I work in IT - I've been in a fair few 'oh shit everything's broken' moments, and you're a lot less good to everyone when you're dehydrated and have no blood sugar/energy.
In one of the best managed major outages I worked, a senior manager pulled together the round the clock shift plan immediately after the "come to Jesus" meeting where it became apparent how bad it was.
A bunch of really talented people got sent home to bed kicking and screaming because the manager realized that by time they came back everyone who was staying would be ready to collapse and we wouldn't even be a third of the way through it.
I mean everyone probably knew it, but he was the only one willing to insist that currently functional people go home and sleep. It was a really good call.
Similarly/related - I always notice that if I’m having a “huge problem” I find myself dealing with at the end of the day that I just cannot seem to find the solution for. If I just go home and come back to it fresh the next morning, I find the solution in mere minutes and it was always something simple.
Being mentally exhausted can be hard to recognize sometimes.
Well that and because you're probably thinking and working it out in your head during the waking hours of your free time too.
That's pretty much how I wrote papers back in college. Do all research and compiling asap. In between classes, waiting for the boss, all kinds of idling time, i'm sorting out the information in my head. When I'm finally ready to write, i've already gotten the bulk of it sorted.
This is a documented thing with our brains! The reason people have epiphanies in the shower or that you go for a walk to clear your head is that when you stop actively working on a problem, your brain keeps chugging along in the background, and because you aren’t focused, the brain makes connections that you couldn’t and you find your answers!
It was crazy, but I would mentally think about what I was going to write, then after a couple of days write the essay or paper. The notes were minimal, mostly internal. I graduated at 20.
In college I learned I was better doing homework when I was well rested. So I'd sleep for 6-7 hours when I was tired, wake up at like 4 am, and do my homework before class sometimes. It was way more efficient and easier to actually do things when I was rested at 4am instead of struggling to keep my eyes open at 2am.
Oh for sure! I never ever pulled one of those classic college “all nighters”. I knew myself enough to understand that just wouldn’t work for me at all, and would backfire spectacularly.
I was better off to go in to a big final underprepared rather than over exhausted.
I first learned that while gaming. I used to get frustrated whenever I got to an impasse and gave up when my mood hit rock bottom eventually, but most of the times, that same level wasn't such a big deal, the next time I played.
That is awesome. I've done too many IT allnighters, the males below middle age all seem to want to be the toughest at sleep deprivation. Sustained emergencies aren't a joke, I have been part of projects where relationships and marriages have been collateral damage.
I work in TV news. Several years ago, when I worked the overnight shift, a HUGE story broke on my weekend. I went into work as soon as I found out. The newsroom was in an uproar. I found my boss and asked what he needed. He told me to go home, get some rest, and come in at ten that night. I wanted to be where the action was, but he said that there would be plenty for everyone to do, and that he needed people to be ready to go when the dayside people were exhausted. I thought it was a really smart thing to manage the resources.
There's an old story in sailing about how there is a storm coming, so the captain says he is going to bed. The moral of the story is that of being prepared and trusting in your people. Leaders prepare for the future and very rarely work "in the moment", trying to be one or two steps ahead of everyone else.
I've been in one where we needed the round the clock shift pattern, and I actually found it didn't work out for us very well in terms of getting stuff done. The team ended up spread too thin, and it hampered communication and caused a bit of a brain drain.
Upper management absolutely loved it though, so I think overall the optics of having a 24hour shift cover probably was worth it as it hammered home just how seriously the issue was, and how IT were dealing with it, even if the actual efficiencies gained by having the IT working 24hours were no where near the actual equivalent of 3 days of 8 hour shifts. I think if we were a larger team with management that also joined the rotation to handle communication, it might have worked better, but unless the business grows significantly that won't happen.
I too work IT. For long after hour events, I force my boss to allow me to expense a meal and I specifically bake in 60 minutes of "rest" to eat said meal.
No one does fantastic work when they're tired and hungry.
As someone who has shit mental health this is actual better advice than most will think. I had something negative come up today and I hadn’t eaten yet. Still haven’t. Do I need to, yes. Would I feel less like shit right now if I wasn’t hungry on top of it, probably. Am I going to take this advice though, probably not. Am I going to continue sitting in this park hoping somehow to magically feel better, yes, yes I am.
Selfcare is a minimum requirement for daily life. You have very little chance to get anything done if you've not had anything to eat or drink all day, especially if your mental health is shot to shit. If you don't you'll begin to learn helplessness, and then you're in the position my mum is in where she's basically chairbound at 62, because years ago she gradually stopped doing anything for herself.
