Why You Hit The Wall at 7 PM (And What Actually Fixes It)

Why You Hit The Wall at 7 PM (And What Actually Fixes It)

The 7 PM Wall: Why You Crash Every Evening (And How to Fix It Without More Coffee)

It's 7 PM. You've made it through the work day. You should have a few good hours left for... something. Anything. Exercise. Hobbies. Quality time with family. Life.

Instead, you're on the sofa. Brain fog. Heavy limbs. The thought of doing literally anything productive feels impossible. So you scroll your phone or stare at the TV, feeling vaguely guilty about wasting your evening but too exhausted to do anything about it.

Sound familiar?

This was my life for years. When I wasn't training clients at that end of the day, I would try and train in the evening. I'd have projects I wanted to work on. I'd want to be present with my family. But 7 PM would hit and I'd just... collapse.

I blamed age. I blamed work stress. I blamed having a kid. Blamed Norwegian winter. Never once considered that the problem was my EVENING ROUTINE systematically destroying my remaining energy reserves.

The Evening Energy Equation Nobody Explains

Your energy throughout the day isn't just about how much sleep you got. It's about how your circadian system is managing your metabolic resources.

Think of your daily energy like a bank account. You start with a certain amount (determined by sleep quality, nutrition, stress). Throughout the day, you spend it. By evening, your balance is lower.

But here's what most people don't understand: Your EVENING ROUTINE determines whether you:

  1. Maintain what energy you have left
  2. Slowly drain it until you crash
  3. Actually RESTORE some for the next day

Most people are doing option 2 without realizing it. Then they wonder why they're exhausted by 7 PM and wake up tired the next morning despite "8 hours of sleep."

The Norwegian Evening Trap

Let's walk through a typical Norwegian evening and I'll show you exactly where you're sabotaging yourself:

6 PM: You get home. Still daylight in summer, pitch black in winter. You turn on... overhead LED lights. Bright, blue-rich (6000K), blasting your circadian system with "IT'S MIDDAY" signals when it should be receiving "wind down" signals.

6:30 PM: You're making dinner or eating. Kitchen lights on. Maybe checking your phone or watching TV while eating. More blue light. Your melanopsin-containing cells (in your eyes and skin) are being constantly stimulated.

7 PM: You're in the living room. All the lights still on. Maybe laptop out for some work you brought home. Or scrolling social media on your phone. Screen brightness high. Your circadian system is completely confused about what time it is.

8 PM: You're starting to feel crashed. Heavy. Groggy. But it's too early for bed. So you pour another coffee or energy drink, trying to push through. Or you just give up and vegetate in front of the TV. I am amazed the amount of people that drink coffee late into the evening over here in Norway - it's crazy to me!

9 PM: You know you should get ready for bed soon, but you're in that weird state where you're exhausted but also somehow too wired to sleep. So you scroll your phone some more - almost like you are addicted perhaps? Secretly you are, at least in part addicted to the dopamine hits.

10 PM: Finally trying to sleep. But your cortisol is elevated from all the evening light exposure. Your melatonin is suppressed. Your brain is still processing all that blue light and screen stimulation.

Result: Poor sleep. Wake up tired. Repeat.

See the pattern? Every step of your evening routine is ACTIVELY WORKING AGAINST your biology.

What's Actually Happening (The Biology)

When you expose yourself to bright blue-rich light in the evening:

Melatonin suppression: Blue light (480nm) strongly suppresses melatonin. Even relatively dim light (50-100 lux) is enough. Your living room is probably 100-300 lux. You're nuking your melatonin production.

Cortisol dysregulation: Light exposure in the evening can elevate cortisol (your stress hormone). Cortisol should be dropping in the evening. Yours is staying elevated or even rising.

Circadian confusion: Your SCN (master clock) receives mixed signals. Light says "daytime." Clock says "evening." Your body doesn't know what to do, so energy management gets confused.

Adenosine override: Bright light can temporarily override adenosine (the "sleep pressure" chemical that builds up during the day). This makes you feel artificially wired when you should be winding down, then you crash harder later.

You're not tired at 7 PM because you're weak. You're tired because your evening routine is a biological disaster and there is cumlative build up throughout the week - think about it..... do you need to sleep in at the weekend? Why?

The Shift I Made (That Changed Everything)

5 years ago, I started experimenting with my evening lighting. Not because I knew it would fix my energy crash - I was just trying to improve my sleep.

The Protocol:

First Week: Honestly? I felt weird. Everything looked orange/red. My wife made fun of me. But I committed to 2 weeks minimum.

Second Week: Something shifted. I still felt the 7 PM dip in energy, but it wasn't a CRASH. More like a gentle downshift. And I noticed I was naturally getting sleepy by 9:30-10 PM instead of being wired until 11 PM.

Third Week: The evening crash basically disappeared. I'd come home, transition to red/amber lighting, and I'd have USABLE ENERGY until bedtime. Not hyped-up energy. Just... capable. Present. Functional.

Now: I can work on projects in the evening. I can be present with my daughter. I can train if I want to. Or I can relax. But it's a CHOICE, not a collapse.

The difference was dramatic enough that my wife started doing it too after seeing my results.

