10 Reasons You Are Exhausted and Easy Hacks to Increase Energy

In the past, my days were totally draining me out from exhaustion. It wasn't from overworking or lack of sleep, because I'd wake up in the morning tired, eat meals tired, and I couldn't even open my eyes when socializing with friends. I didn't know what I was doing wrong that was constantly making me feel like I only got three hours of sleep every day. Coffee wasn't helping me at that point, even if I asked for double espresso shots.

I needed to know what was making me tired all day, every day. I researched online and I came across a bunch of reasons. A good handful of the points made it so clear to me. I wasn't exercising at all and my diet was so poor (I was literally eating junk food all the time). So, I changed up my lifestyle and started exercising four to five times a week and stuck to a proper diet that consisted of all-natural, organic foods and no junk at all.

If you're always tired and don't know the explanation to it, these might be the reasons why you're always exhausted and here are some hacks to increase energy back into your body!

You're lacking sleep.

Not getting enough sleep is the last thing you want to deal with because it can hold you back from doing work. When you don't sleep enough, your brain doesn't contain much energy to fulfill tasks. It's mainly focused on trying to shut down and rest, which is why you're constantly bobbing your head and attempting to keep your eyes open.

One of the easy hacks to increase energy is getting proper sleep every night. If you haven't been getting enough sleep in the past couple of days, make one night your sleeping-in night to catch up on the sleep you've been missing out on. Then, consistently follow a sleeping schedule in order to stay energized every day. Try to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night to feel your best!

You don't exercise.

One of the reasons why I was always tired was from the exercising...That I never did. I used to never work out mainly because I thought I didn't have the time to. I'd come back from work drained and all I wanted to do was spend the rest of the night lounging around and resting. I didn't bother on the weekends either because I always had appointments and errands to run (and I was very, very lazy).

I knew that not exercising was actually affecting my body physically and mentally. Not only was I constantly exhausted from not training my body, but I was always weak and frail. I wanted to start feeling and looking good and made a workout schedule that I've been sticking to from this day (hot yoga is my favorite!). I've never felt better about my body and I'm always full of energy from the morning until night.

You don't socialize enough.

If you're not socializing at least once a week, this can actually cause you to feel tired all of the time. Since you're homebound and don't have any plans, your option is to lay around and binge watch shows. When you're always doing this, this leads you to getting used to laying down and resting. Binge watching shows won't give you energy, but having fun with friends will!

Hanging out with friends once or twice a week is among the easiest hacks to increase energy because when you're having fun and conversing, this boosts your energy. Instead of laying on the couch and watching TV, call up your friends to meet up somewhere. We all need to socialize every now and then to get away from the stress of work, home, and to stay sane all at once.

Eating really unhealthy meals and snacks was definitely another reason why I felt sluggish throughout the days. I didn't care for my diet at all before because I just wanted something that would fill my stomach...And satisfy my chocolate cravings. I'd rarely eat vegetables and fruits. I'd have a few carrots with my dinner, but almost all of my meals were heated up from the microwave.

I knew that I needed to start eating healthier but I was slacking all the time. It wasn't until I started to feel and become exhausted every single day that I realized I needed to make a change. Sticking to a healthy diet is one of the best hacks to increase energy because there are a lot of all-natural foods that boost your immune system and keep you going. Eating healthy in general makes you feel good too, and not gross and tired like what junk food used to make me feel. I started making meal plans, switched fattening snacks for granola bars and nuts, and I can tell my body is loving the drastic, healthy change.

The Clean Eating Cookbook & Diet: Over 100 Healthy Whole Food Recipes and Meal Plans by Rockridge Press is the best cookbook you can get your hands on to learn and create healthy recipes on your own! This cookbook encourages you to eat clean and make a positive change in your lifestyle with over 100 healthy recipes that are super easy to make. You can also check out how to make a 14-day meal plan and other helpful tips on maintaining a healthy diet.

You're stressing out too much.

