Why Type A Women Wake Up Tired Every Day

Aug 29

By Louise Rumball

I get it, because I am you. You’ve slept seven, eight, nine hours, maybe even longer, but when your alarm goes off with a stacked day ahead, you are JUST not awake. Not only are you not awake but you want to go back to sleep badly. You’re tired, foggy, and nowhere near ready to start the day. “Sleep. I need more sleep.” I’ve said those exact words to my boyfriend more times than I can count. And if you do manage to fight your alarm and get up, the next 5-30 minutes are a blur, walking around with eyes half shut - grabbing your phone and starting scrolling or heading straight to the coffee machine.

Why Am I So Tired in the Morning?

Here’s the thing: waking up feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck isn’t how your body is designed to work. In a healthy, balanced, well optimised system (which Type A’s often do not have because of the pace of our existance), there’s a built-in wake-up call wired into your biology. It’s called the cortisol awakening response.

As soon as your eyes open, around the same time every day, cortisol levels are supposed to rise sharply, peaking about 30 to 45 minutes later. Think of it as your body’s natural ignition system, the spark that flicks you into “on” mode and the cortisol and tiny stressor that helps to activate your system. It’s the biological equivalent of “GOOD MORNING.”

The Problem: Cortisol Dysregulation

In a busy, high-stress life, the cortisol awakening response often gets blunted or delayed. Years of pushing, striving, meeting deadlines, controlling, and achieving can lead to chronically high cortisol output. When your adrenal glands are forced to pump out cortisol for long stretches of time - something they were never designed to do - they eventually become taxed. They get tired, just like you, and this begins to flatten the very wave that’s meant to wake you up.

Instead of a natural surge, you get a flat line, or a weak bump, not strong enough to switch you on. And without that spark, everything feels ten times harder. So you drag yourself to the kitchen and reach for caffeine. And sure, in the short term, this emergency SOS decision forces cortisol and adrenaline to spike, but it’s a false mask. Coffee becomes borrowed fuel, not sustainable energy.

Why Type A Women Feel Particularly Exhausted in the Morning

Type A womens are ones who push harder, react faster, drive deeper, and achieve more. But we’re also the biggest culprits of running on “fake” energy. Ambition. Excitement. Hope. Possibility. Coffee. Double espressos. HIIT workouts at 6AM. Spinning plates. Always more to do. Never time to slow down.

Here’s the kicker: even positive stress (hope, excitement, possibility) taxes your nervous system in the same way as negative stress. Your body doesn’t know the difference. Stress is stress. And Type A exist in a cortisol bath that we were never designed to. And when our system never calms down, those delicate rhythms that regulate energy, hormones, and mood begin to break down. But we might not realize it until some sort of symptom starts to show. And tiredness in the morning? This is often where it begins.

The Psychology Behind It

I’ve lived this. I’ve learned through it. And I’m still a work in progress. My healing journey has shown me that my relentless drive wasn’t just ambition. It was silent shame. A deep fear of not being enough, of being “average”, hidden by a belief that I was just a “Type A, Driven, High Achiever”. I love working, always have and always well and I am deeply defined by my identity, my career and my success. But going to therapy helped me realize that the protective parts of me believed: if I could drive harder, or get there quicker, then maybe I could finally relax into being enough, into being a success and finally being able to take a break. Jump scare - 36 years later, that break never arrived.

But here’s what I know now: the way out is not a 5AM miracle routine, more discipline, more willpower, or more self-criticism. That’s just another layer of shame. And shame on shame leads to an acceleration of biological tax on the body. The real answer? Resilience. Realignment. Building capacity. Working with your body, and your cells, instead of against it.

Morning Tips for Women Who Wake Up Tired Every Day

If you wake up tired even after 8 hours of sleep, here’s how I would start to reset your mornings:

Switch your phone to red-light mode before bed → this is a feature on the iPhone that switches your screen to red. It avoids blue light disrupting cortisol and melatonin first thing in the morning and is great as we start to re set our circadian rhythm.
Start waking at the same time daily → no matter how hard it is, agree a fixed wake up for at least Monday - Friday. This anchors your circadian rhythm so your body knows when to switch on and can help to start to re train that CAR.
Set 3 alarms → Mel Robbins might tell you to launch yourself out of bed at the first alarm, but that’s just never going to happen for those with significant adrenal dysfunction or cortisol dysregulation (no judging here). I alway set three alarms. The first alarm? A blissful snooze. The second? A soft warning. By the third, my brain knows: it’s time, you’re up, this is it. Trust me, it works.
Get outside within 30 minutes of waking → sunlight tells your body: this is the time to wake up. For many of us, it’s hard to step outside - and if we do, we just find ourselves standing there like a lemon, or scrolling on our phones. This is why I created my Morning Rally walks. Without something specifically designed to get me out the door, get me moving, and prime me for the day ahead, no Spotify playlist or podcast was ever strong enough to overcome the limbic friction that pulled me toward the sofa with a coffee. And getting outside within 30 minutes of waking became very hit and miss.
Move your body (walk, stretch, light movement) → walking not only regulates your nervous system through bilateral brain stimulation, but interval-paced walking generates piezoelectricity in your fascia, creating real energy. This is the coolest concept where movement literally charges your body like a battery. Fascia, tendons, ligaments, and bone are piezoelectric tissues. When they are mechanically stressed (compressed, stretched, or pulled), they generate small electrical charges. Every step you take generates small micro-electrical charges, helping your cells communicate, heal, and produce energy more efficiently. I like to think of these as sparking microcurrents of vitality through your entire system. That’s why even a short, intentional walk can leave you feeling more switched on, more connected, and more alive. But if you have another type of exercise that works for you? Even better.
Hydrate with electrolytes → replenishes minerals and acts as the literal “sparks” of cellular energy. My go-tos: Oshun, Body Bio Remineralise, Quinton Isotonics.
Eat protein before coffee → stabilizes blood sugar and gives your metabolism clean fuel instead of borrowed energy.

How to Support Your Adrenals Throughout the Day

Morning energy doesn’t just depend on how you wake up and your morning architecture. It’s also shaped by what you do all day and chances are, if you’re waking up tired, you’re adrenals probably need some love.

Consider targeted supplements → beef liver (nature’s multivitamin, packed with B vitamins and minerals stress depletes) or shilajit (a mineral-rich resin that supports mitochondrial energy and hormone balance).
Eat regularly to keep blood sugar steady.
Build meals around protein + fat + fibre to avoid energy crashes.
Re-anchor your circadian rhythm at lunchtime and in the evening with “circadian bumps” → light exposure and gentle movement.
1–2 massages per month → helps discharge stored tension in fascia and lowers stress hormones as you head into a state of deep, deep relaxation.
Prioritize restorative sleep → aim for consistent bedtime and cool, dark sleep environments. Adrenals repair most deeply between 10 pm–2 am. I love the BonCharge Black Contoured Eye Mask and Loop Earplugs.

Proof That Your Mornings Can Feel Different

So, you don’t need to keep forcing yourself through mornings that feel like a fight - you need to architect a morning that realigns your body’s natural cortisol rhythm and works with your biology.

That’s exactly why I created the Morning Rally Walks. In just 23 minutes, you’ll move through interval-paced walking layered with euphoric music, oxygenating breath, and mindset cues to shift your state. It primes your productivity and potential before the chaos of the workday begins.

We’ll help you get out the door every single day. More than movement, it’s momentum. One daily practice that reminds you who you are and powers who you’re becoming.

👉 Try your Morning Rally Walk free with a 7-day trial of Daily Devotion (available on Apple & Android).
Try the Morning Rally walks FREE.