12 ms·
Energy, and How to Get It
- haspoken 5y agohttps://archive.md/z8uoa https://archive.md/z8uoa
- josh_thurman 5y agoWhat this article doesn't address is the emotional and psychological factors that contribute to energy or lack thereof. I've found that as I age these become much more significant factors than sleep, eating right, and exercise . . .
- phnofive 5y agoLisdexamphetamine keeps me compatible with the cadence of my peers, comfortably this side of normal.
- TedDoesntTalk 5y agoDo you have ADHD or do you take this stuff without a diagnosis?
- fshbbdssbbgdd 5y agoADHD and a diagnosis are correlated, but many people have one without the other!
- mateo- 5y ago> A lean Montrealer, with a gentle yet poised intensity that one might classify as medium-energy, Picard came at the question of vim and vigor from a near-cosmic vantage. His office, high above the Heights, had a commanding view down the Hudson, a receding sun-blanched shorescape of skyscrapers and tidal swirl that lent his pronouncements an oracular air. Did this assignment have a minimum word count? I know it's the New Yorker, but gah I couldn't handle it
- spekcular 5y agoWhile we're bashing the style: Is 'scrip' really what they meant in "If a patient says, ‘I want more energy,’ maybe the doctor should just write a scrip for methamphetamine"? I just checked the dictionary to confirm, and 'scrip' is definitely a financial term; surely they meant 'script'? Or is this a situation where they flaunt common practice to be quirky, like their superfluous umlauts?
- jrmg 5y agoI’ve heard the term before - and it’s in MW. Check out definition 3 here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scrip https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scrip
- danbmil99 5y agoShort for prescription. I'm old enough to remember it being used. It doesn't seem to be in circulation as a term now
- ben_w 5y agoI think “scrip” is short for “prescription”, given the context.
- neuroma 5y agoScrip is probably a typo of Script, an abbreviation for Prescription. Script is a common word in the medical profession. Scrip I've never heard
- stormdennis 5y agoIt is possible to qualify as a doctor and be unsure if the abbreviation for prescription is Px or Rx Now you can just check on the internet but back in the day it's something that's apparently so basic and assumed that you could be too embarrassed to ask.
- WalterBright 5y agoI always thought of it as currency.
- redisman 5y agoThe guidelines are easy on paper. Eat healthy, sleep a lot, work out multiple times a week and you’ll magically have a lot of energy.
- yetihehe 5y agoIt is the same kind of guidelines I've seen for fighting poverty. The problem: you need investment of energy/money to have more energy/money. If you don't have them in the first place, good luck. With energy it's even more insidious, because if you have the energy, at least you could spend some more time working for money.
- orzig 5y agoResponding to the strawman version of your argument: the critical difference is that there are huge systems designed to extract your surplus money (addictive drugs/gambling at the immoral extreme, supply/demand dynamics for basic goods at the pedestrian extreme). It is very important to remember that your energy is yours. Almost the essence of what you are. You will have the occasional good day, or just good hour, and that is the opportunity to build. Maybe with unhealthy amounts of coffee, to kickstart. Then two good hours the next day. Then four. It will necessarily take many calendar weeks, but I implore any discouraged readers to understand that it is possible to bootstrap up to a better place.
- circlefavshape 5y agoI have done this for most of my life. I play in a band with a bunch of guys who drink shitloads of alcohol and sleep FAR less than I do. When it gets to eleven PM in the bar we play in who's the one yawning? It's me. I never really feel like I have plenty of energy, because whatever I have I just use to do more stuff :/
- redisman 5y agoMaybe they stay up late every night? It’s easy to go until 3am if that’s you’re usual bedtime
- nathanvanfleet 5y agoFrom the rumors I hear it can sometimes just be Ritalin.
- stormdennis 5y agoMy daughter has always needed her sleep, ever since she was a tot she'd get incredibly ratty and would be out of sorts the next day if she didn't get her full eight hours of undisturbed sleep. I on the other hand have always been able to get away with only a short night's sleep even staying up all night when necessary. My totally subjective opinion is that you only have so many awake hours in your life and I'm running through my ration more quickly and will have a shorter lifespan as a result
- orzig 5y agoThat is an interesting analog to the stylized fact that all mammalian species get about the same number of heartbeats in their life. Mice have a high BPM and short life, whales the opposite
- Cthulhu_ 5y agoEveryone's different like that. I do 6-7 hours of sleep a night which is not ideal but a stable enough middle ground. I get 'stressed' (best word I can think of) if I don't get enough sleep, or more of a worry that I haven't gotten enough sleep. We tend to catch up in the weekends though.
- FriedrichN 5y agoDon't smoke, don't drink, don't use drugs, get enough sleep and exercise, eat enough fruits and veg and not too much junk and you've got like 90% covered, if not all. Most people (without serious medical issues) moaning about a lack of energy know exactly what's causing it but refuse to change their habits. Whether it's drinking, smoking, junk food, staying up late, etc. they've just become too attached to that way of living. The article wastes a lot of words on basically nothing.
- orzig 5y agoThat is an excellent list of lifestyle factors, but suggesting that genetics impacts 10% or less of biological outcome is pretty bold. Put another way: everything is nature, nurture and “random”. It’s rare to find an outcome where one of those three completely dominates the causal equation.
- namenotrequired 5y agoThat doesn’t follow. Genetics very much influence the factors cited within the 90%.
- orzig 5y agoIf I am understanding your argument correctly, certainly agree that e.g. "some people are more genetically inclined to drink". But I think It’s valuable to draw some boundaries between what we can and cannot control, even with genetically varying difficulty. To state my original point in a potentially clearer way: I suspect there is significant genetic variation in energy, controlling for lifestyle habits. Evidence: 1) Personal observation over years of interest in this topic 2) the fact that there is extensive variation in most quantitative life outcomes, controlling for lifestyle habits
- FriedrichN 5y agoThat's why I said most people (within two standard deviations from the mean roughly), there will be people for which their genetic component will make up a larger part of why they seem to suffer from low energy.
