3 ms·

I know what you mean. I might feel that way a few days in a row every couple of months if I'm lucky and rarely ever more than 2 days in a row. It's a weird, fu

by es7 6y ago

I know what you mean. I might feel that way a few days in a row every couple of months if I'm lucky and rarely ever more than 2 days in a row. It's a weird, full-body change for me. When I'm in that kind of zone it's like my pre-frontal cortex finally took over control from my lizard brain. Or maybe it's just hormones. I can do what I choose to do. To focus. To exercise and give 100%. Uncomfortable sensations like cold weather or spicy food feel easy to tolerate. One other anecdote: occasionally I will have a day full of energy and getting motivated to work hard on things comes easily. Almost like clockwork, I will realize the next day that I'm sick (like a mild cold). I'm leaning to the reverse causation hypothesis (as the body is getting sick, it provides me the energy to work hard to prepare for the later downtime) but I guess it's also possible that whatever energy I'm feeling also leads to immune system weakness? Anyways, just sharing some thoughts. If I could figure out how to live at that kind of level even one day a week reliably, that would be incredible.

TeMPOraL 6y ago
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I've never observed the "feeling sick" issue myself in periods of greater productivity, but that could be because I wasn't paying attention - I have "evening sickness" like you described roughly 2-4 times a month, and I end up just popping some paracetamol and feeling fine the next day. My blood work comes out OK on checkups, so I (and my doctors) guess it's likely some mild allergy rearing its ugly head every now and then. I can share some things that I've found out over the years that are not helping: - Alcohol. I tried that because during my one month-long super-productivity period I was also drinking socially quite a bit. After testing I ultimately rejected this hypothesis; regular alcohol consumption doesn't seem to help me get back to this "flow state" (and makes sleep worse). - Sleep deprivation. Naturally, in the golden period I was doing so much that I slept irregularly and less than I should. So I tried sleeping less, but it didn't help. - Music. I had a certain set of songs I was constantly listening to on my headphones as I made the world subject to my will. The songs still get me in a kind of productive mood, but the effect seems to hold for 5 minutes, not 5 weeks. - Anxiety. Turns out having it is orthogonal to super-productivity! I had anxiety problems back in these golden times, I had them later on, over time I've learned to cope - but between low and high background anxiety levels, the super-flow didn't return. That super-productivity I'm seeking comes with a very specific kind of feeling, like you're doing logistical parkour through your day. And now in comparison, lack of it feels like an engine that can't start. Or like those episodes in Star Trek where they can't stabilize some force field, and it keeps sorta-working, but blinking in and out. That's how I feel these days.
- es7 6y ago
  Thank you for sharing, also. Until I read your original comment I sort of forgot about that sort of feeling since it's been months of normal daily grind. I wonder if anyone has done serious study into this type of performance. Some things I've found: - Waking up way earlier than usual works for about 1 day a week but then I'm more tired the next few days. - Hydration helps me. A big cup of water is more important than coffee in the morning. - Caffeine is great. I want to try a detox and re-introduction. - Socialization is a double edged sword. I find it easier to be hyper-productive when my life has enough interpersonal connection, but being with people is fun and the more I socialize the harder I find it to settle into flow at work - Eliminating distractions is really important for me (or maybe it's a side effect?) but in my times of hyper-productivity there is no distractions or desires for distractions (ex: video games, social media, etc)
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    A thought occurred to me today: could it be some kind of "sugar high"? If I'm getting my timeline right (this was 7 years ago), my hyper-productivity period happened about when I stopped being on a ketogenic (carb-minimizing) diet, and got back to eating high-carb food. (During my time on keto, I didn't feel any significant energy loss below the baseline; but I wonder if reintroducing carbs after being deprived of them for a while could have created a temporary state of high energy?)
    - es7 6y ago
      I know for me there is a definite diet aspect on a daily basis, but I don't remember if that's been the case during any of the weeks where I've felt invincible. But on a small-scale basis: - Eating a big simple-carb-heavy meal will absolutely ruin my energy focus the rest of the afternoon - However if I've been running a deficit and feel low-energy, a moderate meal of complex carbs (ex: bowl of pasta) will give me enough energy for a few hours of high-energy focused work I've done keto once or twice at various points when I was more into fitness and there's something nice about the consistent levels of energy. Have you tried going on keto again? I wonder if there's some magic recipe of cycling on-and-off carbs that can fuel extreme bouts of energy without negative health implications
nelsondev 6y ago
I’ve had that exact same experience, of feeling sick preceded by a day of near manic state. It’s gotten to the point where I can predict the following day I will feel sick, so I try and start resting more that first day. Cool! Didn’t know anyone else felt this

