• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

To the people who hold it down from morning...

captainballs

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
9,954
...until night. I'm looking for the extremely busy people who have the following characteristics: energy in spades, mental alertness for at least a guaranteed 10 hours, generally agreeable attitude, consistently healthy complexion, etc. You know who you are, and I want to know what your routine is. I realize that attitude may have a lot to do with all of this, but attitude is directly related to what kind of health you are keeping yourself in under extremely busy conditions (arguably). I'm not going to name a specific list of categories, but there are some obvious ones to think about like sleep routine and diet. Also, if you play a sport recreationally, how do you fit it in so that it benefits your energy levels without tiring you out too much to deal with your responsibilities? Think outside the box, too, though...

Why am I so curious? Well, I'm about to be thrust into exactly the type of environment that the seasoned busy people thrive in, except I'm completely out of practice. I have until the end of May to develop my own routine, and I could use some models of other people's routines so that one day I may also become the Michael Jordan of staying alert and feeling great daily under extremely long and mentally exhausting conditions.
 
The most important thing is that you are going to need to do is to like whatever it is you are doing for 10 hours a day. Otherwise it will inevitably burn you out. Healthy sleep patterns, healthy diet, regular excersise, stress reduction/relaxation techniques, and healthy social relationships in your life are all important. But they aren't quite as important as actually liking what you doing. If you really like what you are doing you will be able to "cheat" on these other things for a considerable while, though eventually you will need those things. OTOH if you don't like what you are doing for 10 hours a day you'll likely be too burned out to keep up with the other things to begin with.
 
me neither.
That's why I've chosen the student life!
If my energy wanes, I can read more later. :)

ebola
 
Okay I'll answer, because I've been this person when I've been at my best.

It was about 7 years ago, when I was doing a job I LOVED (important point number 1). I would get up every morning 2 hours before I had to be at work, and jog for 40 minutes (important point no. 2), I would come back home and eat a big, healthy breakfast of oatmeal and fruit or wholegrain toast and peanut butter (important point no.3); shower and dress in clothes in which I felt great, because I was in great shape, and go to work.

After work, I had a full, interesting social life because I made the effort to connect with people (important point no.4); people wanted me to be places, and I went if I felt like it, and if not, I was perfectly happy being at home by myself. I didn't drink much alcohol (important point no.5), simply because it didn't appeal to me at that point in time.

At weekends I had a consuming interest, which was ameteur theatre, which made me feel fullfilled, energetic, and gave purpose to my weekends (important point no.6)... I was so busy I didn't have to worry about sitting around wondering what I should be doing with my life and why I was here.... I didn't even do any drugs at that stage (important point no.7).

I didn't even get on the internet (errr..)

This was the happiest stage of my life. I often wonder how to get back there, but it seems too big, too hard. I have so many more complications now than I had back then. But what I remember most is having a hobby I loved, having job satisfaction, and having a routine in which exercise was an absoultely *un-missable* part of my day.

I wonder if there's something in that.
 
A lot of things in my life changed.

I moved from my home town to the big city to pursue a different career I thought I wanted.... I broke up with my long-term boyfriend at the time and the way that that happened totally destroyed me....

Then I hooked up with my current partner, who, while I love him to death, is not the best influence as far as healthy living is concerned... he's a heavy drinker and his whole social group revolves around that. He introduced me to drugs. To be fair, I took the drug thing and ran with it... now I do speed and E more than he does ;). But if I had to pinpoint one downfall it would be alcohol.

I have aclimatised myself to drinking, and now it is normal to me to drink a lot, and during the week too. It has totally skewed my priorities. I'm in a stage now of clawing myself back from that precipice, and doing very well. I hope eventually to get back to where I was, but it's hard when the person you love is not on the same wavelength.
 
^ sure is.

Maybe some gentle encouragement is in order? exercise can be great to do together. When you have another person, you can both motivate each other too.

If you can get him doing it enough, like most people, he should start to gain motivation.
 
