
Fitter, happier, and other fantasies of modern life - pranshum
https://slightlymarxistfounder.com/2018/03/10/fitter-happier-more-productive/
======
wutbrodo
It seems to me that the author is missing the core problem here. The problem
isn't trying to improve oneself, but tying your self-worth to the success (or
failure) of these improvement efforts, or hoping for magic habits like IF or
polyphasic sleeping or a specific schedule to fix your life.

I don't stress about not achieving personal goals immediately, as long as I'm
making progress, or at least learning. My diet, for example, is pretty much a
model of what many people would ideally like to eat. I didn't do this by going
cold turkey, but rather by a decade of trying without judging myself for each
failure.

By contrast, I've failed pretty hard at trying to wake up earlier over the
last decade: instead of forcing myself to do so, I've made sure that my time
commitments allow for it. It turns out this was a pretty great way to handle
it, as I just found out I've had a sleep disorder for pretty much my entire
life. Now that I've addressed it, waking up earlier has become a lot more
feasible. If I had pushed myself and judged myself for failing the way the
author does, I feel like I would've failed at both those endeavors.

~~~
RobertRoberts
I had a similar experience, I couldn't get myself to exercise, at all. So one
day I told myself I don't have to do any more than one. One situp, one pushup,
etc... whatever I wanted for my routine. This was easy to start, easy to
maintain, and fantastically simple to overcome the mental block to do it.

I started 3 months ago and I am still not great at exercising, I do 2 minutes
at a time at most. And I'd do this a couple times a day. But no excuses
allowed because it's too dang easy to do, and I sound like a tiny baby
complaining about one single pushup.

Within a couple weeks of doing this, my sleep improved. I fell asleep a lot
easier, and woke up more refreshed. There's a freedom you get when you can
truly say "something is better than nothing", and then stick to it.

A number of times I have literally done one single pushup for my workout. :P
And it's just fine.

Edit: Actual routine (2 min) 20 pushups (maybe), 20 squats (maybe), halfass
jumping jack things (30 secs?), 20 crunches (maybe), 20 stupid looking back
crunches (not a real thing, but I like them), swing my arms around (monkey
exercise?), twist my next (feels good). I attempted a pullup multiple times a
day,finally after 2 weeks of this, I did a full pullup!

Today I did 2 pushups. :)

~~~
__blockcipher__
I recommend doing negatives (jumping up to the pullup bar off a box or
something and lowering yourself down steadily) to rapidly improve your
pullups. You can quickly get to being able to do one after never having been
able to, or in your case, you should be able to get from 1 pull/chin up to 3-4
fairly quickly.

Good luck, and keep up the good work

~~~
RobertRoberts
I like that idea, I will try it. I did get up to 4 though, but I am not
trying. :P I am doing the absolute minimum that I can handle. I don't break a
sweat even, and my breathing is barely elevated. (part of goals, not to over
do it)

Also, another rule I have, if it hurts, I stop. Period. So one day I did a few
squats, my knee felt funny on one, a little pain on the next. I stopped. The
next day it was fine and I did 20 squats again.

Thanks for the suggestion.

~~~
fyfy18
Regarding the pain, a few years ago I injured my lower back. Recently I
haven’t really been paying much attention to it, and even just bending down to
pick something up caused a little pain in my back and knees.

A month ago I went to a health spa and within a few days all my pain was gone.
I wasn’t doing very strenuous excercises, but the important thing was I was
doing something every day and using most of my muscles - it was basically
aerobics designed for middle-age people.

My point is firstly that pain can be caused just because you aren’t using the
muscles. Muscles get stiff if not used and that inturn can cause more problems
(I believe most of my back injury was caused by tight hamstrings).

