How to Get More Energy Naturally: 8 Evidence-Based Ways to Feel Less Tired
How to Get More Energy Naturally: 8 Evidence-Based Ways to Feel Less Tired
If you regularly reach for another coffee just to make it through the afternoon, you may be wondering how to get more energy naturally.
There is no single food, supplement or morning routine that guarantees all-day energy. How energetic you feel is influenced by several things at once, including sleep, food, hydration, physical activity, stress and your overall health.
The good news is that many of the habits that support your general health can also help you feel more alert during the day — without relying entirely on caffeine or sugary energy drinks.
In this guide, we look at how to get more energy naturally, eight evidence-based habits worth focusing on and when persistent tiredness may be a sign that something else needs investigating.
Contents
Why Do I Have No Energy?
Low energy can have many causes, from not getting enough sleep and ongoing stress to your diet, activity levels, medication or an underlying health condition.
Everyone feels tired occasionally. A late night, stressful week or particularly busy day can leave you feeling drained without anything being medically wrong.
But tiredness and energy are not controlled by one simple biological switch.
Your body needs adequate sleep and nutrition, while your brain’s alertness is influenced by factors including your body clock, sleep pressure, activity and exposure to light.
Stress can also leave you feeling mentally and physically exhausted, particularly when it continues for long periods.
This means searching for one supplement or food to “boost” your energy may miss the bigger picture.
If you want to understand how to get more energy naturally, it makes more sense to look at the different parts of your routine that influence how alert and rested you feel.
How to Get More Energy Naturally: 8 Evidence-Based Ways
The most reliable ways to support your natural energy levels are surprisingly simple: sleep well, eat regularly, stay hydrated, move your body and give yourself enough time to recover from stress.
That might not sound as exciting as an “energy hack”, but these habits influence many of the biological processes that determine how you feel throughout the day.
Here are eight areas worth looking at.
1. Get Enough Quality Sleep
If you want more energy during the day, sleep is the obvious place to start.
Sleep is essential for normal physical and cognitive function. Not getting enough can affect attention, mood, reaction time and how alert you feel the following day.
But sleep quality matters too.
Spending enough time in bed does not necessarily mean you are getting uninterrupted, restorative sleep. Repeated waking, pain, stress and sleep disorders can all leave you feeling tired despite apparently sleeping for long enough.
Try to keep your sleeping and waking times reasonably consistent and give yourself enough opportunity to sleep each night.
If you are interested in what happens during different stages of sleep, our guide to how to get more deep sleep explains sleep architecture and the habits that support healthy sleep.
If poor sleep is the main thing draining your energy, improving it may be more useful than trying to compensate with increasing amounts of caffeine.
2. Move Your Body Regularly
Exercise can sound like the last thing you want to do when you already feel tired.
However, regular physical activity is associated with improvements in sleep, cardiovascular fitness, mood and overall wellbeing.
You also do not need to exhaust yourself for movement to count.
Depending on your health and mobility, this could include:
- Walking
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Resistance training
- Gardening
- Gentle movement or stretching
If you spend most of the working day sitting down, even breaking up long periods of sitting with short periods of movement can be a useful place to start.
The aim is not to use exercise as another stimulant. It is to make regular movement part of the routine that supports your physical and mental energy over time.
3. Eat for Steadier Energy
Your body gets energy from food, but that does not mean sugary foods are the best way to feel energetic.
Carbohydrates are an important source of energy. Starchy foods such as potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and cereals form part of a balanced diet.
Wholegrain and higher-fibre options can also contribute fibre and other nutrients.
Rather than looking for one magical “energy food”, think about your overall meals.
A balanced meal might contain:
- A source of carbohydrate
- A source of protein
- Fruit or vegetables
- Some unsaturated fat
Going very long periods without eating may also leave some people feeling hungry and low in energy.
Instead of repeatedly trying to rescue an energy crash with sugar, focus on a generally balanced eating pattern that you can maintain.
4. Stay Hydrated
Hydration is another basic factor that is easy to overlook.
Water is involved in normal physiological processes throughout the body, and dehydration can affect both physical and cognitive performance.
The NHS generally recommends drinking enough fluid so that your urine is a clear pale yellow colour, with around six to eight cups or glasses of fluid a day used as a general guide for many adults.
You may need more fluid in hot weather, during prolonged physical activity or in other circumstances where fluid losses increase.
You do not need expensive electrolyte drinks for ordinary day-to-day hydration. For most people, regularly drinking water and other suitable fluids is a much simpler place to start.
