Mental exhaustion vs. Physical exhaustion

[Descartes]

I work anywhere from 40 hours (light) per week to 80 hours per week (have been last few weeks). My job title is "senior" developer, which simply means, I get the more frustrating aspects of projects. In the past, I'd sometimes work 16hrs/day doing network installations for a solid week, and still have energy. Now, after 12hours of solid design, coding, etc., I sometimes feel like I'm going to pass out. I'm young, so apparantly everyone here thinks that I should have an unwaivering amount of energy.

I've always been told that mental exhaustion is worse than physical. It's very hard for me to recover when I'm mentally exhausted, especially when I get a maximum of 6 hours of sleep only a few days/week (weekends being the exception). Am I way off base here? Can anyone empathize?

 

[ChrichtonsGirl]

I feel your pain (Clinton moment). I get the same way - it's not so much that my jobs are physically demanding, but I have an awful time shutting off the mental part of it - so I waste a lot of mental energy on my job.

The only thing I've found to help right now is meditation. Even setting aside a half hour to do some light meditation, sometimes with some light yoga, usually helps a lot. You have to find that one thing, whatever it is, that recharges your mental battery. My ex used to use his drive home from work for that - he'd blast a CD from the metal band he liked during high school for the half hour commute, and by the time he got home, he'd left a lot of the work stress behind.

 

[Descartes]

I do the same thing as your ex. Quite often I'll take a drive, play some of my favorite Bach pieces, and I almost feel like I was never stressed to begin with.

The only thing that really irks me, is that my superior somehow feels that I shouldn't be tired.

 

[tim0thy]

<< The only thing that really irks me, is that my superior somehow feels that I shouldn't be tired >>



If my manager ever felt that way, I'll give him the finger and leave in an instant!

As for mental exhaustion, yes, I totally agree with you. After working over a year at where I'm at, doing shift work on any and all shifts (sometimes double), I can say that mental exhaustion has kicked in. Doesn't help that I'm always reading certification material and learning new things on my own either . Kinda like your body feels fine, but yet you feel tired all the time right?

Anyhow, solutions? I don't think there are any quick fixes. I believe taking a vacation is a good start though. Get away from work for a little bit, spend some time with the people you care most in your life and be happy. That's the only thing that keeps me going in the way that I described above.

 

[Descartes]

Exactly. My body is wide awake, but my mind is telling me to go to sleep. The result is horrible restlessness, anxiety, etc..

The reason my boss said that, is she works pretty much nonstop as well. There's simply no way I could ever work enough to constitute being tired in her eyes, as she'll always work more than I. What she doesn't understand, is that her delegation of work in no way compares to the concentration required to actually implement the work.

People will tell me. &quot;This is the design, can't you do that?&quot; It's as though taking an idea to fruition is just as simple as coming up w/ the idea in the first place. Ugh.

[edit]spelling [/edit]

 

[cipher00]

Mental exhaustion happens. Time helps, either in bits (music while commuting) or chucks (vacations). If the first isn't working, try the second.

 

[Azraele]

Sounds like you work hard. Perhaps you should take a vacation.

Or at least talk to your boss about it if it's a constant thing.

 

[vi edit]

From my experience vacations just make things worse

I'm never &quot;really&quot; on vacation because I still have to call into the office to make sure that things are running hunky dorey. And then once I get back, I've got a weeks worth of email, voice mail, and requests to fill out.

For me, exercise works the best. It sort of jolts your mind and gives it good kick start. All you need is an hour a day. Just hit the gym, lift some weights and break a sweat. WHen you are trying to do a bench press or a power clean, the last thing on your mind is whether or not your network at work is up an running.

After that hour is up, you feel refreshed, you'll have more energy, you've released a bunch of stress. Hell, even the hot shower after lifting is relaxing itself. (insert perverted comment here )

My last year of college I was taking 22 credit hours and working 36 hours a week on 12 hour third shift schedules. I worked from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM. If it wasn't for the gym, I think I would have ended up murdering someone

 

[shadow]

how are you guys sleep patterns?

do you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day? (and I mean every day, including weekends) Sleeping in on weekends is a baaad idea. Not having concrete sleeping patterns will slowly erode your energy. The other thing is exercise, if you don't have daily exercise (don't eat or exercise before you go to bed, another nono) you'll also find your energy levels dropping.

the other major player is diet. you will be amazed how much your diet ties into your energy - eat bad one day and eat good the other you will see a huge difference. sometimes just taking a dose of vitamins (liquid form) will kick your energy levels up.

it's either the above or metanphetamines (speed)

 

[vi edit]

Heck ya! Crystal Meth will keep you bright eyed and bushy tailed for a good 36 hours before you have to take a break(down).

 

[tim0thy]

What's sleep?

Sometimes I get that, sometimes I don't... :/