Ask HN: Strategies to Combat Feeling Tired?

6 points by sandwichbop 4 years ago | 5 comments

An essential skill is the ability to work under pressure. I can handle that, but only if I feel consistently well-rested; otherwise, I get headaches and heart palpitation, and I can't manage.

I have been trying to develop a methodology to get as much rest as possible. Sleep is the best solution, but it's often elusive or inconsistent despite my best efforts, and I can't depend on it to feel fully rested every day.

My current approach is first sleeping as much as I can, taking naps when I can. Otherwise, meditate for around 10 minutes, stretch, light exercise, cool showers, eat low glycemic index foods, avoid drugs (weed, alcohol, nicotine), dry eye drops.

It feels like an oxymoron, but there must be a way to feel well-rested even during times of high stress? It feels backward to go for a Monster or Redbull and crash at the expense of your health instead of developing a system for consistent energy.

What can a developer do to avoid feeling tired and promote a sense of restfulness in the short and long term?

What do you personally do to maintain yourself for consistent output of work in different or unexpected contexts?

kypro 4 years ago |

Not sure how common this is, but I've found my alertness doesn't really depend that much on how much sleep I get as long as I get enough. I can get anywhere from 6-10 hours sleep and feel extremely tired or extremely alert. For me my level of tiredness seems to depend more on my environment and behaviour during the day.

If I'm working, where I work is really important. Sitting somewhere with a lot of natural light and avoiding slouching makes a huge difference to my wakefulness.

Another thing that really helps me when I'm working is to getting up and do something else for 5-10 minutes every 1-2 hours. Normally that's just going to have a chat with my partner, but tidying the house a bit or doing some other chore also works. Basically just something to give my brain a rest while remaining active. Doing something passive, sitting, watching TV, etc just zone me out or make me tired.

Caffeine obviously helps for a boost, but I personally try to limit my caffeine use to 1-2 days a week and try to avoid using it in the few hours before I get up or before I go to bed. If you're anything like me chronic caffeine use will probably just shift your baseline and make you feel even worse when you're not using it. I like to use it when I need an edge.

I also try to avoid high carb meals in the day because I seem to be super sensitive to drossiness after having a meal with carbs. It's also why I like to eat dinner later these days and always have at least a small portion of carbs because it really helps me get ready for sleep in the evenings. Most days I'll do OMAD too, but I don't notice as much of a mental boost as some report.

I suspect most of this is common sense, but just sharing some things that work for me as someone who has struggled with tiredness from time to time.

Darmody 4 years ago |

    avoid drugs (weed, alcohol, nicotine)

What about coffee? I'm in the process of not drinking any more. Then casual drinking will just give you a push and then back to normal.

Also make sure you're not missing any micronutrients. Get a good B vitamin complex, one of those that gives you "huge" doses of it, especially B6 and B12.

Theanine also helps keeping you alert but calm. (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...)

And don't sleep more than 8 or 8.5 hours. Quality sleep is what you need. Imagine you're drinking water. Drinking dirty water is not better than drinking less clean water.

Darmody 4 years ago | |

I forgot about magnesium. I wasn't resting at all at one point and after taking around 200mg of magnesium (magnesium citrate to be more accurate) before going to bed I felt like a new person the next morning.

ackatz 4 years ago |

In the short term... exercise regularly and maintain a consistent sleep schedule. You shouldn't have to take naps.

In the long term... make sure you are taking vacations. Delete work e-mail/Slack from your phone and go somewhere interesting for 2 weeks.

cuu508 4 years ago |

Take breaks. Take off days. Check air quality.