The Minimum Viable Evening Protocol

You don't need to be perfect. You need to be BETTER than what you're doing now. Here's the absolute minimum:

Step 1: Dim Your Environment (6-7 PM)

Turn off overhead lights. Use table lamps with warm bulbs (2000-3000K). Or get a portable red/amber lamp you can move around.

Goal: Reduce overall light intensity and eliminate blue wavelengths.

Step 2: Blue Blocking Glasses (7 PM)

Put on amber or red lens glasses. This protects you from:

  • Screen light (phone, TV, computer)
  • Any remaining overhead lights
  • Light from other people's devices or rooms

I use AfterDark glasses. They look slightly ridiculous. I don't care. They work.

Step 3: Reduce Screen Time (8 PM onward)

Ideally, screens off by 8-9 PM. If you must use screens, only with blue blockers on. Lower brightness. Dark mode where possible.

Step 4: Consistent Timing

Same routine, same time, every night. Your circadian system LOVES consistency. Irregular timing confuses it.

That's it. Four steps. Not complicated. Not expensive. But most people won't do it because it feels "weird" or "inconvenient."

You know what else is inconvenient? Being exhausted every evening and never having energy for the life you actually want to live.

The Results I See In Customers

"I bought blue blocking glasses thinking they'd help me sleep. Didn't expect to suddenly have evening energy again. Now I'm actually working on that side project I'd given up on."

"My husband thought I was crazy with the red lights. Then he noticed I stopped crashing on the sofa at 7:30 every night. Now he's doing it too."

"I can actually play with my kids in the evening now instead of just surviving until bedtime."

These aren't dramatic transformations. They're people reclaiming their evenings by working WITH their biology instead of against it.

The Family Benefit (That Nobody Talks About)

When YOU fix your evening routine, it affects everyone in your house.

My daughter sees me working on projects in the evening. Reading. Being active. She doesn't see me as the crashed zombie who can barely function after work.

That matters. Kids model what they see. If they see parents collapsing exhausted every evening, that becomes their expectation of adult life.

Plus, when we all transition to red/amber lighting in the evening, she naturally gets sleepy at appropriate times. She's in bed by 7:45-8:00 PM without fights. Her sleep quality is better. Her mood is better.

Better evening routine for me = better outcomes for the whole family.

The "But I Work Evenings" Problem

Some of you are reading this thinking "Great, but I HAVE to work in the evening. I have deadlines."

Fine. You can still do this:

Work under red/amber lighting: It takes a few days to adjust visually, but you can read and work under warm lighting. Use a desk lamp with amber/red bulbs.

Wear blue blockers: Work on your laptop with blue blocking glasses on. Your screen will look orange. You'll adjust.

Prioritize the work that needs light: Do your computer work earlier in the evening (6-7 PM) before transitioning to dimmer lighting for other tasks.

Is it ideal? No. But it's MUCH better than working under bright overhead LEDs with full screen brightness and no protection.

I work on my business in the evenings. I do it under red/amber lighting with blue blockers. It's fine. The work gets done. My sleep doesn't suffer. My energy stays more stable.

What This Costs (Versus What You're Losing)

The Investment:

  • Blue blocking glasses: 300-900 NOK
  • Red/amber bulbs or lamps: 200-800 NOK
  • Total: 500-1,700 NOK

What You're Currently Losing:

  • 2-3 hours of usable evening time EVERY DAY
  • 10-15 hours per week
  • 500+ hours per year

What would you do with an extra 500 hours per year? What projects would you start? What hobbies would you pursue? What quality time with family would you have?

The cost of NOT fixing your evening routine is WAY higher than the cost of the simple tools that fix it.

The Test That Proves It

Skeptical? Good. Here's what I did before committing:

Week 1: Track your evening energy levels 1-10 scale. Note when you crash. Note your sleep quality. Do this under your current routine.

Week 2-3: Implement the protocol. Same tracking. Same measurements.

Week 4: Compare.

If there's no difference after 3 weeks of consistent implementation, then maybe this isn't your problem. But I've NEVER had someone do this consistently and not see improvement.

Most people notice within the first week. Significant improvements by week 2-3.

Your Evening Is Your Reset

Here's what I finally understood: Your evening routine isn't just about winding down from the day. It's about PREPARING for tomorrow.

Bad evening routine = Poor sleep = Low energy tomorrow = Another day of struggling and crashing = Another bad evening.

Good evening routine = Better sleep = More energy tomorrow = Better day = Another good evening.

It's either a downward spiral or an upward one. Your evening lighting is a major factor in which direction you go.

Stop Accepting Evening Crashes as Normal

For years I thought evening exhaustion was just... life. Work is tiring. Being an adult is tiring. Getting older means less energy.

Bullshit.

Evening exhaustion is your body responding to a broken evening routine that fights against your circadian biology.

Fix the routine. Fix the lighting. Give your body the environmental signals it's expecting.

Your evenings are either working for you or against you. Right now, they're probably working against you.

Time to change that.

Get what you need:

Questions? Contact me. I'll help you figure out the minimum changes needed for maximum impact.

Your evenings don't have to be a daily crash. Stop fighting your biology. Start working with it.

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