And secondly it’s often easy to fix, you don’t need to be deadlifting 300lbs
and spending 3 hours in a gym, just some simple excercises you can do at home
is enough. I wouldn’t even worry about how many you can do or whether your
form is perfect (within reason), just using the muscles is the important part
- especially for most of us who are at a desk for 9+ hours a day.

~~~
RobertRoberts
Thanks for the note, it's good to know it's not a fluke to have these methods
work out.

It's almost comical how rarely I've heard the kind of advice for light
exercise. It's almost always "you have to get your heart rate up to 120 bpm
for 30 min or you are wasting your time!" bah. "you need to do 200 reps or
you're wasting your time!" double bah.

I run a totally lame mile run a few times a week, and I like my exercising, I
make it easy and mostly enjoyable, and it's turned my life around.

I agree with the sore muscle thing, I had my acheles tendon hurt really bad
when running. So I had to stop for a month. But when I started to run again,
it still hurt, I was worried.

Here's the really dumb part. My TV/movie based medical knowledge told me that
I may have to work through some pain (ie, like in physical therapy) to get my
ankle back to normal. It was healed, just not in shape, or some such dumb
thing. And it worked! (yah for the movie about the hurt army soldier who had
to get his legs working again! and the stubborn nurse that wouldn't let him
quit!)

Remember in old british movies/tv they would go out on a "constitutional"? (I
thought that was so uptight and funny when I was younger)

------
beams_of_light
I'm of the belief that all those stories about CEOs who wake up at 4:30 AM,
hit the gym, and have another notch in their belt by 7 AM are not products of
their routine, but rather that their routines are products of themselves. One
can't usurp those lifestyles without changing their unique set of
circumstances up to that point, their genetics, their gut bacteria, or any of
a plethora of other factors. Being someone is like being a planet, forged by
chance from matter swirling around after chaotically exploding into the
universe. Dialogue on the Internet is narrowing our perceptions of what it
means to be an individual, and that's not really a good thing, IMO.

~~~
matwood
As someone who gets up early and works out, I have noticed that the discipline
required to make it to the gym early carries through the rest of my life. The
flip side is when I start being lazy in one area of my life it permeates to
other areas.

~~~
enraged_camel
On the other hand, willpower has been shown in multiple studies to be a
limited resource[1], so on days where I force myself to wake up early, I end
up making caving and bad decisions later in the day, like eating a bag of
doritos.

[1][https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-
resource.pd...](https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf)

~~~
beagle3
Baumeister’s ego depletion experiments failed to replicate spectacularly. On
phone now, so you’ll need to google yourself.

------
kerpal
What I always wonder is why strive for productivity at all? I see all these
self-help blog posts about boosting productivity, getting more out of your
day, etc. They all seem to eschew the virtues of productivity in lieu of
hedonism. Can't we have both? Or is the problem moderation? If we don't
balance productivity with enjoyment and relaxation we oscillate from each
extreme. I confess I've been a bit obsessed with self-help books and websites.
With that said, when I compare my more productive self to my time-wasting,
hedonistic side, I prefer to have a mix of both. Striving for the extreme
hacks to maximize time to be more productive seem pointless if you aren't
having fun or enjoying yourself. Strive for achievement sure, but also enjoy
life.

~~~
your-nanny
If increasing my productivity doesn't increase my salary, but decreases my
happiness, then why indeed?

~~~
RobertRoberts
This is an interesting idea. (Office Space interview with the "Bobs" comes to
mind) Would you say that your experience fits with the idea that many people
are more productive because of recognition from their manager/boss is more
valuable than money? (within reasonable parameters)

~~~
your-nanny
F&#k recognition. That whole thing is just a brainhack scam by management
types to avoid paying people for the monetary value they produce.

People generally crave social validation, but very few will pay for it. Yet,
that is exactly what that proposal entails: reduced salary in exchange for
(forced/insincere) validation and recognition by management. The only
difference is that the latter is the passive choice.

~~~
RobertRoberts
The only reason I thought to ask was data presented years ago that said people
will only be motivated by money so far... But would you work in a place for
lots of money where they treated you poorly?

