Ask HN: How to Overcome Mental Fatigue?

[MathCodeLove]

I find that most days after work, and often before my work day officially ends, I'm mentally drained and unable to do any more meaningful work.

I want to work on personal projects when I get home, but so often am unable to devote the attention I'd like to devote due to having already drained myself that day at work. In the office I reach a point where I know that I'm done for the day and will just sit at my desk not really accomplishing anything for an hour or two.

How do you overcome this?

[hyperluz]

Currently I use the following tools: - try to drink enought water during the workday (this is important)

- snickers candy bars (they have low IG) + 473 ml of sugar free redbull (drink it cool and at once. Edition with sugar gave me serious acne, so it's my last resource)

- normal or dehydrated apples as snacks;

- integral bread for snacks;

- 20 min power naps from time to time;

- a countdown timer;

- well illuminated environment

- well ventilated/oxigenated environment;

- avoid to lie down;

Final observation: red bull, sugar and candy bars are acid. So, after consuming then, its a good measure to drink water soon after its consumption.

[hyperluz]

errata: "low IG" -> "low GI"

[runjake]

This question gets asked a ton, so be sure to hit HN search for past threads and advice.

The most common advice is:

- Plenty of exercise. Specifically, when you feel like taking a nap after a long day, try a short run or another short, brisk workout instead. If you're like me, it'll invigorate you.

- Plenty of sleep

- Eat healthy

- Minimize distractions and useless consumption.

[burntoutfire]

The only thing that worked for me was to spend less effort at the job. Most of us are not superhumans, working full-time in a mentally demanding job and wanting to do more mentally demanding work after hours is just more than typical human can handle.

[baby_angel]

maybe you're just having a period in your life where you are giving everything you have at the moment. dont drive yourself to exhaustion or into a burnout episode. life is a cycle, you'll be back on your feet. also take so time off on your weekends so you can reset and can go back to where you want to