13 experts on why you’re always tired – and how to get your energy back

For more wellbeing guides, read 11 ways to have a better night's sleep, sleep hygiene and how to improve it, 10 foods to improve your mood and 5 tips for a mindful evening routine.

It’s the time of the year where everyone is running on 10% battery. We wake up tired, stay tired, and talk about being tired as if it’s a personality trait. The morning coffee doesn’t touch the sides, the afternoon slump hits harder than ever, and even a full night’s sleep doesn’t seem to fix it.

It’s not just in our heads. A survey found that one in eight of us say they felt tired all the time. We’ve built lives that drain us in ways we barely notice, screens that keep us alert long after dark, work that seeps into our weekends and diets built for convenience, not nourishment. Add to that hormones, stress, poor sleep, and pressure to 'keep up', and it’s no wonder so many of us feel like we’re running on fumes.

So, what’s actually going on, and how do we fix it? We asked a line-up of experts – from doctors and sleep experts to osteopaths and productivity specialists – to untangle what’s really behind our collective fatigue and how to combat it. Some say it’s our circadian rhythm, others our hormones, our blood sugar, our posture, or even our decision load. The truth? It’s probably a bit of all of them.

The Sleep Expert

Stephanie Romiszewski, leading sleep physiologist and author of Think Less, Sleep More

One of the biggest misconceptions is that tiredness means you need more sleep, says Romiszewski, one of the most trusted voices in sleep health. “Often it means you need better timing of sleep, or to stop fighting normal human fluctuations in energy,” she explains. “We’ve created a culture where every dip in alertness is treated as a failure, when in fact your body’s natural rhythm works in waves.”

And that consistency can waver, especially at the weekends, when your social calendar shifts. “Your brain’s timekeeper, the circadian rhythm, isn’t flexible just because your calendar is,” Romiszewski says. Her number-one rule is to keep a consistent wake-up time. “Your body cares more about when you wake than when you go to bed. When you shift your sleep and wake times on weekends, your body experiences the same internal confusion as mild jetlag.”

Her quick-fix trio: set one wake-up time and stick to it, get light in your eyes within an hour of waking, and stop trying to ‘rest’ your way out of fatigue. “Move, get daylight and eat at regular times. Fatigue often improves faster when you stabilise your daytime rhythm, not when you add more sleep.”

The Hormone Specialist

Dr Louise Newson, @menopause_doctor and founder of menopause app, Balance

Hormonal shifts are one of the most overlooked causes of fatigue in women, says Dr Newson. Chronic tiredness often stems from fluctuating or low levels of progesterone, oestradiol and testosterone, “which play important roles in our brains and can regulate mood, sleep and energy”. These hormones also influence how mitochondria work, meaning low levels can affect how efficiently we produce energy.

Extreme fatigue, she explains, is particularly common in women who are perimenopausal, menopausal or affected by PMS, PMDD or postnatal depression. “When fatigue becomes persistent, or affects daily life despite adequate rest, it may be due to a hormonal cause.”

Other clues include low mood, brain fog, palpitations, joint pains and night sweats. Early perimenopausal symptoms, fatigue, anxiety, low mood and reduced concentration “can appear years before periods stop completely,” she says. “Being prescribed the right dose and type of hormones can really improve symptoms.”

The GP

Dr Tony Banerjee, founder of HarleyDoc

“Feeling constantly tired is one of the most common concerns patients raise with their GP,” says Dr Banerjee, “and yet it’s one of the most misunderstood.”

There’s no single cause. “Anaemia, thyroid disorders, sleep problems, post-viral fatigue, mental health issues and hormonal or metabolic imbalances are all common culprits,” he says. “Lifestyle plays a major role. I’d estimate around 60-70% of fatigue is primarily lifestyle-related: late nights, stress, caffeine dependence, poor nutrition and irregular routines.”

He’s seeing a shift in age, too. “People in their 20s and 30s are reporting chronic tiredness once reserved for older adults. Screen time, disrupted sleep, blurred work boundaries and economic stress have created a generation that’s overstimulated yet under-rested.”

His takeaway: “Fatigue isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a message. Persistent tiredness deserves proper investigation.”

The Nutritionist

Zara Hiridjee, registered nutritionist

If you’re constantly flagging, the culprit might be what’s missing from your plate. “The big ones I see most often are iron, vitamin B12, folate, vitamin D, magnesium and sometimes iodine or zinc,” says Hiridjee. “Iron helps carry oxygen around the body, so when levels drop, you feel fatigued, dizzy, low in mood and poor in focus.”

