Ask HN: How do you deal with an off-day? What are your go-to's for handling an off-day and still being somewhat productive? i.e. you did not get enough sleep, you are feeling sick or just feeling tired |
Ask HN: How do you deal with an off-day? What are your go-to's for handling an off-day and still being somewhat productive? i.e. you did not get enough sleep, you are feeling sick or just feeling tired |
Conserve your health. Take "off days" seriously as a message that you need some TLC, and that will help prevent serious health issues.
or
2. You're not firing on all cylinders and tired and can't get going and feeling unproductive?
Either way, you cannot be productive 100% of the time. Take it easy.
Write (paper and pen), draw diagrams, sometimes sketch.
If sick, watch fav movies and only do email via phone.
We are not machines. Some days we are going to be better at the same task than other days.
You see this with professional sports players and you see this with professionals in IT too.
Except in our jobs we often have the luxury of being able to focus on other activities on the off day. To use a sports analogy, it’s like playing the defensive game when your attacking game isn’t there that day.
But the most important thing one can do on an “off day” is to not push yourself too hard otherwise you’ll burn out and be “off” the following day too. That applies emotionally as well as physically. Don’t get upset that you’re struggling one day because tomorrow is a new day.
Personally I try to take on tasks that don't require as much brainpower. If I'm really too tired I'll just take a nap, because it's better to take a 20 minute nap and do work for the rest of the afternoon than feeling terrible and doing hardly anything for a whole afternoon.
Organize your inbox.
Do that one thing you've been wanting to but is lower priority, like learning a tool or working on a low priority bug.
If I am sick, I accept I am sick.
Like most people, I've had jobs with physical demands. Feeling tired is a normal part of a hard day's work.
"Productive" is a bullshit goal. Good luck.
If I'm emotionally off, I leave all work aside and take myself on a date. That usually means cycling to a breakfast place I like, going to a museum, getting drinks with friends or reading in a pleasant place.
Above all, I accept that not every day will be productive, and that forcing myself to produce consistent output is not a good idea.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who too The Sims' game concepts and apply them to how I view real-life
> take myself on a date
That's a fantastic idea!
So much of doing well in life is preparing a better tomorrow for future you.
Or, if there is something that absolutely has to get done, I suck it up and get it done, so I can go do nothing when I’m done, while not having to think about it anymore.
Reading and trying stuff out can give me that spark. Finding a dozen messages from people wanting 'a quick chat' drowns it.
Our invisible middle aged family man/woman does not have the luxury to be "off".
My solution has been to move to more of a supporting role (engineering manager, or architect or similar).
Basically, if you are unavailable (as in not very productive), things still move along and happen, even if a bit suboptimally.
Just like getting sick there's not much that you can do about it once you have it.
Once you have an off-day it's better to accept that you won't be very productive and inform your superior, instead of trying to force something and having to make up for that lost productivity the following days.
Just as with getting sick, the best thing you can do is prevention. Make sure you have a healthy sleep pattern, eat varied and in moderation, exercise regularly, and take care of your mental health.
If you feel like you have a lot of off-days try to figure out why that is. Are you sleeping well? are you stressed or anxious? Make a note of these things on your off-days (it can be hard to accurately remember emotions) and try to see if you can discern a pattern.
Instead, accept it, treat yourself, and exercise self-care. It's okay to skip things or put things off (if there are no deadlines to meet of course). Just enjoy and pamper yourself.
In the company I work for, which is horribly ran, a lot of the projects I work on have a bus factor of 1 - which is me. So, me taking a sick day, or even vacation can throw off one of the many arbitrary or poorly planned deadlines.
I haven't found a good answer to this, but I find it helps me to have a good routine such that no matter how dead tired or sick I am, I can engage the routine and get _something_ done.
And if doubt, be honest walk away and take some me time after letting the team know.
Some days, though, it's just a lost cause, and it's best to then focus on using the day to recover. You'll feel a lot better the next day if you recover than if you spend 8 hours struggling and failing to be productive.
Obviously there are exceptions when you're physically ill, but for the most part I think this approach is a good one to keep in mind because it forces you to think how you can make even an off day a little better.
Link to podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spittin-chiclets-episo...
Ever since my divorce I feel like I'm just going through the motions, work, sleep, socialize. Without a home life it just feels empty, but what decent woman would want someone like me with my baggage? Even if I found someone, which seems impossible these days, with no-fault-divorce why would it be any different this time around?
I only call in sick if I have a fever, am contagious or am really unable to sit at a desk for more than 10 minutes due to the illness.
Otherwise I am not sick, I maybe take some pain killers, acknowledge that a) I am human b) I can always concentrate for at least 1 or 2 hours, even if I am not at my best and c) those two hours are enough for the day.
And who knows, sometimes being not at your top leads to new perspective into your work.
My advice is to listen to your body. It is telling you there are more important things than productivity, at least right now. Take a break! Whether that’s a nap, a day off, a long weekend, whatever you need. You’ll be glad you did. You may very well be more productive in the long run if you do.
Luckily, the way I deal with it is by being overly-productive on the good days. So if anyone requests anything on my off-day, I just try to do 1 or 2 things, and for the rest I tell people I will get back to them with more info or will set a future meeting.
So far so good. Being 100% remote helps.
It's rarely ever a full off day. It's an off-hour, then you tilt because you're trying to force yourself on no fuel or you procrastinate and feel worse. Then it becomes an off-day.
That, and more coffee.
Off days are tough. The important thing is not to feel guilty about it.
Do nothing. Be no one. Every once in a while. Works for me great.
Jobs that demand a certain performance level at all times are the most common. Businesses can be too small to employ more than the bare minimum needed - or have the ability but are too exploitive.
I procrastinate the drudge work anyway; it's there & ready when bad-brain days show up.
Yesterday was bad enough that I put off driving until it cleared some. My career revolves around having that kind of flexibility.
Just do small stuff that normally fall trough the cracks. It's also during these days that my brain comes up with solutions I can then implement during more productive days