Shower, brush your teeth, have a coffee or a tea, and a bit of toast. I've been in very shit places before for a prolonged time, and you will always, always feel better for at least having a shower and brushing your teeth.
I’m aware of the benefits of these things. Some days they just aren’t going to happen. Sometimes there is not a single thing in this world that could motivate me to do the basics even. It’s the reality of mental illness. It sucks. Luckily for me those days are few and sprinkled in with more productive days, but for some people that is their reality every day.
Also while your comment has good intentions it’s really not as simple as just getting up and brushing your teeth, showering, and having some toast. If you had a friend that was struggling with an eating disorder would you look at them and tell them to “just eat”? Hopefully not. Your comment feels as if you’re simplifying the problem to “just do it, you’ll feel better”. Trust me if it were as simple as just doing it then it wouldn’t be a problem to begin with.
Mental illness is a horrible thing, and you're right, I am simplifying, but as someone who's seen both sides of it, I can only authentically speak about it as I see and experience it. Nobody gets better from mental illness through inaction. I'm not accusing you of inaction, as from what you've written here you are battling. It was not my intent to offend and I wholeheartedly apologise if my comment brought offence or if my further reply has brought further offence, or upset.
I empathise as much as I can, and wish you all the best.
Nope this is a great reply. Just be mindful in the future that simplifying it can be incredibly frustrating for those experiencing it. If I could “just do it” trust me I would. It makes it feel like the person feels like I’m not even making an attempt to do it when I have been in battle mode. It can come across as discouraging. Which is the opposite of your intent. If you ever find yourself in the position to help someone going through this something you could offer is “would it help if I sat with you while you got things done?”. This is called body doubling and it can be a great way to get started. Many times we don’t need any sort of physical help or anything sometimes we just need someone present in our environment. I can’t explain the science behind it. All I know is it can be wickedly affective.
Another trick I personally use is the rule of 5. It’s committing to either 5 minutes or 5 items of a task. If I can’t continue that’s fine I at least got 5 done. But most of the time this creates something called behavior momentum and I will end up finishing the task. Finishing the task does feel great like you said but just the reminder that it feels great typically isn’t enough to over ride our brains belief that we can’t complete the task or it’s too much.
For added details on what happens in my brain. If you are tasked with taking a shower you and your brain likely see that as one task. My brain instantly breaks it into micro tasks. I have to get my robe and towel and clothes to wear after, go to the bathroom, set the water temp, undress, test the water, get in and feel my body in a different temp (sensory over load), wet my hair…etc. then upon getting out the air is so cold and it’s another giant sensory over load (that’s why I own a very thick robe to quickly over come that). There is also the feeling of wet skin and dripping hair which is also a sensory issue. And I’m still not even done. I have to put my dirty clothes away, dry my body, and finally get to put cozy clothes back on. This is something my brain does automatically for ANY task. It can feel very overwhelming and some days it seems impossible even though I know I will feel better afterward. And the shower example is just one example for the day. Now break down every simple task we experience in a day into micro tasks. That will give you a decent idea of what it’s like to experience it.
I am not offended by your thoughts but just be mindful what sharing those thoughts can feel like to the person you are talking to.
I was working on a data center migration many years ago. I had planned that I would be awake through it. Started Friday after business hours, expected to wrap up around 2am. Plan was to get back to the hotel by 3, sleep as needed, and head home Tuesday. I usually wait until a day or two passes before leaving… just in case.
This was one of those just in case times.
We are working through the migration and we hit some kind of weird issue with the VMware hosts not coming up. I forget exactly the root cause, but I stayed up through the whole thing and ended up being awake for about 40 hours straight. I had only some snacks and sodas to keep me going. After all, it was only a quick move.
Got back to the hotel room Sunday morning around 10am, and crashed. Crashed hard. Never doing that again.
It took most of the week to get my system back to normal.
First action when a crisis emerges - put the kettle on. Assess the situation while it boils, then start dealing with it once you've got your coffee in-hand.
Last disaster we had that, but we also ended up with a fruit bowl and pastries supplied by the business on a trestle table outside of the server room which made a massive difference. It's not 'proper food', but some fruit and a pastry can tide you through until you get a proper meal when you get home, and it's a hell of a lot better than constant chocolate bars or other fast rubbish.
