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Study: Small Doses of Caffeine Best to Stay Awake
Ralph writes "This study concludes that smaller doses of caffeine throughout the day are more effective in keeping awake for long hours, rather than the traditional morning mug of coffee. However, in many cases, myself included, the problem isn't staying awake for long hours, but rather using uptime efficiently. Any known cures for the "laziness disorder" out there?"
Well, my guess is that slashdot is not the best cure for "laziness disorder".
I wonder what the best way to get these small doses might be. Perhaps snorting a line of coffee granules every few hours?
Ask your girlfriend not to have sex w/ you unless you can prove you took a few major items off your todo list.
[o]_O
If caffeine was just discovered today, it would be illegal to use in the USA.
It would be a Schedule 1 drug, right next to heroin, cocaine, pot, and peyote.
It satisfies the requirements of addiction, acute withdrawal, and abnormal body functions while partaking of it, along with long-term physiological affects.
When you say you need your fix, you are closer to the truth than you think!
Note-I don't necessarily agree with the above, but that's the way it is.
What does Java do for productivity?
And if you thought that was boring you obviously havn't read my Journal ;-)
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(1) Adequate sleep.
(2) Daily exercise.
(3) Sound nutrition.
My personal experience: I'm a total coffee fiend. But since I've followed the above guidelines, I don't go through withdrawal when I skip a day and I don't have mid afternoon sleepiness.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
When I left Uni and moved into the 'workforce', I often wondered why I found it so hard to actually do work. I mean, I did it, because I had to, but I really just felt so 'blah' about it all the time.
I hadn't felt that way at Uni that I could remember and I really just couldn't place my finger on why I felt like that.
Anyway, long story short, I left paid employment a year ago to go freelance, and it didn't take long for me to realise why I was feeling so lazy before. Put simply, it just takes me a while to get rolling, perhaps 6, 7, 8 hours between the time I get up and the time when I am ready to work. Once I'm ready then I am quite happy to work 10 hours straight without so much as a snack (provided the diet coke is close at hand of course).
I learnt that trying to work before I was in the mood is simply counter productive, I'll be easily distracted, I'll be grumpy and I'll probably get frustrated. But if I just relax and be lazy for a few hours then I'll soon be ready to code all night.
I had a similar philosophy when it came to studying at Uni (and school), if I wasn't in the mood for it then there was no point even trying because I wouldn't be able to concentrate so my time was better spent on other things until I felt like studying.
My point is that lazyness is perfectly normal, everybody feels lazy sometimes, some more than others. If at all possible you should simply accept that you are feeling lazy and do -- precisely whatever you want to do; when you're ready to work you will.
Of course if your stuck in the 9-5 corporate world then you're screwed - your employers won't understand that you would be far more productive if you could choose your own hours.
Instead of being hooked on caffeine throughout the day, you should cut it out of your diet. Humans have existed for thousands of years without caffeine so why does everyone think it's nessesary to function? You want to stay awake? Relax and go to sleep. Yeah, I know, easier said than done. But then tell me how taking stimulants throughout the day is going to help you relax?
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I have found that vitamin B12 is a better solution to keeping me awake. Not only does it keep you awake, but it keeps you alert as well. There have been numerous studies showing that B12 is good for keeping you alert. In fact, any good (read: not Red Bull or Rock Star, which are basically just sugar and caffiene, which will leave you in a blood sugar drop a few hours after you drink them) energy drink will have a high ammount of B12 in it.
Seriously, MJ is the best cure for laziness that I've ever tried. Just realize that set/setting matter. If you expect it not to work, it won't. But if you genuinely desire to get a lot done, and try it, in _small_ doses, you just may find things much easier to get a handle on both intellectually and emotionally. I have ADD, I have medication for it, and what I'm prescribed doesn't hold a candle to it, and is much worse in terms of wear and tear on the body.
Hey there is no such thing as a "correct" internal clock. And it certainly doesn't help that we still live by an agrarian schedule even though none of us are agrarian workers. Don't believe it? Then explain why if you arrive late it's a HUGE deal, but if you stay late no one cares at all. We still live by the agrarian clock and we still live by agrarian prejudices that place your internal clock (and mine) at the bottom of the abused minority list. Ben Franklin is a total asshole for coining that self fulfulling quote of his - "early to be and early to rise..." With the stroke of his pen he turned NON-morning people into second class citizens.
Anyway, you'll NEVER "fix" your clock, because there's nothing wrong with it. The problem is with something I'm overly fond of calling "Circadian Discrimination". You're a gay mulato Muslim? NO problem! As long as you're a morning person.
All you can do is work around it. Either by using sleep and wake techniques or by changing your schedule. You can make the early schedule Tolerable, or you can try to arrange an Enjoyable later schedule.
The other thing that helps tremendously is a job that doesn't bore you to death.
Operator, give me the number for 911!