151–160 of 202 posts
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OT: Why do surgeons start work at 5 am?
I've heard a few theories, including some speculation that body functions are slowest at this time. More practically, a morning surgery generally means the patient has fasted overnight, and has an empty upper GI tract, reducing the risks of vomiting. Aspiration of vomit is a significant surgical risk.
This sounds horrible... and like it would ruin my productivity towards the end of my work day. How about waking up early to exercise?
I tried waking up early to exercise, but I can't motivate myself to get out of bed to exercise. I could motivate myself to get up if I were working on my own projects. I'll have to try this.
A lot of commenters have talked about the pros of this routine, and there are many. Few interruptions, working while your mind is fresh, working within a regimen, etc. However, if you don't have an equivalent amount of discipline on at night to get enough rest, you will quickly burn yourself out. I did this routine for a lot of the second half of 2011, and since I'm a night owl by nature (going to bed at 12 midnight…
The caffeine is a vicious cycle (I've been there.) When you're short on sleep, you need it to get through the day, but the side effect is you end up staying up later than you need to. Also, if you want to get to sleep, avoid screens (TV, computer) for the last hour or two before bedtime and you'll find it's a lot easier (E-ink readers like the Kindle are great for this.) It's hard to switch gears from the stimulation…
Is there evidence for this? I've heard it's true, and it seems to be from my personal experience, but I've never seen any kind of a study of it.
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Maybe due to over use of caffeine?
I'm the same way, and my friends had the same reaction as you. They suggested that if I cut out caffeine and sugar then my body's own natural energy would resurface, and I'd stop being so groggy until the mid-afternoon. So, I listened to them, and for 9 months I consumed no stimulants at all. After 9 months of this experiment, I was -- and I know the story isn't supposed to work this way, but it did -- consistently g…
Go see an endocrinologist, stat! Your quality of life, and even longevity, could be at serious peril.
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Maybe due to over use of caffeine?
I've been like this for as long as I can remember, so caffeine isn't it.
This is because, historically, our main predators were nocturnal, while we hunted almost exclusively in the two twilights (we have substantially better twilight vision than virtually any animal). So when the wolves came at 3 AM we'd be at our most energetic and when it's relatively safe (3 PM in daylight year round), we'd be taking a ciesta.
If your body is off hormonally, grogginess throughout the day is a primary sign. When my body was substantially off from ages 18-24, I actually became completely nocturnal, just because 12-5 AM were the only times I felt anywhere near energetic.
My wife is a surgeon. I'm up at 5am with her, drive her to work, then sit down and start working myself around 5:30. I find that I'm fantastically productive from then until about 9 or 10am. I take a long lunch break (and go running or xc-skiing depending on how much snow is on the ground); aside from that I don't have any trouble going straight through the afternoon, though my afternoons are less productive (I usual…
OT: Why do surgeons start work at 5 am?
Second, they don't start operating at 5. They actually couldn't--the non-M.D. staff (nurses and techs) work on "normal" shifts, so there's only a minimal overnight crew (present to handle emergencies that cannot wait until morning) at that time. Surgeries actually start around 7:30-8:00 typically, but the team needs to round on the patients under their care and discuss what's slated for the day before they go into the OR. Since that takes a couple hours, they start at 5.
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The caffeine is a vicious cycle (I've been there.) When you're short on sleep, you need it to get through the day, but the side effect is you end up staying up later than you need to. Also, if you want to get to sleep, avoid screens (TV, computer) for the last hour or two before bedtime and you'll find it's a lot easier (E-ink readers like the Kindle are great for this.) It's hard to switch gears from the stimulation…
Also, if you want to get to sleep, avoid screens (TV, computer) for the last hour or two before bedtime and you'll find it's a lot easier Is there evidence for this? I've heard it's true, and it seems to be from my personal experience, but I've never seen any kind of a study of it.
Studies [edit: PDFs]: [1] http://www.journalsleep.org/Articles/250312.pdf
[2] http://www.sciencesleep.org/ziliao/Effects%20of%20playing%20...
[3] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2869.2005....
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The caffeine is a vicious cycle (I've been there.) When you're short on sleep, you need it to get through the day, but the side effect is you end up staying up later than you need to. Also, if you want to get to sleep, avoid screens (TV, computer) for the last hour or two before bedtime and you'll find it's a lot easier (E-ink readers like the Kindle are great for this.) It's hard to switch gears from the stimulation…
Also, if you want to get to sleep, avoid screens (TV, computer) for the last hour or two before bedtime and you'll find it's a lot easier Is there evidence for this? I've heard it's true, and it seems to be from my personal experience, but I've never seen any kind of a study of it.