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On October 18 2007 22:17 Flaccid wrote:
So is there any particular reason you can\'t go to bed a bit earlier?
Exactly. I highly doubt you\'re doing homewokr and/or workign til 12-1am nightly. I go to full time work n school and im done nightly by 8ish. My homework never takes that long unless ive got a big paper that i didnt start ahead of time. Manage your time better.
I usually don\'t bother goin out on weekdays anymore. Maybe one weekday a week if I\'ve got time and I\'m feelin up for it. Fri and Sat are party nights (and I dont even get sleep sat mornin cuz i coach soccer in the am ><) Sunday is reserved for catchin up on sleep, football, beer, wings, and homework. It works quite well considering how busy I am.
And defintely, food in the mornin helps. I try to get an apple or banana every mornin (not much more, I just try to get my metabolism jumped. Im tryin to cut out fats and shit, beer has been kickin my ass). That definitely helps a lot.
Try to avoid coffee unless absolutely necessary and stay away from energy drinks.
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On October 18 2007 11:57 decafchicken wrote:
5 hour energy drink
seriously its fucking awesome +1
Trust me it really does work. I have like 3 classes a week which I have to wake up for at fucking 4 am (they're not actually at 4am, I just live off campus and it takes me that long to travel =/), and this shit really helps to keep me up. Also when they say that you don't crash like most other energy drinks, they speak the truth. After 5 hours it starts letting you down easy, probably takes about 7 hours total for the energy drink to completely wear off. Then depending on your situation you can soldier through the rest of the day or drink another one (they're like $5 for a two-pack here so considering it's effect it's worth it imo).
I could understand why you might be skeptical about energy drinks, but this one uses absolutely no caffeine or sugar (or at least it doesn't have much sugar) at all. It uses a shitload of b-vitamins or whatever which apparently gives you a natural boost of energy...I don't know all the specifics, but it works awesomely.
It's called "5 hour energy drink" and it always comes in a two pack in small shot like bottles. Other energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster, or Rockstar won' do shit for you. They'll give you a quick buzz then cause you to crash after like an hour.
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Physician
United States4146 Posts
On October 18 2007 22:17 Flaccid wrote:
So is there any particular reason you can't go to bed a bit earlier? Although you are right, the problem is he is living on borrowed time! Some of us don't have much time for Starcraft, games and teamliquid.net.. the only way is to steal it from sleep!
I understand micronesia perfectly - for a while I had his same problem and I solved it just changing my work schedule hours (fortunately because I could) to times of the day I never nod off driving.
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Try half milk, half water coffee with some sugar, it doesn't taste like coffee at all ( I am assuming you don't drink coffee because of the taste ). Raw instant coffee beans also work if you are in a hurry but that taste awfully bad so I tend to avoid it when I can.
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Physician
United States4146 Posts
On October 18 2007 11:57 decafchicken wrote:
5 hour energy drink
seriously its fucking awesome
I just looked at the content.. I wouldn't drink one of those everyday, they have an excess of vitamins that you don't need and don't really have any good science behind their use, in that dose and for that function - most of the effect of that drink is slow releasing caffeine anyway. Once or twice a week the probably will never harm you, but every day I am would not recommend it.
There is one vitamin that could end up hurting you if you take 40mg daily (like the drink has) - pyridoxin at high doses (and 40mg is a huge dose) can be neurotoxic http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=3630649
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/37/11/1729
http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/index.php?mode2=detail&origin=ibids_references&therow=249405
The other stuff is fairly harmless except for maybe N-acetyl L-tyrosine (the drink does not say how much it has in it ). It is generally safe HOWEVER you should NOT be taking this if you are taking meds such as anti-depressants (or Parkinson meds). At high doses it can have some side effects (and here I have no clue how much of this stuff the drink has): mild to moderate chest pains, breathing problems, tightness in the chest or throat, hives, itchy or swollen skin, or rashes (allergic reactions), headache, fatigue, changes in the heart rate, mood changes, irritability, heartburn, and stomach troubles have also been reported.
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Sleep earlier, stop partying so much, easy.
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United States24496 Posts
To Physician: thank you for providing some serious responses and for appreciating the fact that the lack of sleep may actually be justified in the short term. I will refer back to all of your posts throughout the next few days as I have more time.
To those of you who are convinced I obviously am being totally dumb and should be able to get more sleep e-_-z: no you are wrong. I mean, I'm not saying it's impossible for me to get a few more minutes of sleep each day on average if I make some specific adjustments or something... What I'm saying is I often don't even get home until 6:30 pm or later, I have stuff to do at home, and several hours of work over 50% of the time. Part of the reason why it's taking so much time is because of my lack of experience in my field (which everyone goes through and this is totally normal). Edit1: Keep in mind my full time job is not even remotely a 7-3 job, not to mention I have 10% more work assigned (with a proportional increase in pay so I can't really complain about it) and have been accepted to take on a few additional responsibilities such as how today after doing my extra help sessions from 2:30-3:30 I tutored at out of school suspension from 4-6 (again with a hefty bump in pay but that doesn't offset the logistical difficulty).
BTW: I'm way behind in several areas of my job lol. I'm going to go to bed right now so I can get up and be productive before I start.
