How do I recover from always having to be 'on' at work?

You take real pride in the care you give, most of which no one ever sees. But always being warm, always being on, is its own kind of heavy lifting, and it drains a part of you that does not refill on its own. Being tired by it does not mean you are bad at it. It means it is genuinely hard work. The world tends not to count emotional labor as labor, so you may not even give yourself permission to be worn out by it. Give yourself that permission now. A performance, even a sincere one, costs energy. You are allowed to need real recovery, not just a night of sleep before the next shift. Build in a small window each day where you are on for no one, not even the people you love. Ten quiet minutes where nothing is required of your face or your voice. That is not laziness. It is how you keep the well from running dry.