Why Modern Life Is Making Us Tired — And What to Do About It

There was a time when I mistook exhaustion for productivity.If I wasn’t tired, I thought I wasn’t doing enough. If I had free time, I filled it. And when my body whispered for rest, I brushed it off — assuming I'd “earned” the right to slow down only when everything was done.

But everything is never really done, is it?

A few years ago, I noticed that I wasn’t just tired after long days — I was wired, overstimulated, and emotionally drained. Even restful things like reading or doing yoga started to feel like a task. It wasn’t until I learned about nervous system fatigue that things clicked:Modern life is asking too much of our bodies. And our bodies are whispering, “Enough.”

Let’s Talk About Your Nervous System

Your nervous system is your body’s command center. It regulates everything from your heart rate and digestion to your emotions and sleep. It flows between two modes:

• 🧘‍♀️ Parasympathetic: rest, digest, and restore

• ⚡️ Sympathetic: alert, active, focused

When things work well, your body moves between these states like a tide. Action, then rest. Stress, then calm.

But in today’s world?

We’re stuck in sympathetic overdrive — and it’s exhausting us. According to Dr. Bruce McEwen, chronic stress keeps the brain and body in a state of heightened alert, disrupting hormonal balance and depleting energy over time (McEwen, 2007).

Fatigue Isn’t Just Physical — It’s Sensory, Emotional, and Mental

We often think of rest as sleep — but what we really need is full-spectrum rest.Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, author of Sacred Rest, breaks rest down into seven categories: physical, sensory, mental, emotional, social, creative, and spiritual.

Most people are getting one or two — but not the full range. This is why we often wake up tired, even after a full night’s sleep (Dalton-Smith, 2017).

Our brains are overwhelmed by stimuli. Screens, multitasking, noise, and social performance all contribute to sensory overload. A Stanford study showed that frequent media multitaskers have reduced cognitive control and experience more mental fatigue than those who focus on one task at a time (Ophir et al., 2009).

Your Hormones Are Exhausted, Too

Chronic exposure to stress elevates cortisol — our primary stress hormone — which, over time, dysregulates sleep, mood, and metabolism. This is especially true for women, who experience more intense fluctuations in cortisol response during stress (Kudielka & Kirschbaum, 2005).

That constant wired-but-tired feeling? That’s your body trying to protect you — but burning through reserves to do so.

So What Can We Actually Do?

Healing fatigue doesn’t mean quitting your job or escaping to the mountains. It’s about building small, repeated practices that remind your nervous system it’s safe to rest.

Try:

• 🧘‍♀️ 3 minutes of stillness after work, without your phone or music

• 🕯 A “no-task” window daily — even just 15 minutes where nothing is expected of you

• 🫁 Slow breathwork — inhale for 4, exhale for 8 (this stimulates the vagus nerve and shifts the body into rest mode (Gerritsen & Band, 2018))

• 🌱 Get outside — even five minutes in nature can significantly reduce cortisol levels (Park et al., 2010)

• 📱 Less multitasking, more presence — finish one thing before jumping to the next

Your body doesn’t need more hustle. It needs permission to slow down.

A Gentle Invitation

If this speaks to you — if you’ve been feeling the kind of tired that sleep doesn’t fix — know that you’re not alone.And know that it’s okay to choose rest.

It’s one of the reasons we’re creating Wellnest Festival — a one-day space to help individuals and families reset, reconnect, and nourish themselves in community. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about remembering how it feels to breathe again.

Maybe you’ll join us. Or maybe you’ll start with three minutes of stillness tonight. Either way, it matters.

References

1. McEwen, B.S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87(3), 873–904.https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00041.2006

2. Dalton-Smith, S. (2017). Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity. FaithWords.TED Talk: The real reason why we are tired—and what to do about it

3. Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37), 15583–15587.https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903620106

4. Kudielka, B.M., & Kirschbaum, C. (2005). Sex differences in HPA axis responses to stress: a review. Biological Psychology, 69(1), 113–132.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2004.11.009

5. Gerritsen, R.J., & Band, G.P. (2018). Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 397.https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00397

6. Park, B.J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Kasetani, T., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2010). The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing): evidence from field experiments in 24 forests across Japan. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 15(1), 18–26.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-009-0086-9