by es7 6y ago

TeMPOraL 6y ago

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I've never observed the "feeling sick" issue myself in periods of greater productivity, but that could be because I wasn't paying attention - I have "evening sickness" like you described roughly 2-4 times a month, and I end up just popping some paracetamol and feeling fine the next day. My blood work comes out OK on checkups, so I (and my doctors) guess it's likely some mild allergy rearing its ugly head every now and then. I can share some things that I've found out over the years that are not helping: - Alcohol. I tried that because during my one month-long super-productivity period I was also drinking socially quite a bit. After testing I ultimately rejected this hypothesis; regular alcohol consumption doesn't seem to help me get back to this "flow state" (and makes sleep worse). - Sleep deprivation. Naturally, in the golden period I was doing so much that I slept irregularly and less than I should. So I tried sleeping less, but it didn't help. - Music. I had a certain set of songs I was constantly listening to on my headphones as I made the world subject to my will. The songs still get me in a kind of productive mood, but the effect seems to hold for 5 minutes, not 5 weeks. - Anxiety. Turns out having it is orthogonal to super-productivity! I had anxiety problems back in these golden times, I had them later on, over time I've learned to cope - but between low and high background anxiety levels, the super-flow didn't return. That super-productivity I'm seeking comes with a very specific kind of feeling, like you're doing logistical parkour through your day. And now in comparison, lack of it feels like an engine that can't start. Or like those episodes in Star Trek where they can't stabilize some force field, and it keeps sorta-working, but blinking in and out. That's how I feel these days.

es7 6y ago
Thank you for sharing, also. Until I read your original comment I sort of forgot about that sort of feeling since it's been months of normal daily grind. I wonder if anyone has done serious study into this type of performance. Some things I've found: - Waking up way earlier than usual works for about 1 day a week but then I'm more tired the next few days. - Hydration helps me. A big cup of water is more important than coffee in the morning. - Caffeine is great. I want to try a detox and re-introduction. - Socialization is a double edged sword. I find it easier to be hyper-productive when my life has enough interpersonal connection, but being with people is fun and the more I socialize the harder I find it to settle into flow at work - Eliminating distractions is really important for me (or maybe it's a side effect?) but in my times of hyper-productivity there is no distractions or desires for distractions (ex: video games, social media, etc)
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  A thought occurred to me today: could it be some kind of "sugar high"? If I'm getting my timeline right (this was 7 years ago), my hyper-productivity period happened about when I stopped being on a ketogenic (carb-minimizing) diet, and got back to eating high-carb food. (During my time on keto, I didn't feel any significant energy loss below the baseline; but I wonder if reintroducing carbs after being deprived of them for a while could have created a temporary state of high energy?)
  - es7 6y ago
    I know for me there is a definite diet aspect on a daily basis, but I don't remember if that's been the case during any of the weeks where I've felt invincible. But on a small-scale basis: - Eating a big simple-carb-heavy meal will absolutely ruin my energy focus the rest of the afternoon - However if I've been running a deficit and feel low-energy, a moderate meal of complex carbs (ex: bowl of pasta) will give me enough energy for a few hours of high-energy focused work I've done keto once or twice at various points when I was more into fitness and there's something nice about the consistent levels of energy. Have you tried going on keto again? I wonder if there's some magic recipe of cycling on-and-off carbs that can fuel extreme bouts of energy without negative health implications

nelsondev 6y ago

I’ve had that exact same experience, of feeling sick preceded by a day of near manic state. It’s gotten to the point where I can predict the following day I will feel sick, so I try and start resting more that first day. Cool! Didn’t know anyone else felt this