- orzig 5y agoThe article itself is pretty mediocre, but it touches on some interesting stuff (before continuing to slippy-slide between various unstated definitions of what 'energy' means). It doesn't have a conclusion, so I'll add one. The article supports it as supported much as any other conclusion (You get a Bayesian update! And you get a Bayesian update!) but it's the one I believe and this little box is /my/ journalistic output: If you want better energy, you need to try a ton of things. Get ideas from the many gurus past and present, try to figure out a few measures that are not /completely/ subjective (but accept it's not physics) and just /keep trying/. The right answer will change over time, so it's a never-ending cycle. If you have an explanation for that, I'd love to hear it. But please don't give up, and don't be afraid to feel silly because you're trying last year/decade's fad instead of this one. It's worth it.
- jbverschoor 5y agoDoes anybody actually read these blobs of text which are basically a lazy rant from the writer to improve his wordcount? Writers should always write for the reader.
- another_poster 5y agoNew Yorker writers are masters of their craft, so unless you have decades of experience professionally editing and writing, I recommend giving the piece at least a second chance. That said, I also skipped over tons of passages, for example, the laundry list of energy supplements. I read for different reasons on my phone, compared to when I’m reading a physical copy of the New Yorker. On my phone, I’m rapidly skimming tons of articles searching for interesting facts, which just isn’t suited for reading the New Yorker’s beautiful long-form style.
- malydok 5y agoRead it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
- pdabbadabba 5y agoYes. It's called literary nonfiction and many people enjoy it. There's a funny irony here in your suggestion that the New Yorker writers have, in a sort of solipsistic error, forgotten to write for anyone but themselves. In fact, I'd suggest that it's you who have forgotten that not everyone (even on HN, it would seem) shares your tastes! That's not to say that this piece is an ideal example of the craft. But there will be plenty of readers who appreciate it.
- dandare 5y ago> Mitochondrial DNA seems to be passed down from generation to generation exclusively by the mother; sperm contributes nothing How do mitochondria evolve if they are just clones passed down from mothers? Or rather, how come there are not huge differences between populations of people whose mitochondria evolved in different direction but can never mix?
- rob_c 5y agoNot to put a big stamp on it but sounds like mild depression which I think has been inflicted on mass by society upon itself. In not making a judgement on that, but unfortunately the last 2 years hasn't been full of news stories of zoom meetings to discuss happiness and the good times...
- onion2k 5y agounfortunately the last 2 years hasn't been full of news stories of zoom meetings to discuss happiness and the good times I remember before Covid when the news was wall-to-wall positivity.
- rralian 5y agoI had an epiphany about personal energy a while ago that came from self-reflection, reading philosophy (stoicism in particular), and exploring mindfulness. And it's formed a big part of my personal philosophy. I will share in hopes it is useful to others. I realized that I was waiting to have energy before doing something. Blaming my lack of action on a lack of energy. But energy -- of the vim and vigor variety -- is not a tank that you must fill before you can use it. It's a choice. It is in fact _created by action_. It's getting up and making things happen even when your tank is empty. And this doesn't happen by shaming yourself or hating yourself for not being that person. It happens by choosing to be that person. It happens by making that part of your identity. So no, there is no magic pill. No external thing that will turn you into that energizer bunny type who seems unstoppable. Other than the realization that you choose who you are every moment. So why wouldn't you be the best version of yourself that you can be? Yes, of course, exercise, eat healthy, drink in moderation, get enough sleep, and manage your stress. All of those help. In fact they're all part of the same choice of who you want to be. You are not your situation, your possessions, your achievements, or your past. You are your choices and your actions in the present. Think about the kind of person you admire -- their qualities and their actions. Then _be that person_. Choose to make that a core part of your identity. Not your past choices or your past actions, but who you are _right now_. Realizing this and making that choice may be one of the most energizing moments of your life. It's free and available to everyone. No prescription required.
- dijereedan 5y agoActually, I've found taking Wellbutrin has increased my energy level considerably. Though, whether it's a direct effect of the medication, I'm not sure.
- diordiderot 5y agoAbsolutely, Bupropion(Wellbutrin) acts as a norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor and a nicotinic receptor antagonist.
- netizen-936824 5y agoThere are multiple compounds that effect motivational energy, because that behavior is a consequence of how our brain functions. So things that modify the related circuits will modify the behavior. Plus free will is an illusion, and we don't actually "choose" anything. All of our behaviors are a consequence of the biochemical functioning of our cellular circuits. Quite frankly, the GP has no idea what they are talking about. If you want to start understanding motivation and reward, simply look at the function of mu-opioid agonism in relation to the NAcc and related dopamine task reward circuitry.
- fouc 5y agoHave any fellow HN readers struggled with low energy levels for more than 5+ years and ever figured out how to counteract it? Curious to hear what worked for you. Definition of low energy levels in this context: * struggles to work more than 20 hours a week without spending the rest of each day and the weekend recuperating. * does not notice any significant differences in energy levels from a healthy diet, regular exercise, and achieving a healthy BMI. (That's not to say there isn't a difference, but it's small and can result in more consistent energy flow - the overall energy level is still low and recuperation is often strongly desired, feeling of fatigue is still constant)
- biohax2015 5y agoSee a doctor.
- 3pt14159 5y agoThis sounds like an oncoming case of depression or possibly even a mild ongoing case. Also could be burnout or in addition to burnout. If you can take a month off and see a doctor I'd recommend it. The faster you can get ahead of this type of thing the better.