5. Use Caffeine Strategically
Caffeine genuinely can make you feel more alert. The problem is that more caffeine is not always better.
Caffeine works partly by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine contributes to the sleep pressure that builds while you are awake.
That can temporarily reduce feelings of sleepiness, but caffeine does not replace sleep.
Timing matters too.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of caffeine and sleep found that caffeine consumption reduced total sleep time and sleep efficiency and increased the time taken to fall asleep.
The researchers estimated that a coffee containing around 107mg of caffeine should be consumed approximately 8.8 hours before bedtime to avoid reducing total sleep time, although individual sensitivity varies considerably.
This creates an important cycle:
Feel tired → drink caffeine later → sleep worse → feel tired the next day → drink more caffeine.
If you are trying to work out how to get more energy naturally, look at when you consume caffeine as well as how much.
6. Get Outside During the Day
Light is one of the major environmental signals used by your circadian system — your internal body clock.
Your circadian rhythm helps regulate patterns of sleepiness and alertness across roughly 24 hours.
Exposure to light during the day, particularly earlier in the day, helps provide timing information to this system.
Going outside also creates an easy opportunity to combine light exposure with movement.
Something as simple as a daytime walk therefore combines several habits that can support your wider sleep-wake routine without requiring a complicated wellness protocol.
7. Manage Ongoing Stress
Stress is often associated with feeling wired or restless, but prolonged stress can also leave you feeling exhausted.
Stress can interfere with sleep, change behaviour and make it harder to maintain habits such as regular exercise and balanced eating.
Managing stress does not mean trying to eliminate it completely.
Instead, look for realistic opportunities for recovery — whether that is movement, time outdoors, social connection, relaxation exercises or creating clearer boundaries between work and rest.
Our guide to how to lower cortisol naturally explains the relationship between cortisol and stress in more detail.
You may also find our evidence-based guide to nervous system regulation useful if you regularly find it difficult to switch out of a heightened stress state.
If repetitive thoughts are what keep your mind active, our guide to how to stop overthinking includes practical CBT and mindfulness-based approaches.
8. Look at What Is Draining Your Energy
Sometimes improving your energy is less about adding something new and more about identifying what is consistently draining it.
Ask yourself:
- Am I actually getting enough sleep?
- Is my sleep regularly interrupted?
- Am I relying on caffeine late in the day?
- Do I regularly skip meals?
- Am I drinking enough?
- Do I spend most of the day sitting down?
- Have I been under prolonged stress?
- Has my tiredness appeared without an obvious lifestyle explanation?
This last question is particularly important.
Lifestyle changes can support everyday energy, but persistent unexplained fatigue should not automatically be treated as a wellness problem.
What Foods Give You Energy?
No single food provides limitless energy, but a balanced diet gives your body the fuel and nutrients it needs to function normally.
Starchy carbohydrates are an important source of dietary energy. Examples include:
- Potatoes
- Rice
- Bread
- Pasta
- Oats
- Other cereals and grains
Foods containing protein, fibre and unsaturated fats can form part of balanced meals alongside carbohydrates.
Iron and vitamin B12 are also involved in normal red blood cell production, and deficiencies can contribute to tiredness. However, that does not mean taking large doses of supplements will increase your energy if you are not deficient.
If you suspect a nutritional deficiency, appropriate assessment is more useful than guessing which supplement you need.
How Can You Get More Energy Without Caffeine?
You can support your daytime energy without caffeine by focusing on sleep, movement, food, hydration, daylight and recovery.
If you need a quick change of state during an afternoon slump, try getting up from your desk, walking outside for a few minutes, drinking some water and taking a break from your screen.
These are not stimulant substitutes in the pharmacological sense. They simply address some common reasons you may feel sluggish during the day.
And if you enjoy coffee, there is no need to automatically remove it. The aim is to avoid needing progressively more caffeine to compensate for poor sleep or persistent fatigue.
Why Am I Tired Even After Sleeping?
Feeling tired after apparently getting enough sleep can happen if your sleep quality is poor, your sleep is repeatedly interrupted or something else is contributing to your fatigue.
For example, somebody may spend eight hours in bed but repeatedly wake throughout the night.
Persistent daytime tiredness can also occur with health conditions including sleep apnoea, iron-deficiency anaemia, thyroid problems and some mental health conditions. Medicines can also cause tiredness.
This is why a sleep tracker should not be used to diagnose the reason you feel exhausted.
