
Ask HN: Does anyone else struggle to do computer work when tired? - Wmamouth
I’m specifically referring to a lack of sleep.<p>I’ve noticed that if I’m sleep deprived, especially if there’s a sleep debt of a few bad nights in a row, I feel really unmotivated and it’s difficult to concentrate.<p>Of course everyone is far happier and performs much better when well rested. But I feel like it potentially affects me more than other people.<p>The difference is astounding, I’d estimate a 80% reduction in motivation and cognitive ability if I’ve had a few 4 hour nights in a row.<p>Sitting in front of a computer concentrating on something complex feels almost physically painful, when I’m well rested I’m usually quite upbeat and pretty excited about the projects I’m working on.<p>Does anyone else feel this way?<p>Any suggestions For things that have helped you perform at your best when you’re exhausted?
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xnorkl
I've noticed that if I'm getting inadequate sleep, yes, motivation and
concentration are in limited supply. But if I'm working on a project non-stop,
and I have that momentum, I can go without little to no sleep. ...I wouldn't
push anything to prod after an allnighter though.

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simonhfrost
> Any suggestions For things that have helped you perform at your best when
> you’re exhausted?

Don't get exhausted in the first place by sleeping more? If you're still
seeing sleep as an inconvenient necessity, I'd recommend reading 'Why We
Sleep': [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-
sleep](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep)

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sethammons
Right there with you. As I get older, if I get dramatically little sleep it
can mess up my ability to concentrate for days. A rough night of near zero
sleep or a hard on call rotation with lots of sleep interruptions can leave me
as a zombie. No advice really aside from prioritizing sleep and taking naps,
just noting you are very much not alone.

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1123581321
I fee this way too. If I need to get something done anyway, I usually buy a
bag of baby carrots and drink water with the carrots while I work through it.
I also have some black coffee at the start.

For time frames longer than a day, for people like us, there is no substitute
for going to bed earlier.

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Wmamouth
There’s something specific about sitting still concentration that is
particularly painful for me when sleep deprived.

Physical activities that require concentration like surfing or even martial
arts training I can get through and even temporarily make that miserable
exhausted feeling disappear.

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TechBro8615
More like the opposite for me. I can get more rote programming done (which is
90% of what I need to do) when sleep deprived, than I can when awake. When I'm
awake I don't want to do the boring tasks so I find things to distract myself.

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dnh44
I suffer from this. I try to make sure I don’t get caught in a cycle of
staying up late to make up for the lack of productivity that day. Instead I’ll
get to sleep early and try to wake up feeling good the next day.

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ta97879787
Here are my suggestions:

1\. Accept that you will probably be less productive as you expect. Being
angry that you're not fully productive will make you even less productive.
Make your goal to be 'as productive as I can realistically be under my current
circumstances'.

2\. Aggressively pre-empt distractions if possible. Get rid of anything you
might want to read or watch from your work environment. If you can do your
work without it, turn off your phone. If you can do your work without it, turn
off the internet. If there is noise around you, especially people talking, get
earplugs or noise cancelling headphones. If you can't do your work without it,
but you can limit your internet to essential work related things, or at least
block your worst temptations (e.g. HN, reddit, youtube) in your hosts file, or
in your router, or using your ISP's Parental Controls, do that. Don't even
listen to music, when your brain power is low even that can suck away
productivity. If you don't have earplugs but need to block out others talking,
listen to white noise, just not so loud as to damage your hearing obviously.

3\. Consider negotiating with yourself. What's a reasonable amount of work you
can get done in your current condition? Commit to it, and also commit to
stopping when its done. Expect to crash a few hours after getting up and don't
punish yourself when it happens.

4\. Get to work ASAP after waking up to make the most of your most productive
hours. If you can put off any chores, even showering & dressing & brushing
teeth, more than basic food, do it. Your first four hours after waking up will
be the most productive, use them to do what's critical.

5\. Caffeine. Consider caffeine with the other items in this list to commit to
and achieve a limited number of productive hours. Then accept the rest of the
day as recovey or unproductive, or rest as reward for sticking to your
commitment of, e.g. 2 or 4 solid hours of work. Or maybe 6 - 4 in the morning,
nap then 2 more in the evening. Second to the hours after waking up, you are
most awake in the _early_ evening.

6\. Eat. Second after light, eating food influences your circadian rhythm.
I.e. eating wakes you up. But don't eat _a lot_ that will make you fall
asleep. So eat, eat some, eat regularly, but don't pig out.

7\. Consider a controlled nap, 2 hours max, after lunch, to get some boost in
productivity in the afternoon. Commit to a time, set an alarm. Maybe prep some
food or caffeine you can consume as a reward for getting up when the alarm
goes off to make sure you don't stay in bed.

8\. Long term - practice some form of concentration meditation. A lot of
Buddhist monks are trained under sleep deprivation. It doesn't make sense to
me - but if they can enter samatha (a concentrated 'flow' like state) and even
enlightenment under prolonged sleep deprivation, maybe it is possible to learn
to concentrate under those conditions after all.

9\. Forgive yourself. It is OK to be human. I had to hear/read this thousands
of times before I started to understand it and be able to apply it. So here's
0.1% of a dose for you :-) It's amazingly powerful once you truly _get_ it.

10\. Remember __why __you 're doing what your doing. Try to find a reason that
really matters, and if you can't consider the possibility that you're doing
the wrong thing. Bad reasons (unless you happen to be deeply and profoundly
motivated by these reasons, in which case go ahead) status, money, fame, "I'm
supposed to be able to do this", "I'm worthless if I don't do this", "I will
disappoint X if I don't do this". Good reasons: I'm doing this to ensure a
stable income in my retirement. I'm doing this to support my family. I'm doing
this because the end product will help relieve people's suffering, I'm doing
this because it's profoundly interesting or beautiful.

11\. See a doctor, get a workup, get a sleep study, make sure there's nothing
biological interfering with your sleep or body.

12\. See a therapist, if possible/needed.

~~~
ta97879787
_It 's not letting me edit so here's another one_

13\. Whenever you feel like you can't possibly work, remind yourself that this
might not be a true feeling. Concentration can take time to build up, for me
its often something like 20 minutes (which is, incidentally why my meditation
book says you should meditate for at least 45 minutes - the first 15-20 are
just warm up - the productive work gets done in the last half hour). Pick the
smallest possible thing related to your work, no matter how small or stupid it
feels, and do it. E.g. for me, as a programmer:

\- I suppose in order to work I have to open my IDE. I guess I can do that.
Here it is on my task bar. Click. OK first step complete.

\- I suppose in order to continue to work I should open the project I need to
work on. I guess that's doable without thinking. File > Open > Foo.project.
Exhale.

\- OK. OK. OK. I suppose, if I were working the next thing I would need to do
is find the file I need to edit and open it. (Or remember what the last thing
I was working on). OK. Remembered. File navigated to. File open.

\- Exhale. OK. I suppose, if I were working the next thing I would need to do
is find the function I was last editing. what was it called again? I don't
remember, just diff with source control. Ah, OK foobardef. Close diff. Go back
to file. Control-F foobardef.

\- What was I trying to do again, OK, I guess let's figure out where I left
off by skimming or reading the code that's there...

etc, etc, etc...