He's actually trying at the moment too, but unfortunately the mode of exercise he enjoys (bike riding) is not the type I enjoy, so we can't do it together. Still, I think I do inspire him when I start on my fitness efforts... he drags his bike out and starts to ride to work. He's not a bad egg really ;)

ps. I've lost 6.4kg in the last 3 months :) :)
 
I used to be such a lazy person, since ive had the last 4 months off and doing nothing after finishing year 12 last year, but now i dont have time to do anything but work and school.

My advice would be to just keep busy, get heaps of sleep, excercise a few times a week and eat healthy stuff. I go to beauty school 9 hours a day, then straight to the gym for another 2 hours. By the time i get home all i want to do is bum around then go to bed early. Because i have to get up early for school anyway. And the 3 days im at skool for a week, the other 3 days a week im at work for 9 hours a day for. Then gym after that. My only day off is a sunday, and the only way i adjusted to this lifestyle was keeping busy, otherwise you will slack off, and then keeping busy slowly but surely becomes routine. And then you start to enjoy it. But also dont forget to socialise and enjoy life at the same time.

Good luck :)
 
^^Thanks, I'll need it.

It was about 7 years ago, when I was doing a job I LOVED (important point number 1).

The most important thing is that you are going to need to do is to like whatever it is you are doing for 10 hours a day.

I don't think I'm going to have this advantage. I also realize that this is the most important thing, but what if you're not exactly sure that you will enjoy what you're doing? Even though I'll be working in an office, I feel like I'm going to need the nerves of a soldier to survive.

I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to learn to love it myself. But thanks for the advice regarding other important things. I definitely am going to try to make some new friends at the office, because I know that will make it possibly awesome.
 
Last edited:
Look, not everyone is going to love their job. I sure as hell don't but I don't despise it either.

Basically I work around 10 hours a day, excercise around two.

I work 10.30am to 7pm 5 days a week, I'm either awake at 7.15am or 7.45am depending on whether I'm running or swimming that day, respectivley.

Training is normally 1-2.5 hours in the morning, depends on what type of excercise I'm doing that day.

I'll get home and prepare my lunch, shower etc then leave for work.

I generally eat around 4 meals a day at work, depends, they consist of morning tea, lunch, post lunch, and mid afternoon tea.

In the evening I'll either run home (around 12km), drive or catch the train. Depends on the day.

In the evening I generally make dinner every night and study (at the moment, busy doing a certification), also followed by any work or business I need to do for my own business/interests (eg. Bluelight :)). I've also recently been doing resistance excercises such as situps/pushups to keep up strength for swimming.

Weekends are just generally filled with friends/relaxing etc. On Saturday/Sunday I'll generally do a long training run of 25km and beyond.

Yeah sounds a bit neurotic, but the routine gets me by, plus I'm busy training for a marathon so need to fit a fair amount of running in each day.

I've always got a fair amount of energy/focus during the day. But as others have said in this thread, keep busy but also make some time for yourself or you'll simply burn out. You can't always aspire to keeping your routine 100%, sometimes you will veer from it, but as long as you're keeping busy, eating healthy and sleeping well you should be right :)

FYI, my job is a desk job (System/Network Engineer).
 
^^That's impressive. I'm assuming that you get a great natural high from running, and that you love it very much (like all the hardcore runners). Nevertheless, I'm sure it took a certain amount of discipline to mold yourself into such an insane runner. How did it begin? In other words, if you were suddenly taken back in time to the point where you ran maybe a mile once a week, what would you do to train yourself at a moderate, healthy pace (knowing what you know now)?

I'm asking you about running even though I play tennis because I'm sure I can use your advice for my particular sport.
 
i definately used to be like that a couple years ago...lifted 5 times a week...ran 3 times/5 miles a week...had a diet consisting of 5000 clean calories a day (smoked turkey, fish, lots of tuna) of that i made sure to eat at least 1.5g protein/lb...drank at least 1 gallon of water every day...hardly ever drank alcohol, didn't do any drugs besides marijuana (occasionally had to smoke to eat more)...and went and got a massage every week...my bodfat was exteremly low at this time and my strength.muscle mass was just insane...i felt like a god...it's just too hard for me to balance a life like that with work/school/a social life so i couldn't keep it up...it's a shame tho...i was literally a few months away from being allowed to walk onto a big ten track team...que sera sera
 
n other words, if you were suddenly taken back in time to the point where you ran maybe a mile once a week, what would you do to train yourself at a moderate, healthy pace (knowing what you know now)?