Edit2: to those who said something to the effect of 'get off the road until you aren't a danger to me anymore' keep in mind that I identified the problem just recently and am immediately taking action regarding it (hence this thread and experimentation with different methods of assuring I'm not likely to nod off).
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Another thing I'd like to recommend is 10 minutes of quiet time before you go to sleep - reading, laying in silence getting ready to sleep, or meditation are the best things I can think of. I find my sleep most peaceful and EFFECTIVE when I relax before I go to sleep, so it doesn't feel like I'm just passing out. I think about how relaxing the sleep I have ahead of me is going to be, how I'm going to make the most out of every minute of sleep, etc. because as I've mentioned before I'm somewhat of an insomniac and I need to make the most of every chance I get. Any of those three methods work well for me, meditation especially. Google some things up about methods on how to do it the traditional ways, and then make your own modifications. I lay in bed with my palms up, body over covers (if it's not cold), and I clear my mind of every thought and block any intruding thoughts. After doing this for a few minutes sleep comes naturally and quickly, and I imagine my clock saying the time I need to wake up at, and imagining myself very relaxed and full of energy when that time comes. I tend to wake up refreshed.
I don't know if it will work for you, my friends have had hit and miss successes with it. I think it's worth a shot though. If you try it, tell me how it goes n_n. Good luck.
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what's your day actually like... break it down by hour. When do you start work (and what do you do) etc etc.
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United States24496 Posts
On October 19 2007 22:56 Hawk wrote:
what's your day actually like... break it down by hour. When do you start work (and what do you do) etc etc.
It varies unfortunately. My contractual hours are approximately 7:30am to 3pm. My morning commute takes about 40 minutes unless I leave ridiculously early and beat the traffic (I sit in traffic as early at 6am it's ridiculous). If I leave right at 3 I can be home within 30-45 minutes, but this is at best one day a week. I'll have to choose a sample day for my afternoon (yesterday since today was quite atypical with pouring rain). I tutor at a different building from 4pm-6pm as described in an earlier post. I was home by I think 6:45pm. I went back out to get gas and bring in some dinner for my sister and I (usually my parents handle dinner but they are on vacation haha). We were back and done eating/cleaning around 7:45-8pm. At this point I typically have/had to grade for 30minutes-2hours depending, and do some planning for the upcoming day (for this step I often go to bed early and get up early and go into work to get it done then). If I go to bed after these events I can theoretically get 6-8 hours of sleep, but this hasn't accounted for other things I have to do, or any leisure activities. Granted, there is that one day (like parent teacher conference night ._.) every once in a while where you have to fully expect to get in 0 leisure time, but several days a week it is not acceptable; this causes burning out among other problems. If I have to shower, take out the trash, etc that obviously eats into sleeping time.
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On October 18 2007 11:53 micronesia wrote:
I'm seriously concerned an accident will happen eventually, but unfortunately I can't arrange to get more sleep on most nights.
haha micro, perhaps you could go to bed earlier if you didn't play sc on weeknights with me and cali. Although going 5 days a week without sc is pretty impossible to i guess just take your chances on the road. Just remember, if you get a crash and they have to amputate your hands/arms/fingers then no sc for you. Thats your motive to drive safely!
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United States24496 Posts
On October 20 2007 07:20 Jonoman92 wrote:Show nested quote +On October 18 2007 11:53 micronesia wrote:
I'm seriously concerned an accident will happen eventually, but unfortunately I can't arrange to get more sleep on most nights. haha micro, perhaps you could go to bed earlier if you didn't play sc on weeknights with me and cali. Although going 5 days a week without sc is pretty impossible to i guess just take your chances on the road. Just remember, if you get a crash and they have to amputate your hands/arms/fingers then no sc for you. Thats your motive to drive safely! I actually am barely playing during the week anymore. There were a couple of nights which you must be thinking of.
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Micronesia, have you tried meditation or guided meditation listening to a cd?
Meditation is awesome if you're tired and need to refresh your mind and stay focused.
So if you can't get anymore sleep, try meditating once or twice a day, preferrably in a not overly comfortable position, so you don't fall asleep.
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United States24496 Posts
I have to admit I have not tried meditation. I also have to admit I'm skeptical it will help me in the way being discussed. Still, I'll consider it.
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Seriously, deep meditation is like sleep for your body and brain but much more time effective.
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United States24496 Posts
UPDATE: I haven't had a problem lately. This is mainly because I'm learning to avoid situations where I have to miss so much sleep. I am careful in choosing what I eat for breakfast, which doesn't hurt. Sometimes the extra rest comes at the expense of being less prepared, so it's something I'm going to continue to work on.
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This thread illustrates how modern society is not humane or responsible. There is no excuse for anyone to be put into a position where they have to choose work over sleep. This is bad for your employer, bad for you, and potentially very dangerous for society.
Of course, you probably don't HAVE to take that job, and my recommendation would be to get yourself into a much more healthy arrangement. Work is a part of life, not the point of life.
I also strongly recommend against caffeine and drugs. What you need is sleep, at least 7 hours of it per night.
Lack of sleep is associated with emotional problems, depression, weight gain, and so on. You have this strong desire to sleep because sleep is important to your well being.
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EPT