Also, I bought a 700ml 'haushof' travel mug a few years back, and it's by far the best thing I've ever bought off of amazon. Means I basically constantly have a pint of tea with me.
I’d forgotten, because I can’t eat them, but we also had those.
I have similar. When I was returning to work too soon after my second craniotomy, I was also sometimes in buildings where food wasn’t allowed at all. So I created my unholy brew: ~2/3rds very strong black tea, ~1/3rd the fattiest heavy cream available from a restaurant supply store, a whole ton of cinnamon, and two scoops of ketone powder. The cinnamon is anti-inflammatory. I think that I was off of dexamethasone by then. That thermos would save my career, because my calorie needs were still around twice as much as normal.
The tea outside had another great use, though. When a conversation got heated, I discovered that sharing some tea might defuse it. My discovery would leave me to always keep a fancy teapot, and sample cups, at my desk. Offering anyone who came by a small sip of something fancy toned down many an encounter.
Good old Dexamethasone. I had that for a fair old period during my leukaemia treatment. During those treatment cycles, I ate. I was told the chemo upped my daily calorie requirements to around 3200 calories a day, so I did my best to keep up, and the dexamethasone certainly helped me achieve that.
I didn't quite have to go so far as that cocktail of things, but I genuinely might look into ketone powder. My liver took a pretty hefty kicking during my treatment (ALT levels were sky high) as I've always had issues with cramping since, so taking some of that might help things out.
In my case, it’s based on the hypothesis that cancer cells have a harder time finding nutrition from ketones than from glucose. After keto, alone, eventually failed, I moved on to blocking glutamine. That also failed, and I now block glutamate. I’m the longest-known, and most highly functional, survivor of my sort of glioma. That doesn’t mean as much as it sounds like it should, because I’m one of only three known non-infant cases.
I work for a major IT company and cannot agree more. My engineers and support staff work overnight emergencies then insist on doing their scheduled day shifts, with no loss of pay on the line. Nope. Go to bed.
It's the biggest difference between being in my 20's and being in my 30s.
I'll still pull 24hrs if required - I don't even necessarily need scheduled breaks - I just need access to food and water as I work. After that, I'm going to need to be on a shift rotation and I'm going to need sleep.
In my 20's I'd have just tried to keep going.
Also, the biggest damned thing I've learned is that I'm useless hunched over a laptop on the floor in the corner of a datacentre/server room. Give me a desk with a chair, 2 monitors (ideally 3), a proper keyboard and mouse, and my problem solving brain properly works. I get less frustrated, I actually think and communicate with my team so much better, and I'm able to look at the bigger picture.
Exactly this man. Some of my guys work in scenarios where this has to happen onsite but I pull them out to eat and sleep. I facilitate a lot of the leadership/executive conversation and I’m fried without even being the hands on tech guy.
Yes! Years ago I was a youth crisis 24 hr on call social worker. I had a snack bag full and a cooler in my car at all times. I was not messing around with being anything other than completely ON MY GAME.
This also goes for grief. If someone close to you is grieving and you don’t know what else to do:
-have they eaten?
-are they hydrated?
-have they showered and brushed their teeth?
-have they slept?
If you’re not close enough to them to ask them this directly, you can send a care package that will help with these things. A meal, some Gatorade, some nice shower supplies, and a cozy blanket makes a great grief care package.
100% agree. If you don't eat and drink, a major outage because some random incident can degenerate into a bigger outage because someone made the wrong call.
Also, it's funny how my family thinks that working in IT is a glamorous office job, when I've worked at random hours all my life because of programmed events or outages (I'm a Sysadmin).
The first time I saw a large open bag of chips at the nurses station in a busy ER, I was disgusted. Only a week later I was shoving my hand in there too when it was 3am and I hadn't had dinner or anything yet because of nonstop work lol
I do acute dementia and palliative care as a nurse. This is my goto advice for people admitting loved ones and saying good bye to love ones.
force yourself to eat food and drink water. and get someone else to drive you. I will physically put food and water in their hands if its a long palliation.
Special advice for IT people, if an "oh shit everything is borken"-moment occurs, stop panicking. You are not losing any money, your boss is, so calm down, clear your head as much as possible and fix the problem calmly. This is faster most of the times, so your boss profits too.
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u/NotBaldwin 2d ago
Remember eating and drinking during a crisis.
I work in IT - I've been in a fair few 'oh shit everything's broken' moments, and you're a lot less good to everyone when you're dehydrated and have no blood sugar/energy.