How to Overcome Mental Fatigue?

Question

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 · Accepted Answer

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.

runjake · Answer

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 · Answer

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 · Answer

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