To drive even moderate distances leaves most of us feeling physically tired and our head in a fog, even if we weren’t fighting any stop-and-go traffic. That tiredness can last long into the next day and influence productivity, mood, and overall well-being. This residual fatigue is a direct result of physical duress as one sits for extended periods, profound mental exertion to maintain vigilance during transportation, and numerous environmental factors such as noise, vibrations, and dehydration.
Knowing why driving makes you tired the next day? Can also allow for better planning on future trips, allowing you to have more energy after completing a road trip. This blog post looks at why driving is hard on your body and mind, as well as the steps you can take to help offset these effects for a happier time behind the wheel.
Key Takeaways:
- Long-distance driving demands intense mental focus, leading to cognitive fatigue.
- Post-drive exhaustion can be caused by body posture, stress, and dehydration.
- You can reduce next-day tiredness by taking regular breaks, staying hydrated, and ensuring proper sleep.
The Mental Strain of Prolonged Focus
When you are driving, whether it be long distance or regional, your mind has to keep churning and making decisions. Every time you’re cruising down the highway or weaving through traffic, your brain is calculating speed and lane position, not only of yourself but also of other vehicles in relation to yours.
That kind of relentless mental work can wreak havoc with your mental powers to the point where it leaks over into the next day. Studies have shown that maintaining mental focus for more than 30 minutes straight can be detrimental over the long term. You cannot daydream while driving down the road, as you might during other activities, so it wears out your mind’s energy level quickly.
As a result, the majority of drivers end up with highway hypnosis or feeling mentally tired when they have to drive long distances. You might not feel it during the drive, but all this attention has a cumulative effect, and you wake up the next day groggy and lethargic.
Intellectual Fatigue While Driving: Break every 2 hours. If you are driving for a long time and need to relax from the intense ride, stop at specialized points on your route that allow it. Take turns driving if traveling with others.
The Impact of Physical Posture
Remaining stationary for long periods can do a lot more harm to your body than you might think. While driving, the job done by those quick-twitch muscles is static and produces stress throughout your neck, shoulders, and lower rear. The muscles in these areas can become stiff and sore, leading to fatigue that carries over to the next day. Poor posture also decreases blood flow, making physical discomfort worse.
Their forceful exertion can tire your muscles out faster, especially when you slouch or if the seat is not well-aligned with your body, causing inappropriate stress on certain muscle groups. You may also experience fatigue as a result of postural weakness and spinal compression from sitting for long periods, which can prevent you from getting restorative sleep.
Maintaining good posture: Position your seat to appropriately support the lumbar area. Regular stretch breaks to keep muscles from tightening. Add extra comfort with a seat cushion.
Stress and Anxiety Behind the Wheel
Driving, traffic situations, and bad weather can be stressful. Cortisol is a stress-response hormone that the body makes when you are stressed or worried. Over time, high cortisol levels can lead to burnout and mind fatigue.
That kind of mental stress can haunt you long after the drive is over, commonly manifesting as road rage or another fear-inducing experience on your next trip. This means that while driving, you are tight and might feel it the next day with an abnormal amount of fatigue. Stress hormones have been shown in studies to interfere with sleep, which is why you can go for a stressful trip and wake up not feeling rested.
Driving Fatigue in Numbers:
- More than 37% of drivers have admitted to having fallen asleep behind the wheel at some stage.100,000 accidents could be prevented if drivers got some rest.
- Drowsy driving has become a serious problem in America, putting thousands at risk every year.
- More than 60% of drivers will feel tired and drowsy after several hours of driving.
Environmental Factors: Heat, Noise, and Dehydration
Sometimes simple things such as temperature, noise, and air quality can do a great deal to impact your level of tiredness while driving. When it is 110 degrees or bright sunlight in your eyes, these are conditions that force the body to work harder at regulating your temperature, which can make you more tired than usual.
Equally, being exposed to noise pollution from traffic or just the hum of the engine can be grating over time, contributing to your tiredness. The background noise may not be overwhelming, but it grinds away at your nervous system, leaving you tired the next day. Dehydration is another big factor, especially on long drives when it might be less tempting to stop for fluids. Things like headaches, dizziness, and fatigue the next day can be caused by mild dehydration.
Tips to prevent environmental fatigue:
- Keep the car cool or ventilated.
- Use dark glasses to reduce the strain of sunlight.
- Sip on water to stay hydrated throughout the journey.
Lack of Proper Sleep
Long-distance or long hours behind the wheel can wreck our internal clocks, especially at night. It can result in us becoming tense, and many truck drivers report having a hard time getting to sleep after they get out of the car because their bodies take additional hours to calm down. The blue light from navigation systems and the movements of driving can disrupt your circadian rhythm, making it difficult to reach deep sleep. Without proper sleep, you won’t be able to recover from all the physical and mental weariness from driving the previous day.
If you’ve ever noticed the sluggish, drained feeling after a long drive, it’s likely due to this disruption in your sleep cycle.
Pro Tip: If it’s a long drive, sleep 7–8 hours the night before and at least that much when you get back. To get more specific, limit caffeine intake in the afternoon and evening, and avoid screen time right before bed.
The Effects of Vibration on the Body
The constant vibration of your car while driving contributes to fatigue as well. At least one study showed that even low-frequency vibrations will cause you to start feeling tired. This is because, even on a flat road, your body experiences very low yet constant frequency vibrations, which need to be counteracted by muscle action, leading to tired muscles.
And yes, those vibrations exert stress on your core and postural muscles, which might be why you feel tired the next day, even after not driving much.
Did You Know?
According to a study by RMIT University, drowsiness can set in within 15 minutes of driving due to vibrations in cars. This can lead to fatigue both throughout the day and into the next.
Diet and Hydration During the Drive
What you eat and party during a long trip can also affect how tired you feel. Sugary snacks, processed foods, and energy drinks can give you a quick boost of energy, but they often show a sharp energy crash, making you feel more tired than before. The body has to work harder to process high-sugar or high-fat foods, which can contribute to overall inactivity.
On the other hand, dehydration not only makes you feel tired during the drive but also affects your energy levels the next day. Your muscles and brain rely on correct hydration to function optimally, and even mild dehydration can lead to poor concentration, bodily weakness, and next-day fatigue.
Healthy driving snacks to avoid fatigue:
- Fresh fruits like apples or bananas.
- Protein-rich snacks such as nuts or yogurt.
- Water or electrolyte beverages for hydration.
Conclusion
By comprehending what causes you to feel tired the following day, you can try to reduce this exhaustion. Ensuring a relatively relaxed post-drive experience requires focusing on the mental, physical, and environmental challenges that contribute to driver exhaustion.
If you follow these tips the next time you’re on a long trip, it might be easier to feel refreshed and awake the next day. Do you often suffer from driving fatigue? Tell us about it in the comments and check out our other blogs on travel wellness tips and safe driving practices!