I generally agree that corporate head-honchoes will bilk anyone they can for
every penny they can...

~~~
your-nanny
I don't disagree.

------
ponderatul
I'm afraid the author has fallen into a very dangerous trap of modernity, that
of adding things to improve one's life. You should try the other side of the
coin as well. Taking stuff out. Especially junk that is served daily.
Mainstream media, endless shows, social media, porn ( if you have that problem
). Replace it with real stuff: walking, meeting with friends etc.

------
internetman55
didn't read the article closely, but i'm sick of people getting memed into
caring about things like intermittent fasting and honey vinegar drinks (???)
and mindfulness meditation apps.

It seems like people are unable to focus on the big picture stuff that
actually matters (don't get fat, sleep enough, have enough money to not be
broke, have good relationships with family and friends, managing stress
effectively, etc.). So they get obsessed with these random things nobody gives
a fuck about and fail at the big picture stuff.

~~~
RobertRoberts
I find that these things _can_ go hand in hand. Being physically healthy won't
make you nicer, but if you are healthy, it's easier to have more patience (as
one example of a complimentary benefit).

I am nicer and more forgiving when I don't have a sore throat or a migraine.
And when I have more energy, I can play with kids instead of taking a nap.

~~~
taneq
I think it's a very analogous situation with wealth, actually. "More money
won't make you a better person," but if you're broke and desperate you're more
likely to do something shifty to survive. Likewise, being physically healthy
and getting enough sleep won't "make you a better person" but if you're sick
and chronically sleep-deprived it sure can make you behave like a prick.

~~~
RobertRoberts
> _...but if you 're sick and chronically sleep-deprived it sure can make you
> behave like a prick._

Or make it _harder_ to not behave like a prick?

~~~
taneq
It moves your setpoint for prick/nonprick behaviour changeover along the
scale?

------
projektir
I'm sympathetic to the point being made, but I think the target (i.e., root
cause) is wrong.

People trying to improve their lives is not a bad thing, whether that is
getting more exercise or trying to be more mindful. That's not actually the
problem. On the whole, a given person would live better if they could
magically add exercising 3 times a week to their life. The problem is, really,
lack of empathy. The problem is that we blame the person for not doing so,
instead of their situation. We blanket request that this person achieves this,
but not for their benefit, but for ours...

People in the world are actually in very different phases of life, and some
phases are simply worse than others. People don't all start out at the same
exact point so that it takes them all the same amount of resources to reach
exercising 3 days a week, for example. People have very different backgrounds.
This is often ignored, so the whole idea of self-improvement tends to just not
take into account the general _ugliness_ and _messiness_ of the world. Then,
people brought up in such a world, comparing themselves to expectations born
out of refusing to see the ugly world, will of course feel inadequate. And
what this tends to do is squeeze out the people who don't feel welcome and
generating an elite of sorts. "Live fitter, happier, more productive" does not
have a very diverse audience...

Another problem is that modern living simply has more information and tasks to
keep track of. The pure amount, after a while, takes a toll that's very hard
to directly calculate. But there's a very big difference between stress of
having to do 2-3 things, but having little control over other long term
things, vs having (theoretical) control of most facets of your life but that
resulting in 20-30 things to keep track of. Having so much control creates
this impression that everything is your fault, resulting in nearly an endless
source of guilt if you don't nip it in the bud.

Of course people turn to productivity apps and hacks - they have more to
manage and are overloaded! Many people end up unable to manage the process
automatically so they, understandably, use various tools to help.

------
PeterStuer
I was reminded of Gilbreth's (yes, that Gilbreth of "I will always choose a
lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way
to do it") observation of so called expertise. We are often seduced by the
display of intensity and effort, as judging effectiveness much harder and less
apparent.

"Gilbreth noted was that the so-called expert factory workers are often the
most wasteful of their motions and strength. Because of their energy and
ability to work at high speed, such men may be able to produce a large
quantity of good work, and thus qualify as experts, but they tire themselves
out of all proportion to the amount of work done."

------
amriksohata
The biggest culprit is unregulated modern business, it feeds us rubbish food
through mass marketing, which leads to crappy guts and depression, stress
through aggresive worklife and focus on quick success. The underlying emotions
are greed and gluttony.

