Have a little coffee for a quick pick-me-up. I just drink little by little till I don't need to any more. I try to keep the coffee to an absolute minimum, and save it till I'm really feeling lethargic.
Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
31–40 of 60 posts
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#32It's ok to be lethargic sometimes. If it's very regular it could be a symptom of something else (maybe psychological; depression, general lack of motivation), so maybe you can talk to a therapist about it. Go for a run? If you don't have the energy to run, go for a walk. If you're not going to do anything during the day, might as well enjoy the sun and visit new places.
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Sometimes you feel lethargic, sometimes you feel inspired. The best thing to do is enjoy the heck out of the lethargic times and avoid judging yourself too harshly -- you're only human.
Over time you can try to identify things that lengthen lethargic periods, and things that inspire you, and try to build those. However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being demotivated from time to time. I just see it as a natural recharge time between inspired times.
Some things that I find bring on inspired times:
- Sit around and disconnect from the internet. Boredom is fantastic as a motivational tool.
- Exercise.
- Do nice things for your friends and family. Invite people over for dinner, play board games, mow your grandmothers' lawn. Or just write them a letter.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#33So, a few things here that I've discovered in my own fight against this kind of lethargy & depression. 1. Eat food. Eat good, healthy food on a regular schedule. The willpower center of your brain takes a LOT of calories to run, and if you don't fuel it, you'll find yourself paralyzed by laziness. Make sure the calories you ingest are solid ones - protien, fat, sugar. Not HFCS or other forms of fructose, since it mes…
To piggy-back on revx....
Consider getting some blood work done. I found out I have a high incidence of Epstein Bar (related to Mononucleosis) and if I don't regulate my diet, I get completely drained of energy and will for anything. This also affects my sex drive and as revx mentioned, my physiology after orgasm. I call it the sex hangover.
I found that yoga and walking also helps a lot, I look for yoga videos on Youtube, the prettier the instructor the better ;)
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Weight lifting is rarely a sustained form of heightened heart activity in the way the other examples are. Yes it works your heart, but there are usually many relatively motionless pauses between short sets, as opposed to the constant push on your heart that accompanies more traditional forms of cardio work. Not a knock against weight lifting, just emphasizing a different type of heart activity.
Aren't those pauses usually people standing around trying to catch their breath, with their pulses coming down from the 180 they hit while doing a set? Isn't weight lifting more like doing a 40m sprint, then slowly walking back to do it again?
My recommendation to the OP, since it was asked, is to engage in sustained cardiovascular activity, where the heart rate is elevated at a consistent rate. I'm not saying weight lifting doesn't have its strengths (no pun intended!) but it's not the type of cardio activity that I'm suggesting, for the same reason as what you've just mentioned: the idea is not to push your heart to an extreme and let the pulse "come down"... it's to get your heart to an elevated rate and keep it there consistently for a long stretch. For that type of activity, weight lifting is not the answer. For other types of goals, it very well may be.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#35I clean my living space, clear out old baggage and remnants of old identities, to make space for the new. Lethargy seems to come when I am ready to let go even more and allow life to show me my next steps, but I need to listen to the message.
In the depression/anxiety/lethargy space I find it's not time for any major life breakthroughs.
The biggest breakthrough for me is finding the initial half ounce of mojo to begin the space-clearing and space-claiming process... whether washing a single dish, throwing an old piece of clothing, deleting an email I'll never get around to replying to.
Then, doing it again, and again, one damn t-shirt at a time.
Soon the momentum picks up and the clearing happens by itself.
Also, for me generally the only way out is through - I find it starts with acceptance of this moment as it is, so I'm careful to not add my judgments ("This should not be happening", "I fucked up", etc.) to the situation, but instead hold the lethargic/anxious/depressed parts of me in kindness. Not trying to change anything about them.
From that starting place of self-kindness I can take a breath, dust myself off, and begin taking one simple, tiny action – not to make anything happen but only to make space for the new and invite it in.
I ask myself often: Which old junk am I ready to let go of to make space for the new? I don't need to know what the new is, just trust life and start throwing away the shitty t-shirts.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#36I clean my living space, clear out old baggage and remnants of old identities, to make space for the new. Lethargy seems to come when I am ready to let go even more and allow life to show me my next steps, but I need to listen to the message. In the depression/anxiety/lethargy space I find it's not time for any major life breakthroughs. The biggest breakthrough for me is finding the initial half ounce of mojo to begi…
+1 for cleaning. Really helps me when I get into a slump. Something mindless, but productive with clear results. Lets my mind process whatever it is that is slowing me down.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Weight lifting is rarely a sustained form of heightened heart activity in the way the other examples are. Yes it works your heart, but there are usually many relatively motionless pauses between short sets, as opposed to the constant push on your heart that accompanies more traditional forms of cardio work. Not a knock against weight lifting, just emphasizing a different type of heart activity.
You've clearly never lifted weights seriously. From a medicinal point of view different types of heart activities don't even exist.
Different types of cardio workouts definitely exist, and most trainers will tell you that a well-rounded health regimen requires a mix of many different types, including weight lifting juxtaposed with more cardio-centric exercises. But this thread is not about how to give your body the best workout.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#38It's ok to be lethargic sometimes. If it's very regular it could be a symptom of something else (maybe psychological; depression, general lack of motivation), so maybe you can talk to a therapist about it. Go for a run? If you don't have the energy to run, go for a walk. If you're not going to do anything during the day, might as well enjoy the sun and visit new places.
I find walks to be instrumental in keeping my mood up. I take a 15-20 minute walk in the mornings and in the afternoons -- I time it around those "will this day ever end" moments that come around 10:30 and 3:00. Getting some sunshine, focusing on other things, and getting out of the cube for a bit can do wonders.
I work for a government outfit as a programmer and I don't have the cool frameworks to play with, the pool table in the break room, etc. Sometimes you just have to get out of the space for a bit and let your mind wander.
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#39Take a break! Sleep, go out to a park and lie down in the sun, whatever makes you feel like you're not struggling to motivate yourself. Don't do leisure activities like computer games if they make you feel bored and unfulfilled - that'll just make you lethargic and depressed, in my experience.
If this is a regular problem for you, the time to address it is when you're feeling "up" - get exercise, get enough sleep (even if that involves midday naps, and I'm sure many other things that people can suggest).
Re: Ask HN: What do you do when you are lethargic?
#40Put on your fav music and dance when nobody sees you. I do it really often. I hate running, though I really enjoy cycling and dancing - managed to dance for like 6 hours to happy hardcore at a rave once, while I detest the 10-min running warmup before a lifting session (love lifting!). And yeah, go outside every single day if you're WFH.