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Ego depletion as a concept has been challenging to prove, if at all: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00568/full https://www.frontiersin.

by dend 5y ago

Ego depletion as a concept has been challenging to prove, if at all: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00568/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.0056... I agree that often certain hobbies require a push to get started. That initial barrier is what I found the hardest to overcome, but once you start going - it becomes easier and easier. Similar to how one can attempt to overcome moments of procrastination - you need to get started and push through initial discomfort.

grp000 5y ago
I used to push paperwork and send out emails, sometimes analyzing drawings, but not actually use my brain too much as a construction project engineer. As a data engineer, it definitely feels more taxing on the mental side.
rolisz 5y ago
I think it's more that after 8 exhausting hours, I don't have energy anymore for anything. The 8 exhausting hours would be a day full of meetings, after which my brain is a mush and doesn't work anymore.
- VeninVidiaVicii 5y ago
  Yes and imagine an intense level of stress when your partner asks what kind of movie you want to watch. Because, your brain just cannot process a single new decision.
  - bredren 5y ago
    Consider keeping a list of media you want to watch for occasions like this. Exhausted or not, you’re probably more likely to come across something unexpectedly and write it down than remember them all and offer up something fitting from memory.
    - scns 5y ago
      Well, the watchlist gets longer and when i want to watch something it is hard to choose.
  - vbezhenar 5y ago
    You wrote it as a humour. But I learned that if I minimize an amount of decisions I have to do in my life, that makes me more productive at work. I believe that making a decision is the most exhausting activity, at least for me. I can spend my daily decision limit to choosing a movie or choosing a framework.
    - scns 5y ago
      I read that Steve Jobs chose one outfit to wear every day. One less choice to make. Rituals/Habits help too. I learned the hard way that organization actually frees yourself to do stuff.
- teekert 5y ago
  I don’t believe this, if you push yourself to bike through a forrest, run until you’re out of breath, talk a long walk after work… You’ll come back with more energy then when you spend that time on the couch binging Squid Game. There is just no doubt in my mind about this. But it may start out feeling like a diet for the mind, that I am willing to believe. But like with a healthy diet you’ll benefit immensely over time. But it requires discipline.
  - rolisz 5y ago
    I do workout regularly and I do go for walks. But like a diet, the effect is long term, not immediate.
  - manmal 5y ago
    Human metabolism, and also the brain, needs rest after exertion in order to be able to do more work. Some people have it easier in that regard, but everybody has their own limits. Discipline in that context means pushing limits, which is not advisable long-term. Every system eventually fails when put under too much ongoing stress - burnout (/overtraining) is one of the lesser problems this can create.
    - teekert 5y ago
      Pushing limits in terms of the brain is binging garbage in stead of looking at trees, listening to birds. Pushing the limits of a body is sitting in a chair for 8 hours, barely moving, in stead of walking around doing stuff with your hands, taking a swim, climbing a tree picking some nuts. We should make no mistakes about what the natural actions and states of our minds and bodies are.
      - manmal 5y ago
        Sounds like good advice for people who work out of a cabin in or near the woods, and probably don’t have kids or a partner with their own schedule.
  - akgerber 5y ago
- aloner 5y ago
  Having a 15 to 30 minutes nap when my brains is mushy usually allow me to reset and get my mind in a more energized state, might be worth trying for you too.
bredren 5y ago
> once you start going - it becomes easier and easier. It isn’t just getting going makes the project (hobby) easier. It is the ability to organize the project into small steps that are relatively easy and yield novel artifacts. Giving light structure to a hobby or side project (such as using GitHub issues even if it doesn’t involve code) let’s you pick up where you left off and see the incremental progress. This administration is a practice of itself but the more you do it, the more natural it feels and easier it becomes to see progress.
marginalia_nu 5y ago
> Ego depletion as a concept has been challenging to prove, if at all Isn't this just a problem in trying to reduce the phenomenal experience of self into some objective reality, a quest that reduces to something adjacent to the hard problem of consciousness.
amelius 5y ago
> once you start going - it becomes easier and easier This may hold for activities like programming, where every decision follows almost logically from the previous ones. But if you're doing really hard research, with setback after setback, then it's much harder to "ignite" a work appetite.