I'm asking you about running even though I play tennis because I'm sure I can use your advice for my particular sport.

Hey, the dude that posted the post I'm replying to in this quote is a busy guy. Anybody can respond to this if they feel so inclined.

To theworks: What happened? I've never been to the point of being able to join a big ten anything, but I'd like to know where you think you started breaking down. Mentally, physically, anything.
 
I think finding motivation for life (no matter where you are at or what your career is) is the key. Motivation to work out, to eat right, to do things every day that make you feel fulfilled, even if its just doing good at work (crap job or not). For me this is something hard to find, but Im working on it. I tend to lose this when I start going out drinking too many nights a week. During these times I always feel like crap and life becomes "just about getting by and doing what I gotta" instead of living fully.
 
captainballs:
the simple answer is that I started to break down physically because i fell in love. When i was at my peak, i barely had enough time to socialize with anyone during my days...i was either in class, studying, working out, eating, or sleeping...i almost never went out...that is until i met my ex and became crazy about her. I started to skip studying and classes (not workouts!) in order to see her because her acceptance and love was exactly the thing that i had been looking for my entire life (mom was abusive)...the problem is that whenever our relationship would hit a bump, i would be completely devasted...too depressed to do anything even workout...skipping a few workouts here and there didn't really hurt me too much, but one time things became really bad and i was really low..that is when i first got a taste of cocaine. I started using coke daily within a few weeks although at this time my daily use was only a few lines here and there and it really didn't have that much of an effect on my workouts...i was still able to gain speed and weight (although i had to eat more)..at this time i contiuned to fall deeper and deeper in love with this girl...skipping more and more classes to see her...and doing more and more coke whenever anything would go wrong (the coke made me much more sensitive/insecure in the long run). This eventually caught up to me and lead me to being basically kicked out for a year from the university...within span of 2-3 months i went from being a half second away from being able to walk-on to a big ten track team...to loosing 20lbs, fluncking out of college and being a complete coke head with my ex who at the time i loved very much...this girl never did coke...nor did she ever realize that i was doing it behind her back all the time (yeah, i find that hard to believe too) In the end there is nothing to blame for my fall besides me and my mind...if i hadn't of been so weak mentally in the first place this wouldn't of happened...anyways...here i am 2 (or is it 3) years later, once again trying to become what i once was physically...although i've lost 50lbs (yes, 50) of muscle and actually gained bodyfat...after more than 2 years of heavy useage i have finally been able to walk away from the former coke head life i used to live (threw away all numbers and moved)...as well as the girl i once loved...i'm starting to get back in shape fast, but i'm still lonely and desperate for someone to love...besides i'm 21 now and the chances of me becoming that fast again are slim to none...

anyways, that's my story...sorry for being so long
 
captainballs said:
^^That's impressive. I'm assuming that you get a great natural high from running, and that you love it very much (like all the hardcore runners). Nevertheless, I'm sure it took a certain amount of discipline to mold yourself into such an insane runner. How did it begin? In other words, if you were suddenly taken back in time to the point where you ran maybe a mile once a week, what would you do to train yourself at a moderate, healthy pace (knowing what you know now)?

I'm asking you about running even though I play tennis because I'm sure I can use your advice for my particular sport.

Yeah I do love running. But to tell you the truth it I didn't start just running distance and love it. Running far is hard. Longest I've managed to run for is 25km in one hit with a 28km run scheduled for tomorrow and knowing how hard 25km is now, I just want to go out even longer. Perhaps I love the pain, the challenge, the accomplishment, in any case there is obviously something I love about it to continue on like I am.

To go back slightly. I actually started swimming first and found it a bit boring. My pool is only 25m and 2.5km-3km is like upwards of 50x50 or 25x100 (!) laps a session which can be pretty hard to keep interest in. I then started mixing it up with running, first short distances (because I couldn't run much further than a km or two) and then built up to my first 10km race, then another 8km and another 10km and finally a half marathon just recently. I guess my passion for the sport just I could add a new founded structure to my daily routine which has the side effect of making me feel pretty good during the day.

