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Exercise has helped me immensely. It's one of the few times a day that I'm focusing on self-improvement. If I don't do that then I focus on everything else an

by snarfy 5y ago

Exercise has helped me immensely. It's one of the few times a day that I'm focusing on self-improvement. If I don't do that then I focus on everything else and eventually burn out.

ElijahLynn 5y ago
At the time of this post, there are 3 occurrences of the word "exercise" in this HN post/thread and 2 are valid suggestions of exercising, such as yours, Snarfy! And I think you are spot on! I get that burnt out feeling when I don't exercise or move much, which COVID has increased (less social gatherings, going places). There is a fantastic book, Spark, written by John Ratey, M.D., who is/was psychiatrist who used to prescribe drugs for depression and switched to prescribing treadmills instead! He makes a strong case for "exercise for brain health". This type of work is definitely a factor in burn out, and more so, many of us in this industry have wired, curious brains that can exacerbate the situation even more. And then, when we burn out, we do that same thing to try to "fix the problem" and feel guilt/shame or whatever. Exercise can help us keep healthy brains to help cope with this stuff much better. Exercise helps us secrete endorphins that make us feel good and help us feel good sensations to counter the stress from this type of work. It is super valid science nowadays as Dr. Ratey proves in his teaching. For a good next step for anyone reading this and feeling burnt out, see you you can make it through this Ted Talk video by Dr. Ratey (the exercise instead of prozac pyschiatrist) > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBSVZdTQmDs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBSVZdTQmDs. If you cannot do that, you may have sleep deprivation and need a nap, now. When you wake up, then watch the video, it is ~10 minutes. This is also the same doctor who co-wrote the book Delivered to Distraction (recently brought up here on HN by Mark Suster) and ADHD 2.0 (2021).
- ElijahLynn 5y ago
  Oh neat, the video that played right after is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V81cO8xyMaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V81cO8xyMaI which is the other end of the research on students in Naperville, IL, that Dr. Ratey mentions. Very good, complimentary watch to the first video I posted.

by snarfy 5y ago

Exercise has helped me immensely. It's one of the few times a day that I'm focusing on self-improvement. If I don't do that then I focus on everything else and eventually burn out.

ElijahLynn 5y ago

At the time of this post, there are 3 occurrences of the word "exercise" in this HN post/thread and 2 are valid suggestions of exercising, such as yours, Snarfy! And I think you are spot on! I get that burnt out feeling when I don't exercise or move much, which COVID has increased (less social gatherings, going places). There is a fantastic book, Spark, written by John Ratey, M.D., who is/was psychiatrist who used to prescribe drugs for depression and switched to prescribing treadmills instead! He makes a strong case for "exercise for brain health". This type of work is definitely a factor in burn out, and more so, many of us in this industry have wired, curious brains that can exacerbate the situation even more. And then, when we burn out, we do that same thing to try to "fix the problem" and feel guilt/shame or whatever. Exercise can help us keep healthy brains to help cope with this stuff much better. Exercise helps us secrete endorphins that make us feel good and help us feel good sensations to counter the stress from this type of work. It is super valid science nowadays as Dr. Ratey proves in his teaching. For a good next step for anyone reading this and feeling burnt out, see you you can make it through this Ted Talk video by Dr. Ratey (the exercise instead of prozac pyschiatrist) > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBSVZdTQmDs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBSVZdTQmDs. If you cannot do that, you may have sleep deprivation and need a nap, now. When you wake up, then watch the video, it is ~10 minutes. This is also the same doctor who co-wrote the book Delivered to Distraction (recently brought up here on HN by Mark Suster) and ADHD 2.0 (2021).

ElijahLynn 5y ago
Oh neat, the video that played right after is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V81cO8xyMaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V81cO8xyMaI which is the other end of the research on students in Naperville, IL, that Dr. Ratey mentions. Very good, complimentary watch to the first video I posted.