You’re feeling energized all morning, but as soon as 1 P.M. rolls around you’re struggling to keep your eyes open. We’ve all been there. The afternoon slump is natural and hits us all to some degree.
Keep reading to find out why you’re so tired in the afternoon, what makes you feel more tired than usual, and how the RISE app can help you get more energy all day long.
Afternoon tiredness can be caused by a mix of natural, behavioral, and medical causes. Here are the most common causes of the afternoon slump.
Afternoon tiredness is inevitable and not due to your lunch — although that can make it worse. It’s actually a part of your natural circadian rhythm.
Your circadian rhythm is your body’s internal clock. It runs on a roughly 24-hour cycle and plays a part in when you feel sleepy and alert throughout the day and night.
Here’s what your energy levels probably look like each day:
Most people will feel the afternoon slump for a few hours around 1 P.M. to 4 P.M. The exact timing will depend on when you woke up that morning and your chronotype, which is whether you’re an early bird or night owl. Early birds can feel their afternoon slump earlier in the day than night owls.
Want to know when the afternoon slump will hit exactly? RISE predicts your circadian rhythm each day, so you can see when your energy levels are expected to dip in the afternoons and when you can expect them to pick back up again.
“It’s been eye opening to learn that the app can pretty accurately predict when I will have energy and when I will be struggling,” says one user.
Not getting enough sleep can cause tiredness at any time of day, but it can also make your natural dips in energy feel much worse.
A lack of sleep can also tank your mental performance, mood, and decision-making skills — so you really won’t be at your best during the afternoon.
“Feeling tired in the afternoon is a natural part of your circadian rhythm,” says Dr. Chester Wu, a double board-certified doctor in psychiatry and sleep medicine. “Some fatigue is normal, but if you struggle to keep your eyes open, you might be sleep deprived.”
If you’re not getting enough sleep, you’ll have built up sleep debt. The trick here is that we all need a different amount of sleep — and it can vary quite a bit.
Among 1.95 million RISE users aged 24 and up, for example, we found it ranged from five hours to 11 hours 30 minutes.
RISE works out how much sleep you need and how much sleep debt you have.
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An irregular sleep schedule can lead to low energy levels all day, so it can be the reason you’re extremely tired in the afternoon, too.
That’s because waking up and sleeping at odd times can disrupt your circadian rhythm — kind of like putting your body through small amounts of jet lag each day. This can tank your energy levels, health, and mental performance.
Contrary to popular belief, postprandial somnolence — aka the food coma — isn’t the main cause of sudden tiredness during the day or afternoon.
Your circadian rhythm is mainly to blame, but a heavy, high-carb, or high-calorie lunch can make the afternoon slump feel worse.
One study found a heavier lunch was linked to feeling more sleepy and performing worse on a simulated driving test when sleep deprived compared to a light lunch.
You might also get a blood sugar crash if you had sugary food for lunch. And if you haven’t had enough water, dehydration can make you feel fatigued.
We’ve covered more on why you feel sleepy after eating here.
If you’re always tired, a medical condition or sleep disorder may be to blame. This may make the afternoons much harder to get through without a nap.
Medical conditions that contribute to fatigue include:
Stress, illnesses, medications, and hormone fluctuations during pregnancy, your period, and menopause, can also make you feel tired during the afternoon — and other times of day.
Sleep disorders include:
Speak to your healthcare provider if you think a medical condition or sleep disorder could be causing your afternoon tiredness. They can run tests to confirm.
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The symptoms of the afternoon slump include:
You can’t necessarily stop afternoon fatigue as it’s a natural part of your circadian rhythm. But you can get more energy in the afternoons by catching up on sleep and keeping a regular sleep schedule.
For short-term energy boosts, you can wake yourself up in the afternoon by:
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Here’s how to get more afternoon energy in the long run.
If you’ve got a lot of sleep debt, catching up on sleep can make the afternoon slump feel more manageable.
Users say it can get rid of crashes in energy altogether. “RISE showed me how my late nights add up to sleep debt, which sabotages my energy. Since I've been using RISE, no more afternoon crashes.”
You can lower your sleep debt by:
Lowering your sleep debt is key to getting more energy, and this is especially important if you find yourself falling asleep at work or falling asleep while driving during the afternoons.
If you’re struggling to get enough sleep, reach out to sleep doctor to rule our sleep disorders.
Research shows those with a consistent sleep schedule have more energy than those on an irregular schedule. And RISE users with consistent sleep schedules have less sleep debt than those with inconsistent sleep schedules.
To keep a regular schedule:
Expert tip: Plan your day to match your energy levels. You can schedule challenging tasks for your morning peak in energy and easy tasks, naps, or taking a break for your dip in energy.
Users are surprised how accurate these energy predictions are: “It really helps to be more productive and manage creative work during the day.”
Check RISE for when your peaks and dips in energy will be each day. You can also integrate RISE with your Apple or Google calendar so you’re always one step ahead.
To beat the afternoon slump while you’re in it, try taking a nap.
Research shows naps can improve:
Naps can also help you chip away at sleep debt to boost your energy levels long term.
And you don’t need to nap for long. One study found a 10-minute power nap is enough to boost energy levels and mental performance. Some benefits lasted 2.5 hours, which should help you get through the rest of the afternoon.
You can use RISE to keep an eye on your sleep debt to see when taking a nap would be helpful. We found 80% of RISE users feel more energy within five days, so you could have more productive afternoons within the week.
It’s natural to feel tired in the afternoon, but you should feel tired at night. Changes in energy levels can be caused by your circadian rhythm. You’ll have a drop in energy in the afternoons, but then your energy levels will pick up again in the early evening. You might feel awake at night because of poor sleep habits, which includes having coffee, alcohol, a nap, or a large meal too close to bedtime — some of these behaviors you might have done to get you through your afternoon slump.
Afternoon fatigue is most likely caused by your circadian rhythm as your energy levels naturally drop in the afternoon. This afternoon dip in energy can feel worse if you’re sleep deprived, have an irregular sleep schedule, had a heavy lunch, or have a medical condition or sleep disorder.
You crash at the same time every day because your energy levels naturally dip in the afternoon as part of your circadian rhythm, or body clock. If your sleep times are regular (which we recommend), this dip in energy will happen around the same time each day. Sleep loss can make this dip in energy feel like a crash in energy.
Beat the afternoon slump without caffeine by taking a nap, getting some exercise, staying hydrated, eating a healthy snack, and taking a break or doing easy tasks. Make the afternoon slump more manageable by catching up on sleep.
You probably feel awful every afternoon as your energy levels naturally dip as part of your body clock and sleep deprivation can make this feel much worse. A heavy lunch, an irregular sleep schedule, sleep disorders, or medical conditions can cause extreme mid-afternoon fatigue.
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