Blood sugar swings are another hidden cause. “When your blood glucose rises and falls sharply throughout the day, your energy levels rise and fall with it.” Over time, repeated spikes make your cells less sensitive to insulin, so “you can have high blood sugar but still feel tired because your cells aren’t actually getting the energy they need.”

Her advice: build balanced meals with complex carbs, protein and colour. “A day of eating for steady energy isn’t about perfection, it’s about balance, consistency and quality. When you nourish your body with real, nutrient-dense food, your energy naturally becomes stable and sustainable.”

The Workplace Wellbeing Specialist

Becky Baines, business psychologist at Robertson Cooper

For many of us, fatigue starts at work. “Habits that lead to cognitive overload are the most likely to drain energy,” says Baines. “That’s when our brains have too much information to process at once, leaving us mentally exhausted.”

In Robertson Cooper’s Good Day at Work insights report, 61% of workers reported periods of constant tiredness, with one in five saying it happens often. “Although technology has enabled us to work more flexibly, a sense of ‘constant connectivity’ is one of several factors that impact how tired we feel.”

Her advice? Set clear boundaries. “We don’t have an unlimited source of energy, so we can’t say yes to everything. Boundaries are about being clear on when you need to say no. Having open, proactive conversations about these with your manager helps set expectations on both sides.”

The Pharmacist

Umar Razzaq, co-founder of Pharmacy Online

Fatigue is one of the most common complaints pharmacists hear, often dismissed as part of a busy lifestyle. Yet, as Razzaq explains, it usually reflects a combination of subtle, overlooked causes.

“Certain medications, while effective for their intended purpose, can inadvertently reduce energy,” he says. Sedating antihistamines, found in many night-time cold and flu products, are well known for causing morning grogginess. Beta-blockers, antidepressants and pain medications such as gabapentin, pregabalin and opioids like codeine can all contribute to tiredness, particularly during the first weeks of use.

Supplements can help, but only when a deficiency exists. “Iron supplementation is beneficial for those with iron deficiency, particularly people with heavy menstrual periods or restrictive diets,” Razzaq explains. “Vitamin B12 and vitamin D are other common culprits.” But he cautions that many over the counter “energy blends” or high-dose B vitamins have limited evidence for improving everyday tiredness.

Before starting any supplement, Razzaq advises checking with a pharmacist. “Sometimes a simple blood test is more appropriate than adding a supplement,” he says. Simple tweaks can make a difference: “Iron is absorbed best on an empty stomach. Reserving sedating medications for night-time use, staying hydrated, and getting daylight and regular movement can all help support daily energy.”

His takeaway: “Fatigue is rarely the result of a single factor. Understanding the role of medication, appropriate supplementation, hydration and daily habits can lead to small, manageable changes that noticeably improve energy.”

The Rheumatologist

Dr Raj Amarnani, consultant in sport, exercise and musculoskeletal medicine at Naya Health

“Not all sleep is restorative,” explains Dr Amarnani. “For example, people with sleep apnoea experience repeated pauses in breathing that shift them into lighter sleep stages, leaving them tired even if they don’t recall waking.”

Other hidden culprits include insomnia, restless legs, medication side-effects and mental health issues such as depression or chronic stress, which “disrupt sleep architecture and drain motivation”.

His energy advice starts with foundations: manage stress, move regularly and eat wholegrains and fibre-rich vegetables. “It’s also a good idea to stop smoking and limit alcohol and caffeine,” he says. “Nicotine is a stimulant that disrupts sleep, while alcohol has a sedative effect that leads to a mid-afternoon slump.” Staying hydrated, he adds, “is one of the simplest, most overlooked energy tools.”

The Naturopath

Katie Poyasov, naturopathic nutritional therapist

For Poyasov, fatigue is the body’s way of signalling imbalance. “Mitochondria are the body’s energy powerhouses, and when they don’t function properly, cells can’t produce enough energy,” she says. This can be driven by poor diet, nutrient deficiencies, hormonal shifts or chronic stress.

Her work focuses on improving mitochondrial function through nutrition and lifestyle. She recommends nutrients like magnesium, B-vitamins, CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine, which “act like spark plugs, helping cells turn food into energy more efficiently.”

Her practical advice: “Build meals around protein, healthy fats and fibre; limit caffeine after midday; avoid long gaps between meals. Moving regularly, even gentle strength or resistance exercises, boosts mitochondrial function, while getting to bed when melatonin naturally rises sets the mood for rest.”

