Stop Doing These 2 Things and You’ll Have Energy After 5 PM

“I get really tired after 6 pm. Is there something I can do? I’m 26 years old, I exercise almost every day, most of the time sleep well … and yet, when I slow down after work … it’s really hard to get back the energy and motivation to be ‘productive’ …”

“Typically I come home from work and I feel absolutely exhausted. I can only eat and then I typically fall asleep … What do y’all do to prevent that from happening?”

“I am exhausted by evening and can’t get out of bed. What can I do to be more productive in the evenings to pursue my hobbies?”

(Questions asked by people on Reddit)

So relatable, right?

You have goals and you can only work on them in the few hours you get during the evening.

But after coming back from school, college, or office you feel completely exhausted. The only thing you want to do is watch some Netflix, eat dinner, and fall asleep.

Why does this happen?

Because you drain all your mental energy before 5 PM.

The 2 most common things that drain your mental energy are:

1. Overloading your brain with information (checking notifications, scrolling on social media, binge-watching YouTube videos, watching the news, etc.)
2. Making too many choices — decision fatigue.

There are many more things that drain your mental energy (like poor sleep, dehydration, overthinking, multi-tasking etc.) but let’s focus on these 2 for now.

You’ll feel a lot more energetic in the evening if you stop doing these 2 things.

1) Mindless consumption

My sister was studying for her semester exams. After like an hour she grabbed her phone and started scrolling on YouTube.

I asked her, “Why are you scrolling instead of studying?”

She said, “I’m taking rest.”

I was like, “What?”

It’s not just her, most people think checking or scrolling on their phone is a form of taking “rest”.

But the truth is, your brain has to process every single piece of information that flashes across your screen. Every Shorts (or Reels) you scroll drains your mental energy reserve.

If you really want to take rest, go for a walk, fill your water bottle, take a 15-minute nap, do 20 push-ups, or just sit there doing nothing.

All these activities don’t drain your mental energy — in fact they re-energize you.

2) Decision Fatigue

Throughout the day you’re making SO many decisions — small and big.

Every decision drains your mental energy.

What to wear? What to eat for breakfast? Which route to take? Who to reply to first? Whether to like a post or not?

All these decisions drain your mental energy.

But it’s not just the obvious decisions. When you’re working on a task, you’re making hundreds of micro-decisions you don’t even notice.

For example:

When I’m writing an article, I’m deciding…

• What word to use
• How to phrase each sentence
• Whether to add an example or not
• Whether to research deeper on an idea or continue writing
• etc.

And I’m making all these micro-decisions multiple times when I’m writing an article. That’s why I feel completely exhausted after a writing session.

If you don’t want to feel drained by 5 PM, reduce the number of decisions you’re making throughout the day.

And the best way to do this is by sticking to a routine.

What is the first thing you do after waking up?

Most people don’t have an answer for this.

They wake up and do what they feel like doing (which is mostly checking their phone).

Create a routine for yourself and stick to it.

Here is my routine.

Morning:

• Wake up.
• Work on an AI project for an hour.
• Write for 90 minutes.
• Get on a walk and get some sunlight (15 minutes).
• Job-related work.

Around 5 PM:

• I hit the gym.
• Write an article.
• Read.
• Sleep.

Simple.

Routine is not enough, you should also know exactly what you’re going to do for each task.

For example, when I say “I hit the gym,” I know what I’m going to do after going to the gym.

• 100 jump rope.
• 30 pull-ups.
• 30 dips.
• 30 push-ups.
• etc.

The more clarity you have, the fewer decisions you have to make. The fewer decisions you make, the more mental energy you can save for later tasks.

That’s it.

Hope it was helpful.

See you again.

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P.S. Grab a pen and paper and create a routine for yourself. Create a routine in a way that if you stick to it you’ll automatically achieve all your goals.