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I often think the the imbalance between mental effort and physical effort in modern office jobs causes a lot of problems. Some of my happiest days were when I
by spaetzleesser 5y ago
I often think the the imbalance between mental effort and physical effort in modern office jobs causes a lot of problems.
Some of my happiest days were when I trained boxing and weights 2 hours six times a week. It's hard to be depressed or anxious when you are physically exhausted and the feeling of physical strength just makes you feel better. Working out to the point of exhaustion feels like a "reset" for body and mind.
Eating is another thing. When I hike the whole day or backpack for days my eating gets naturally balanced without effort. I eat what I need and that's it. When I work for 10 hours a day at a desk I start craving junk food and have to be careful not to put on weight. And not moving much is physically exhausting. I think that's because in the past usually when you had a lot of mental stress you were under physical threat (e.g. chased by a predator or enemy) and therefore probably needed physical energy. So we react to the typical modern workplace stress by wanting more energy but we never use it.
Any ideas for a career that balances physical and mental effort better (and pays well)? A few years ago I worked near a place where they shot a lot of movie scenes and film production seemed pretty attractive. They spend a lot of time in the office planning things but then they go out for extended periods of time and do the actual shoot.
- mellavora 5y agoPlumber.
- bgroat 5y agoMilitary special forces or playing a team sport at a high-level? Those folks are SMART
- spaetzleesser 5y agoProbably not viable choices for us skinny nerds :)
- bgroat 5y agoThe think about getting muscular is that it's I thing you can just decide to do. Decide + gruelling work. But it is a choice (to be candid, one I haven't executed on yet)
- germinalphrase 5y agoMy experience working on movies was lots of time on the road (cumulatively, months of the year) and lots of standing around. This might be different if you were working exclusively in a studio; some roles are certainly more physical than others, of course.
- spaetzleesser 5y agoEven the standing around seems way healthier than staring at a computer screen the whole day.
- brimble 5y agoFilming with a small crew is more active than sitting in a chair, but only barely, I'd say. There's more standing, at least. Most of the time you're waiting near the spot where you need to be, or staying perfectly still, or moving but only very slowly. Film work (even small-scale local stuff) can be really fun but 90+% of the physical activity will be goofing off, for most of the people involved in most shoots. And of course most of the work before and after filming is sitting in front of a screen, like any other office job.