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There's a lot of factors that might go into this. If you're hungry, sleepy, undersocialized, unkempt, unfit, depressed, in a loud, messy, and distracting offic
by MaulingMonkey 8y ago
There's a lot of factors that might go into this. If you're hungry, sleepy, undersocialized, unkempt, unfit, depressed, in a loud, messy, and distracting office, with unclear and unexciting goals, large monolithic tasks without clear breakdowns on how to move forward, constrained by slow tools, management, or blocked on dependencies... well, it'd be no wonder you wouldn't want to work!
Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise. Dress for success. Socialize, integrate with the team, find the goals that will motivate you - be that helping out your work buddies, or building that sweet new piece of technology.
You want to have energy, health, mood, and motivation. When any of these suffer, your work suffers too.
Don't be afraid to use whatever tools you have at your disposal to cut out distractions and inhibit bad habits, but don't tyrannize yourself either. Working 8 hours straight isn't necessarily your most productive option. Consider scheduling breaks - but use your tools to limit your distractions outside of said breaks. Find a balance that will let you keep your mood up while also getting good work done.
- marcosdumay 8y agoI just want to add that coffee can make you feel like you are having enough sleep when you are not. If you drink it constantly, you may be just tired but not know it.
- calabin 8y agoI can't tell if this is an endorsement of or warning against using coffee to mitigate a lack of sleep, so I will take it as reinforcement of the former which I am currently (and unfortunately) a practitioner of.
- MaulingMonkey 8y agoWhy not both? It can help, but it does not fix the underlying issues. And those underlying issues may have long term health and energy conseqeunces. That said, while I've cut back a lot, you can pry my energy drinks out of my cold, dead, caffinated hands.
- Starknaked 8y agoIf you want the best effects of caffeine you have to cycle it. Save it for those special occasions where the real positive benefits of caffeine can work for you and the negative long term effects don't work against you.
- bumby 8y agoCaffeine has a half-life of about six hours so it can affect your sleep without necessarily knowing it leading to bit of a vicious circle. If you are interested, Dr. Peter Attia has a three part episode with Dr. Matthew Walker on sleep. It changed the way I prioritize getting sleep.
- unmole 8y ago> Eat well. Sleep well. Exercise. Dress for success. One of these is not like the others. I can understand emphasis on dressing up in contexts that involve selling -- a product, an idea or even yourself. But what does it have to do with focus?
- notemaker 8y agoMayhaps not as necessary as the first two, but having separate wardrobes for work and free time can help trigger you into a work mindset. That said, it doesn't need to be a 3 part suit.
- afarrell 8y agoI have found that if I wake up feeling like crap, I feel just a bit better if I put on a bowtie that day.
- MaulingMonkey 8y agoIt doesn't necessairly need to be "dressing up" per se. But if you're showing up to work poorly shaven, wearing stained sweatpants - you're going to be at least a little more self concious, a little less self confident. Nobody's going to lift your mood with "hey, looking sharp!". It's going to reflect in your body language, and the body language in your peers, even if it's largely on a subconcious level. It's potentially the difference between being ready to walk to lunch, or a meeting, or an interview at a moment's notice - ready to actually tackle the work and the day - vs being ready to go to bed at a moment's notice.