There will be a point during school or at work when you're consumed in so much work that you can't help but get really stressed out. Seeing how much you need to get done within such little time can stress anyone out. When you're constantly stressing out, this can weaken your body and make you feel exhausted.

There are a bunch of ways you can de-stress and help you unwind. Start doing what you enjoy doing the most like reading a book, hanging out with friends, watching your favorite shows, anything that will occupy your mind from the work. You're only building up more stress the more you're thinking about your work. Yes, there's a time for assignments, but there's also the free time you need to make for yourself in order to unwind for a little.

You have a medical condition.

Having a medical condition can be one of the reasons you're feeling exhausted. Medical conditions such as thyroid problems, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, anemia, and others have symptoms of feeling exhausted. Talk to your doctor about any medical conditions that you might have that's making you feel sleepy every day.

One of the hacks to increase energy is to take proper medication to handle your condition. You must talk to your doctor about before being prescribed medication that will help you with your condition and even help you stop feeling tired.

You're dealing with depression and/or anxiety.

If you're dealing with depression and anxiety, you know they affect your brain. It can affect it to the point where you feel like your brain is your own worst enemy at times. Your mind constantly has thoughts running through it, straining itself, and eventually tiring you out. Some people have the two without any specific reasons. My friend used to have really bad anxiety and it would literally come out of nowhere. We'd be having dinner and in the middle of our conversation, she'd have an anxiety attack.

Finding ways to cope with depression and anxiety is among the hacks to increase energy. There are so many methods that can help you with either one. Exercising, eating healthy, socializing, and other ways that will bring energy to your body can block out depression and anxiety. When you're practicing activities that will make your body feel good and put a smile on your face, this can help you ignore depression and anxiety. However, if you feel like nothing is working, talk to your doctor about what you're going through for more help.

You don't drink enough water.

Lack of hydration is one of the reasons you can always be tired every day. Many people don't drink enough water every day because they forget to or would rather drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages to gain the energy. I used to always drink coffee and not enough water because I wanted to always feel energized whenever working. The coffee would only work on me for less than an hour every time I drank it and it left me feeling weak and tired in the end. I also only used to drink two bottles of water a day... if I pushed myself.

Now I drink about six bottles of water a day and I feel more refreshed whenever I finish another bottle. One of the easiest hacks to increase energy is drinking a ton of water—at least eight glasses every day. Water is crucial to stay hydrated and cleanse your body. Even though it literally consists of nothing, drinking a lot of water every day does actually provide you with energy that lasts longer than caffeinated drinks. Never underestimate the importance of H20.

You're overworking yourself.

There's a time for working and there's a time for unwinding. If it's the busiest season for your work or finals are coming up, some of us will overwork ourselves until we can't physically move anymore. When you're overworking yourself, this can exhaust you in the end. Even if you're a perfectionist, this can certainly lead you into feeling tired throughout your days at work or at school because you'll overwork yourself until your assignments are absolutely perfect to your liking.

Refrain from constantly pushing yourself will help you relax a little. You should do work to the best of your ability and never attempt to go further than that. Once you've finished your work, push it to the side and enjoy the rest of your time unwinding. Your state of health is way more important than your work.

Lastly, the sight of a messy office desk can actually make you feel tired. When you see everything cluttered around, your files are unorganized, and there's a bunch of junk just laying around, dealing with it every day is mentally draining. You can take forever to find a certain document through your unorganized files and trying to do work with everything cluttering around you can affect you mentally.

One of the easiest hacks to increase energy is to become more organized at work. When you clean around your desk, an organized desk definitely provides you with the energy and motivation to do work. Since you opened up more space on your desk, you'll have the feeling of wanting to work and even you'll even be feeling more refreshed. It won't hurt to throw away the things that you absolutely don't need in order to make more room for yourself to work on!

A great way to keep your desk tidy and clean is by using a desk organizer, like this one by DYCacrlic! This organizer is multi-functional and features a ton of storage room to store all of your writing utensils, books, tablet, folders, and much more. This one desk organizer can separate all of the items you need for work in one space and leave you with extra desk space to get assignments done on!