To answer your question more specifically though (as that was a bit of a self indulging rant) I've never actually thought about it. But I'd probably structure my days very similiarly to what I have now just much shorter distances and gradually increase each week. When you first begin its not so important to get a routine down pat, 1km-4km 3-4 times a week is all you really need to start getting fit, it hurts in the beginning but its a different sort of pain you feel as you get more advanced and experienced.

If you're looking for a way to motivate yourself to improve your performance or become more dedicated to your sport I'm probably not the best motivational person to ask. But set yourself some small goals that you can achieve, I've never played tennis in any sort of professional sense (or even competitivley) so I can't really direct you anywhere in that regard, but I need a lot of structure/goals to achieve anything or I'll either forget or become disinterested with whatever I'm doing. I think you'll find a lot of people are very similiar.

Running is an incredible sport. It's a very simple, doesn't require much skill but you can still make an incredible achievement even if you don't win medals or run the fastest, it's all about yourself and the clock. I honestly think I've become more patient, gained more humility and have changed my perspective towards life and myself. I also only just started running a little over 12 months ago, so I'm sure I've still got a lot to learn about more than just the sport.

The other important thing I should mention is never over train. If you're physically ill or don't feel physically fit on a particular day, rest. I mean don't just cop out because you don't 'feel' like it, but don't try and be a hero. You'll just lead yourself to injury, disinterest, exhaustion, sickness and possibly give up your goals all together. Over training (especially when people become obsessed about a certain acitivity, weight lifting is a big one) is an atheletes biggest killer, it can lead you right back down that road of unachievement and depression you started on before you got your arse in to gear.
 
Last edited:
theworks said:
captainballs:
the simple answer is that I started to break down physically because i fell in love. When i was at my peak, i barely had enough time to socialize with anyone during my days...i was either in class, studying, working out, eating, or sleeping...i almost never went out...that is until i met my ex and became crazy about her. I started to skip studying and classes (not workouts!) in order to see her because her acceptance and love was exactly the thing that i had been looking for my entire life (mom was abusive)...the problem is that whenever our relationship would hit a bump, i would be completely devasted...too depressed to do anything even workout...skipping a few workouts here and there didn't really hurt me too much, but one time things became really bad and i was really low..that is when i first got a taste of cocaine. I started using coke daily within a few weeks although at this time my daily use was only a few lines here and there and it really didn't have that much of an effect on my workouts...i was still able to gain speed and weight (although i had to eat more)..at this time i contiuned to fall deeper and deeper in love with this girl...skipping more and more classes to see her...and doing more and more coke whenever anything would go wrong (the coke made me much more sensitive/insecure in the long run). This eventually caught up to me and lead me to being basically kicked out for a year from the university...within span of 2-3 months i went from being a half second away from being able to walk-on to a big ten track team...to loosing 20lbs, fluncking out of college and being a complete coke head with my ex who at the time i loved very much...this girl never did coke...nor did she ever realize that i was doing it behind her back all the time (yeah, i find that hard to believe too) In the end there is nothing to blame for my fall besides me and my mind...if i hadn't of been so weak mentally in the first place this wouldn't of happened...anyways...here i am 2 (or is it 3) years later, once again trying to become what i once was physically...although i've lost 50lbs (yes, 50) of muscle and actually gained bodyfat...after more than 2 years of heavy useage i have finally been able to walk away from the former coke head life i used to live (threw away all numbers and moved)...as well as the girl i once loved...i'm starting to get back in shape fast, but i'm still lonely and desperate for someone to love...besides i'm 21 now and the chances of me becoming that fast again are slim to none...

anyways, that's my story...sorry for being so long

You've learnt an important life lesson there my man. I think you'll find every male once in their lives experiences exactly what you've just described, I know in my final year at school almost the exact same thing happened to me (minus the drug abuse) and I couldn't concentrate or study and started giving up the things I liked doing. Albeit I didn't have much structure to my life and I was probably more vunerable to running so heavily off the rails, but you definatley learn from the experience and gain a LOT of strength and dedication from it.

I'm certain you are already better equipped in your life for gaining hindsight from that experience.
 
Top