After 6 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur, many people assume the day is over. You go home, grab takeaway, scroll through your phone, sleep, and repeat the cycle the next day. However, for many young adults living and working in the city, the day doesn’t really end when work does. Instead, it shifts into something they now value deeply: me time.
Me time isn’t about cutting yourself off from the world. Rather, it’s about taking a mindful pause. It’s a moment to reset, recharge, and reconnect with yourself after a mentally draining day. According to Direction Psychology, me time is a deliberate break taken to restore emotional and mental energy. Even so, something as small as ten quiet minutes can make a real difference in a fast-paced city like KL.
For most young adults, me time doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Instead, it’s simple and easy to fit into daily life. It might look like having coffee alone, taking a short walk, attending a Pilates class, or even singing freely in a private karaoke room. These small routines are often enough to bring a sense of calm.
At the same time, social media has quietly influenced this shift. POV videos, reset routines, and “soft life” content don’t necessarily add pressure. Instead, they offer ideas. More importantly, they give permission, permission to rest, to slow down, and to choose balance without guilt.
In a city where long hours, side hustles, and exhausting commutes are normal, burnout has slowly become accepted. Hustle culture often glorifies exhaustion, making rest feel like something that must be earned. However, many young adults are beginning to push back. They are choosing softer, more sustainable ways of living that prioritise well-being over constant productivity.
Me time, therefore, isn’t indulgent. It’s emotional maintenance. Below are some of the ways young adults in KL are reclaiming it after work.
Solo Café Visits After Dark
As the night goes on, cafés around KL begin to quiet down. The crowds thin, the lights feel warmer, and the atmosphere becomes calmer. Because of this, many young adults now see cafés as peaceful spaces rather than social hotspots.
Solo café visits aren’t about replying to emails or being productive. Instead, they’re about slowing down. People journal, read, or simply sit with a drink while watching the city move outside the window. Being alone in a shared space feels comforting and normal, not awkward.
For many, these late café hours act as a gentle bridge between work life and personal time. They serve as a reminder that rest doesn’t always have to happen at home.
Image credits: OGA Tea & Dining
Pilates After Work
Pilates has also become a popular after-work activity among young professionals in KL. Unlike high-energy workouts, Pilates focuses on slow and controlled movements. As a result, it helps release stress instead of adding more strain to the body.
Each session encourages mindful breathing, body awareness, and presence. Pilates helps you to relax and not to stop in the city when people hurry from one activity to another.
Along with physical fitness, Pilates provides a repositioning of the mind. It makes the room to re-unite with yourself after a stressful day, and not to be pressurized or to perform.
Image credits: Pilates Collective (@amira.muhamood) (@planv.egan)
Singing It Out After a Long Day
Individual karaoke has sneaked to be one of the most therapeutic forms of me time. There is no audience and judgment in an intimate room. It is only you, your voice and your feelings.
There is something very freeing about singing alone. It can be an anthem of heartbreak, a nostalgic pop, or laughing at the notes out of tune, but the experience makes emotions be revealed organically. To most people it does not matter whether one sounds good. Rather it is a matter of expression of feelings.
In that sense, singing becomes therapy disguised as entertainment.
In a city that expects constant composure, singing it out offers a safe space to release what’s been held in all day.
Image credits: Manekineko
Image credits: @setapakcentral
Journaling Spots for Mental Reset
Journaling has also found its place in many after-work routines. Some people write at home, while others prefer a quiet café or any space that feels calm and safe. Either way, journaling isn’t about writing perfectly. It’s about being honest.
Some write down their thoughts, while others list small wins or moments of gratitude. Even a few minutes of reflection can help clear the mind and prevent stress from carrying into the next day.
In a world filled with notifications and noise, journaling creates space to check in with yourself before the day ends.
Image credits: freepik.com
Image credits: freepik.com
Romanticising the City After Sunset
At night, KL feels different. The air is cooler, the streets are quieter, and the city seems softer. Because of this, evening walks without a destination have become one of the simplest yet most meaningful ways for young adults to unwind.
Taking familiar walks, listening to music or podcasts or just taking in the silence is relaxing to the mind. These small rituals allow people to see the city in a gentler light.
Instead of feeling overwhelming, KL starts to feel comforting and familiar after sunset.
Image credits: @manfredteh
Social media has helped normalise these after-work rituals. While many trends look aesthetic online, most people adapt them realistically offline. Not every moment needs to be filmed or shared.
More to the point, rest has been vindicated through social media. Slacking has become a deliberate act and not laziness particularly in a big city such as Kuala Lumpur.
On the whole, this change demonstrates that the concept of success is being redefined by young adults. Balance, mental well-being, and sustainability now matter more than constant work and endless productivity.
After 6 p.m., productivity is no longer measured by deadlines. Rather it is portrayed in the way the young adults are responsible taking care of themselves in the form of choosing presence over pressure and demonstrating that there is still a slower pace that can be achieved in a city that never really slows down.
Tag us @citykaki.life we love seeing how you unwind and enjoy your me time after work.
Also read: Indoor Activities in KL for Rainy Days (Where to Go When the Weather Ruins Your Plans)