~~~
dpwm
I think you're ignoring the many positives in this.

What would happen to the change-your-life-in-24-hours book segment of the
economy; the fad-diet book industry; the people who claim authorship of the
books; the photographers who sell their images to a middleman to license to
the publisher; the publishers that print them.

And when the books don't work because there's an entire industry devoted to
feeding consumers misinformation and convincing them that the low-effort
obvious things they can do (moving your diet as far away as possible from what
the processed food industry is selling and becoming more active) won't work
unless you're deeply abnormal in some way, the situation is beneficial to the
healthcare industry that benefits from prescribing antidepressants and
treating obesity-related diseases.

The wealth-creators of these industries are creating jobs in growing sectors
of the economy. If you fix the real underlying problems, people will be out of
their livelihoods.

~~~
RobertRoberts
Just to clarify (I am dense) this is a sarcastic post, right? (please forgive
my stupidity if you are being serious, and if not, for wrecking your joke)

~~~
dpwm
Definitely not fully serious, so I'm pleased you questioned it. There was no
stupidity on your part and no joke to ruin.

I was simply attempting to construct an argument that can be made before
somebody else did so. It's not something I agree with, and I suspect few could
agree with it as being overall good with the examples I used, but the economic
upsides do seem, to first order, to be undoubtedly real.

It's really more like an adaptation of the Parable of the Broken Window [0].
The problem is that for each commercial party involved, any fixing of the root
cause makes things worse for them and those they employ. In other words, this
is an area where pandering to business interests will never fix the root
problem, because economic improvement for a host of industries requires people
getting worse.

Politicians don't generally want to put those that elected them out of work.
And yet sometimes the alternative is shortening or worsening the lives of
others. The thing is nobody will associate the shortened life expectancy or
the worsened state of being with the decision-makers but they will if their
action causes the loss of their jobs.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window)

~~~
RobertRoberts
Good to know I am not losing touch with reality. Normally I'd ignore your
comment or add a real response... but I just couldn't figure out which was the
right way to go with it. ha.

------
randomsearch
What I have learned about living so far: Exercise regularly. Sleep well. Eat
well. Make time to relax e.g. meditation. That’s pretty much it.

Getting up very early sounds like an absolutely terrible idea, and I would
never recommend it to anyone. You’re just going to be sleep deprived, and
sleep deprived people make dumb decisions and work slowly.

~~~
uhhyeahdude
I am a sleep deprived person, and I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly.
I am experimenting with sleep reduction for a longstanding and difficult
affective issue--it works!

It also makes me feel dumb; and judging by things I've written recently, I am
trading misery for intelligence, at least in certain areas. Misery, it's worth
pointing out, can lower an individual's cognitive abilities.

Side note: I agree about food and exercise. I knew, from past experience, that
I need to pay careful attention to what I eat and how I exert myself.

I just couldn't seem to get going. I have no rational explanation, but there
you have it.

So far, the sleep-restriction experiment, consisting of one night per week
without sleep, is showing favorable results. I know I'm coming off as a
dullard more than I usually do, but I'm not clawing my face off worrying about
it. Oh, and it seemed to lift whatever was preventing me from improving my
diet and activity levels. I wish I had a better solution, or that I had some
innate drive to just _do_ the things I strongly believe beneficial simply
because doing beneficial things is rational.

------
kolbe
Poor guy. He's only just started his long journey into a postmodern nihilist
breakdown.

Once you realize that every core belief you once held was manufactured by a
corporation/religion/government in an effort to empower that agency, then life
really begins.

~~~
ishanr
Very interesting. Can you suggest somewhere to learn more?

~~~
verylittlemeat
Not to be flippant but try introspection.

Why do you believe or desire the things you do? Be honest with yourself and
try to keep in mind at all times the role of moral/social pressure. Think
about history and the different forms of status and normality that came
before.