If you regularly feel unrefreshed despite giving yourself enough time to sleep, speak to a healthcare professional rather than assuming you simply need a better morning routine.
When Should You Speak to a Doctor About Tiredness?
Feeling tired occasionally is normal. Persistent or unexplained fatigue deserves more attention.
Consider speaking to a healthcare professional if your tiredness:
- Has lasted for several weeks
- Is significantly affecting everyday life
- Is getting progressively worse
- Does not improve despite adequate rest
- Is accompanied by other unexplained symptoms
- Is causing significant daytime sleepiness
There are many possible medical causes of fatigue, and the appropriate assessment depends on your symptoms and medical history.
A wellness article can help you improve everyday habits, but it cannot determine why persistent fatigue is happening.
Energy FAQs
How Can I Get More Energy Naturally?
If you want to know how to get more energy naturally, start with the fundamentals: get enough good-quality sleep, stay physically active, eat a balanced diet, stay hydrated, get daylight during the day and manage ongoing stress. Persistent unexplained tiredness should be discussed with a healthcare professional.
How Can I Improve My Energy Levels?
Improving your sleep, moving regularly, eating balanced meals, drinking enough fluid and avoiding excessive late-day caffeine can all support normal energy levels. Look at your overall routine rather than relying on one food or supplement to provide a quick boost.
What Foods Give You Energy?
Carbohydrates provide an important source of dietary energy. Starchy foods include potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and cereals. A balanced eating pattern can combine carbohydrates with protein, fruit and vegetables and sources of unsaturated fat rather than relying primarily on sugary foods for short-term energy.
How Can I Stop Feeling Tired All the Time?
Start by looking at sleep quality and duration, stress, physical activity, food, hydration and caffeine. However, feeling tired all the time can also have medical causes. If persistent fatigue has lasted several weeks or is affecting your everyday life, speak to a healthcare professional.
Does Drinking Water Give You Energy?
Water does not contain calories and therefore does not provide energy in the nutritional sense. However, adequate hydration is necessary for normal physical and cognitive function, while dehydration can negatively affect how you feel and perform.
Does Exercise Give You More Energy?
Regular physical activity can support sleep, cardiovascular fitness, mood and general wellbeing. Exercise requires energy while you are doing it, but maintaining regular activity can contribute to better overall physical function rather than making you permanently more tired.
Why Do I Crash in the Afternoon?
Alertness naturally changes throughout the day, and factors such as poor sleep, meal patterns, inactivity and caffeine can influence how noticeable an afternoon slump feels. If severe daytime sleepiness happens regularly despite adequate sleep, consider discussing it with a healthcare professional.
Can Too Much Caffeine Make You More Tired?
Caffeine temporarily reduces feelings of sleepiness, but consuming it too late can interfere with sleep. This can create a cycle where poor sleep leads to greater caffeine use the following day, potentially making ongoing tiredness harder to resolve.
What Vitamins Help With Tiredness?
Deficiencies in nutrients such as iron, vitamin B12 and folate can contribute to tiredness, but taking supplements when you are not deficient does not necessarily increase energy. If persistent fatigue makes you concerned about a deficiency, speak to a healthcare professional rather than relying on supplements alone.
Why Am I Still Tired After 8 Hours of Sleep?
Time in bed is not the same as uninterrupted, good-quality sleep. Stress, pain, sleep disorders, medication and other health conditions can leave you feeling tired despite apparently sleeping for eight hours. Persistent unexplained tiredness should be assessed rather than diagnosed from sleep duration alone.
The Bottom Line
If you want to know how to get more energy naturally, start with the habits that support your body’s normal sleep, nutrition and activity needs.
Prioritise good-quality sleep, move regularly, eat balanced meals, stay hydrated and pay attention to when you use caffeine.
Managing ongoing stress and getting outside during the day can also form part of a healthier daily routine.
Most importantly, do not assume that persistent exhaustion is something you simply need to push through.
If tiredness continues for several weeks, significantly affects your everyday life or appears alongside other symptoms, speak to a healthcare professional so the underlying cause can be considered.
When a Long-Term Health Condition Is Affecting Everyday Life
Sometimes poor sleep and fatigue occur alongside longer-term health problems such as persistent pain or other diagnosed conditions.
CB1 Medical provides specialist consultations for eligible adults considering medical cannabis after conventional treatment options have not provided sufficient relief. Treatment is not suitable for everyone and any prescription follows an individual clinical assessment.
Curious if you’re eligible? You can check your eligibility online to see whether you may be suitable for a consultation.
