong. This system is very fragile. If one thing goes wrong it all snowballs out of control and it can take days or weeks to recover.

And if low energy is tangled up with trouble focusing or following through, not just feeling drained, it might be worth reading about this 2nd brain system for beating ADHD too.

It was such a challenge for me I spent 4 years building a voice-first AI to-do list app to stay on track. But for you it will only take 5 minutes to set up, and the good news is that it's basically free to use.

So if you are ready to commit yourself to reclaiming your energy put your hand over your heart and say "I commit myself to reclaiming my energy no matter how long it takes" and then follow these steps below.

Set Up Your Energy Flywheel System in 5 Minutes

1. Download Scythe, the voice-first AI to-do list (it's free)

   

2. Sign-in

3. Navigate to the settings page and enable notifications. The reminders are crucial and you'll love them.

4. Navigate to the rewards page and enter this code to get 100 AI Credits EBC9HM

5. Navigate to the chat page and at the bottom click "Voice on" & "Auto-approve on" - this will let the app talk out loud to you and automatically make edits.

6. Navigate to the chat page and paste this prompt in and hit send:

Scan this on your phone to open this post there, then use the button below to copy the prompt straight into the app.

Help the user reclaim their energy & build a routine. Be empathetic and understanding but don't get side tracked. Help them become their ideal version of themselves.

TASKS:

Create tasks with category "morning routine" and priority 1 for:

- get sunlight within 30 minutes of waking
- drink a full glass of water
- brush and tongue scrape
- review Scythe tasks and blocks for the day

Create tasks with category "evening routine" and priority 1 for:

- screens/bright lights off 1 hour before bed
- 1 hour wind-down (stretch, journal, or read)
- water pick, floss, brush, tongue scrape
- same bedtime every night, before midnight
- check the Scythe stats page and chat with AI to refine my system

Create tasks with category "exercise" and priority 2 for:

- pushups (daily)
- situps (daily)
- 15-30 minute walk/run (3-5 times per week)
- gym day (1-3 times per week)
- stretch

Create tasks with category "food" and priority 3 for:

- plan tomorrow's 3 mediterranean meals (vegetables, chicken/fish, nuts, berries, olive oil)
- clear out junk food, fried food, and added sugar
- keep dinner light and early
- walk or do a few air squats after meals
- 0 to 1 cup of coffee/tea before noon

Create tasks with category "live life" and priority 5 for:

- ask the user what they would do after work if they had unlimited energy and add tasks for those activities

Create tasks with category "health" and priority 6 for:

- schedule a dentist visit if it's overdue
- wear sunscreen midday
- protect hearing around loud noise
- go easy on alcohol
- don't smoke
- avoid plastic where it's easy to
- circulate fresh air through the room

BLOCKS:

Create a block for "morning routine" for 1 hour Daily but ask the user what time they currently wake up to find the right fit and adjust the block accordingly.

Create a block for "exercise" for 2 hours Daily but ask the user what time works best for them and adjust the block accordingly.

Create a block for "work" for 8 hours Daily but ask the user what time they start and end work to adjust.

Create a block for "live life" for 3-5 hours starting right after the "work" block Daily for the energizing activity they chose above and anything else from that category.

Create a block for "evening routine" for 1 hour starting at 10pm Daily but ask the user what time they currently go to sleep and adjust the block to start 1 hour before that time.

Ask if they want blocks for meals and if so create blocks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the appropriate times based on when they wake up and go to sleep. Make sure exercise is before a meal block so they aren't digesting during exercise.

Also ask if they want to add a "todo" block for any chores or errands they have to do and if so create a block & tasks in the "todo" category for that.

REWARDS:

Ask the user for 1 big reward, and 1 small reward that they can give themselves when they do well and add them to the app. If they can't think of any, suggest some based on their interests and add them to the app.

REMINDERS:

Ask the user if there are any important deadlines or events coming up that they need to be reminded of and add them as tasks with reminders. Also ask if there are any recurring tasks or habits they want to be reminded of and add them as tasks with recurring reminders.

GOALS:

Ask the user what their goals are for this year and make sure their tasks and blocks are aligned with those goals, with a focus on having more energy day to day. If they don't have any goals, help them set some based on their values and aspirations. Focus on realistic achievable goals for health, finances, relationships, and personal growth rather than vague goals like "be happy" or "be successful".

KILL BAD HABITS:

Discuss the user's current eating, sleeping, caffeine, smoking, drinking, and exercise habits and suggest improvements based on their goals and preferences. This could lead to tasks for "no sugar", "no chips", "no smoking", "no alcohol", "no caffeine after noon" etc.

Important - Only ask the user 1 or 2 questions at a time and wait for their response before asking more. The goal is to build a sustainable system that they can stick with, not to overwhelm them with a bunch of tasks and blocks that they'll just ignore. Keep it succinct and easy to read. Also make sure not to double up on tasks/blocks/rewards/reminders - read what you have already created before making changes to avoid duplicates.

7. That's it! Just chat with the AI one message at a time and you'll be set. The system runs for free, forever - the only cost is AI credits and speech detection, and you can earn more by inviting friends or go Pro for nearly unlimited access (up to 75 msg per day).

8. Want a real human instead? Email me at scythe@soniare.net - I'm happy to help. You've got this!