The ADHD specialist

Suzy Jackson, ADHD business coach

For Jackson, fatigue in ADHD isn’t about laziness, it’s about effort. “I think about an ADHD brain as having this ‘interest periscope’, and it’s always scanning the horizon for things that are more interesting than the thing that is currently going on,” they say. “ADHD needs much more dopamine just to function and burns through it faster than neurotypical brains do.”

That constant drive to keep up takes its toll. “People with ADHD are always trying to live up to a standard of ‘normal’ that was built for other people and their brains,” Jackson explains. “That requires a lot of additional energy, effort and resources, which inevitably leads to tiredness and burnout.”

Their energy advice? Create realistic systems and boundaries. “It’s not about finding the perfect system, it’s about having one you can stick to,” they say. “Some boundaries should be firm, others flexible, like a bungee cord.”

The Psychologist

Dr Rebecca Ker, practitioner psychologist and clinical director of Carlton Psychology

“Chronic stress involves being in a constant state of alert,” says Dr Ker. “The HPA axis, our body’s stress response, evolved for short bursts of danger, not for being ‘on’ all the time.” When cortisol stays elevated for weeks or months, receptors down-regulate and hormone rhythms disrupt, resulting in exhaustion.

She sees fatigue accompanied by muscle aches, headaches, digestive problems and poor concentration. “Even when we sit down to rest, our work emails and messages follow us, social media distracts us, and little bursts of dopamine tempt us away from ‘doing nothing’,” she says.

Her fix? Reclaim rest. “We have glamourised busyness and sacrificed celebrating rest. Learning to say no, setting boundaries and challenging the idea that rest is lazy are vital steps toward recovery.”

The Productivity Expert

Sarah Cave, leadership coach and founder of The Leadership Secret

“Sometimes it feels like you have to make decisions constantly and eventually that can become wearing,” says Cave. “Even small decisions can wear you down. It’s a different sort of tiredness to the physical kind.”

Her antidote is awareness and structure. “We all have energy rhythms throughout the day. If you can work out when your high points and low points are, you can schedule tasks accordingly.” For her, that means 10-11.30am, 2.30-4pm and around 7.30-8.30pm for deep work, with easier tasks or breaks in between.

When life feels hectic, Cave recommends movement and fresh air. “Whether that’s a walk, run or just a dance in the kitchen, movement releases endorphins and instantly lifts your energy.”

The Osteopath

Carla Pozner, registered osteopath

“When the body is out of alignment, muscles have to work harder to support basic posture, creating constant low-grade tension that subtly drains energy,” says Pozner. “Poor posture can also restrict breathing and circulation, meaning less oxygen reaches the body and brain.”

She points to stiffness through the upper back, neck and hips as “major culprits”. “When those areas are restricted, the body compensates with extra effort elsewhere. Jaw or cranial tension, especially in people who clench when stressed, can also quietly drain energy.”

Her advice: move more, little and often. “Stand up every 30-45 minutes, do shoulder rolls or mindful deep breaths. Walking meetings or stretching while the kettle boils are easy ways to weave movement into your day.”

The Natural Health Expert

Nadine Bowen-Price, BANT-registered nutritionist and naturopathic practitioner

Bowen-Price focuses on re-balancing the body’s systems rather than chasing quick fixes. Her approach starts with blood-sugar stability: “Build meals around protein, fibre and healthy fats. It helps reduce energy crashes, cravings and cortisol spikes.”

Next, she recommends circadian support: “Get morning daylight for 5-20 minutes and keep a consistent wake time. Dim lights after 8-9pm and keep caffeine before midday.”

Movement and breathwork are her other essentials. “Five minutes of extended-exhale breathing, four seconds in, six out, can shift you out of that wired, stressed state,” she says. “Two to three short strength sessions a week plus gentle daily walks help circulation and energy.”

And for those overwhelmed by wellness noise? “Anchor your day, daylight, regular meals, gentle movement and consistent sleep. Energy follows rhythm, not restriction.”

When tiredness doesn’t lift

While lifestyle tweaks can make a profound difference, persistent fatigue shouldn’t be ignored. If tiredness lasts for more than a few weeks, or is accompanied by weight change, night sweats, palpitations or low mood, speak to your GP. Conditions like anaemia, thyroid dysfunction, sleep apnoea and hormone imbalances are common and treatable once identified.

Fatigue may be your body’s way of asking you to slow down, or it may be its way of asking for help. Listen either way.

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