Post: #1

Question for guys out there with corporate gigs doing side projects. I work a job with regular hours, but many nights I'm working on my side projects in the evenings - side hustles, language learning, taking online courses, etc that require full concentration/mental faculties. But especially if I hit the gym after work, by the time I get home, a lot of the time I'm beat and operating at a fraction of my normal mental capacity in terms of reading comprehension, and just overall concentration/focus...

This doesn't happen all the time. Some days I'm just naturally in the zone and even if I've had a full day + workout, I'm able to jump in and get into the project I need to set my mind to for that evening. But I don't have a choice when to turn that on, especially if I have a deadline to meet.

I've found caffeine is effective to combat this, but the problem is that it ruins my sleep, even in small doses. I've used mondafinil and found the same thing - if I take it anytime after 12pm I'm going to have a horrible time getting to sleep.

I don't expect this to be an easy answer because essentially what I'm looking for is a short-term boost to energy levels/focus (2-3 hours) that after it wears off that I can still get to sleep that night. That probably doesn't exist but I thought I'd least check and see if anybody has come up with something that has helped to mitigate end-of-day fatigue and still be able to sleep, chemical or otherwise.

Post: #2

Well modafinil has a ˜12-15 hour half life so why don't you take it first thing?

Post: #3

Good point...I try to use mondafinil as a nuclear option when shit really hits the fan - like once/twice a month. Hesitant to start using it all the time, especially since most of the time I normally don't have a problem with focus during the day, just like 8pm-11pm when I'm finally home and trying to knock shit out. Just feels weird being on it the entire day if I'm doing well without it, until the evenings. I'm not anti-drug but I also think there's no biological free lunch with anything. But something to consider.

Post: #4

agreed, plus it does mean you have to plan ahead. Would love something like Modafinil that worked for say a 3 hr block

Post: #5

Maybe you can take a power nap at some point in the day. I often do that before going out, and though I'm a bit groggy at first, I feel the extra energy and focus later. And I need to set an alarm so I don't wake up at 4AM and say, "Shit!" Also the alarm, if it's your phone, should be somewhere that you have to get up out of bed to turn it off. I've slept through a golden opportunity by intending to hit snooze but accidentally turning the alarm off.

If you only have a half-hour or so to energize before going out, it may be better to meditate.

Post: #6

Hit the gym before work.
You will be tired when you come home. Eat some food, sit around.
But you will get your second wind.

This is what I do and I often have a hard time going to bed at my usual bed time.

Post: #7

(05-02-2014 01:29 AM)spalex Wrote:  Hit the gym before work.
You will be tired when you come home. Eat some food, sit around.
But you will get your second wind.

This is what I do and I often have a hard time going to bed at my usual bed time.

Good thought. I'm training BJJ and my gym doesn't have morning classes unfortunately. There's no gyms around here that have them. If I were just lifting through, or my gym had some damn morning classes, it would be a no-brainier. I did a morning BJJ class once in while I was working in NYC for a few days, and I felt amazing for the rest of the day through the night. Even though I didn't have much sleep the night before.

Post: #8

Try green tea or mate. Seems to work for me and won't keep me up all night like coffee. I will drink 2 or 3 cups of green tea in the afternoon sometimes

Post: #9

Why not go to bed earlier, and wake up earlier to workout and work on side projects before work?

Post: #10

Along with getting good sleep, I find that eating lighter/smarter helps with my "2nd wind" after 6pm

Post: #11

Why not slack off at work more. I've never worked a job where I needed to concentrate hard on actual work for more than 4 hours per day regularly. Sometimes only 1 or 2 hours is sufficient. Stop working your brain to death for a company that may or may not give you an extra 1% raise as your reward.
Work on your side business at work.

Post: #12

(05-06-2014 02:17 AM)dirt Wrote:  Try green tea or mate. Seems to work for me and won't keep me up all night like coffee. I will drink 2 or 3 cups of green tea in the afternoon sometimes

Forgot about mate. I have tried that in the past with good results, definitely going to hit that up.

(05-07-2014 06:09 PM)christpuncher Wrote:  Why not slack off at work more. I've never worked a job where I needed to concentrate hard on actual work for more than 4 hours per day regularly. Sometimes only 1 or 2 hours is sufficient. Stop working your brain to death for a company that may or may not give you an extra 1% raise as your reward.
Work on your side business at work.

Fair point. I've definitely worked more laid back jobs earlier in my career, but my current job is pretty intense these days so that's more difficult to do than it used to. I work that angle as much as possible but most of the times there's not enough slack in the workday for that to be viable.

(05-06-2014 09:21 AM)nmmoooreland20 Wrote:  Why not go to bed earlier, and wake up earlier to workout and work on side projects before work?

I'm doing jiu-jitsu and there's no gyms with morning classes in my area, so I'm kind of stuck with the evening classes unless I want to quit BJJ. Morning would be ideal, has worked out great in the past.

Post: #13

Have you tried 5-hour energy?

Half a bottle will stimulate me for about 2 hours.
If you regulate it with your caffeine intake then you shouldn't have any problems sleeping either.

I don't do it often. A cup of coffee after work usually puts me in gear to get shit done and as long as my momentums rolling I'll be grooving.

For the most part, getting in to a schedule and sticking to it has kept me from even needing a second wind.
It's a long day when you only sleep 6 hours a night and good diet/excercise is key to maximizing my waking hours.