Go ahead and read books by great thinkers but don't let that be everything.
The most valuable form of learning is when you can untether yourself from
appeals to authority in conversation and speak intelligently about your own
conclusions.

------
ris
Interesting that Thom is supposed to be quite embarrassed by Fitter Happier
these days and reportedly it's one of the only statements he wishes he could
take back.

~~~
sideshowb
That's interesting, got a source? Also though I wouldn't wish regret on
anyone, probably helpful to aspiring artists to know that everyone makes
mistakes.

~~~
ris
Not really I'm afraid - can't remember what interview I read it in, but you
can probably find something with a bit of creative googling.

~~~
mattmanser
It's in here, seems to be from interviews in Humo and Q magazine (never heard
of the former, remember the latter from the 90s):

[http://diffuser.fm/radiohead-fitter-happier/](http://diffuser.fm/radiohead-
fitter-happier/)

 _" I'm not standing behind the lyrics any more. Sometimes your ideas get
entangled with other ideas and then you have to apologise for the original
idea because it doesn't make sense any more. That's what happened with 'Fitter
Happier.' Now, I listen to the piano part."_

The ending line is pretty harsh on people who just want to improve their lives
("A pig in a cage on antibiotics"), I've always had mixed feelings about the
song when I've heard it when trying to fix a (perceived?) problem in my life.

It's a a bit of a childish view on adults, every lyric writer will look back
on his teenage/early 20s thoughts and see that growing older has suddenly made
you understand your elders and cringe at how ridiculous your views actually
were when you're young, immortal and carefree. When it turns out youth doesn't
last, we all die and mummy and daddy stop paying at some point.

------
gkfasdfasdf
A modern version of this song would replace 'Eating well, no more microwave
dinners and saturated fats' with 'Eating well, no more processed foods and
refined sugars'

------
zamfi
Looks like the actual title of this piece is "Fitter, happier, more
productive... and other fantasies of millennial life."

That has a bit of a different implication.

How many older-than-millennial folks feel this same pressure?

~~~
UncleEntity
> How many older-than-millennial folks feel this same pressure?

IDK, I think my generation are the ones who took up the mantle and crammed
this stuff down the youngsters' throats. I'd imagine that most marketing
agencies are run by folks my age who came up through the ranks while the
millennials were in their formative years and they grew up being brainwashed
by the hippies who took over the education system after their revolution
failed.

Growing up though, it was perfectly acceptable to be a slacker with plenty of
role models on TV and in the movies.

------
dcre
I was really hoping for more Marxism.

------
123212321
Probably some of this stuff does work. The real problem is that changing your
life is really difficult. Mainly because there is inertia in your environment.
People expect you to act and think how you have done in the past, your job
expects you to show up at a specific time, think a certain way. The bar you
frequent has a set of emotions associated with it. So does the coffee shop.
And so it all snowballs, and you try to break free but the memories are
everywhere

------
throwaway_234
I wonder how much nurture vs. nature plays apart of how much exercise you
enjoy/do?

I go to the gym twice a week and have done so for years. My mom in her 70s
still exercises weekly as she has done since as far as i can remember. I have
other active friends whose parents were the same while my inactive friends
parents were and are inactive.

personally sitting around vs. hiking or climbing a mountain or swimming laps
would drive me crazy. Theres so much to experience and enjoy.

------
ozim
Maybe just start being responsible adult who sees broader would be good start.

Seeing through yoga pants marketing trick is not enough. You have to look
further. You want perfect models in books, like 4 a.m. waking up CEO. Because
we all know it is hard to change or become like model from a book. But you
still can be better 5% than yourself a week ago by trying to do it.

Responsible adult should know those are only perfect guidelines. You also know
no one will buy book that will tell him how to be 5% better. Why would I read
story of my neighbor who lifts 5kg more on the gym? How would it motivate me
to even try to get better?

Whole pop culture and pop science is about creating perfect vision of life. If
we achieve 5% of that we will be a lot better.