by dend 5y ago

grp000 5y ago

I used to push paperwork and send out emails, sometimes analyzing drawings, but not actually use my brain too much as a construction project engineer. As a data engineer, it definitely feels more taxing on the mental side.

rolisz 5y ago

I think it's more that after 8 exhausting hours, I don't have energy anymore for anything. The 8 exhausting hours would be a day full of meetings, after which my brain is a mush and doesn't work anymore.

VeninVidiaVicii 5y ago
Yes and imagine an intense level of stress when your partner asks what kind of movie you want to watch. Because, your brain just cannot process a single new decision.
- bredren 5y ago
  Consider keeping a list of media you want to watch for occasions like this. Exhausted or not, you’re probably more likely to come across something unexpectedly and write it down than remember them all and offer up something fitting from memory.
  - scns 5y ago
    Well, the watchlist gets longer and when i want to watch something it is hard to choose.
- vbezhenar 5y ago
  You wrote it as a humour. But I learned that if I minimize an amount of decisions I have to do in my life, that makes me more productive at work. I believe that making a decision is the most exhausting activity, at least for me. I can spend my daily decision limit to choosing a movie or choosing a framework.
  - scns 5y ago
    I read that Steve Jobs chose one outfit to wear every day. One less choice to make. Rituals/Habits help too. I learned the hard way that organization actually frees yourself to do stuff.
teekert 5y ago
I don’t believe this, if you push yourself to bike through a forrest, run until you’re out of breath, talk a long walk after work… You’ll come back with more energy then when you spend that time on the couch binging Squid Game. There is just no doubt in my mind about this. But it may start out feeling like a diet for the mind, that I am willing to believe. But like with a healthy diet you’ll benefit immensely over time. But it requires discipline.
- rolisz 5y ago
  I do workout regularly and I do go for walks. But like a diet, the effect is long term, not immediate.
- manmal 5y ago
  Human metabolism, and also the brain, needs rest after exertion in order to be able to do more work. Some people have it easier in that regard, but everybody has their own limits. Discipline in that context means pushing limits, which is not advisable long-term. Every system eventually fails when put under too much ongoing stress - burnout (/overtraining) is one of the lesser problems this can create.
  - teekert 5y ago
    Pushing limits in terms of the brain is binging garbage in stead of looking at trees, listening to birds. Pushing the limits of a body is sitting in a chair for 8 hours, barely moving, in stead of walking around doing stuff with your hands, taking a swim, climbing a tree picking some nuts. We should make no mistakes about what the natural actions and states of our minds and bodies are.
    - manmal 5y ago
      Sounds like good advice for people who work out of a cabin in or near the woods, and probably don’t have kids or a partner with their own schedule.
- akgerber 5y ago
aloner 5y ago
Having a 15 to 30 minutes nap when my brains is mushy usually allow me to reset and get my mind in a more energized state, might be worth trying for you too.

bredren 5y ago

> once you start going - it becomes easier and easier. It isn’t just getting going makes the project (hobby) easier. It is the ability to organize the project into small steps that are relatively easy and yield novel artifacts. Giving light structure to a hobby or side project (such as using GitHub issues even if it doesn’t involve code) let’s you pick up where you left off and see the incremental progress. This administration is a practice of itself but the more you do it, the more natural it feels and easier it becomes to see progress.

marginalia_nu 5y ago

> Ego depletion as a concept has been challenging to prove, if at all Isn't this just a problem in trying to reduce the phenomenal experience of self into some objective reality, a quest that reduces to something adjacent to the hard problem of consciousness.

amelius 5y ago

> once you start going - it becomes easier and easier This may hold for activities like programming, where every decision follows almost logically from the previous ones. But if you're doing really hard research, with setback after setback, then it's much harder to "ignite" a work appetite.