Feeling worn down

[mtbc]

I have been feeling a little burned out lately. I am not sure if this indicates a touch of depression but, nonetheless, I have felt at about the limits of my productivity. Sure, I work a full-time job averaging over forty hours per week, and they prefer us to be physically present so I waste an additional hour each day traveling, but others manage to work more than that, my boss included, and my actual work doesn't demand the range of skills and creativity that past jobs have nor am I on my team's most demanding project.

I also help out with household and family stuff but neither of those is particularly demanding either. Still, I don't feel able to do much more besides: I do make progress on other small projects but slowly and sporadically. Often I just feel like watching a couple of light television shows then going to bed and, given the chance, I can easily sleep for nine hours or so, more than I used to. When I do have spare energy then there are tasks like pruning the hedge awaiting me.

We don't typically get to carry vacation over to the next calendar year so at this time of year I am starting to take days off at a higher rate. I've been using that time to catch up with small chores on which I had fallen behind, for example yesterday I did a couple of months' worth of filing bills and statements and suchlike. I also now feel more enthusiastic about dusting off my Erlang, Haskell and JavaScript work. After a little time to rest and relax I naturally tend toward becoming productive but somehow I seem to have about enough energy to meet my present obligations without having extra for strategically improving our lot in life: one of those dangerous issues of importance but not urgency.

I'll get to take things easy over Christmas. I guess I'll see how I'm feeling after that break. I wish I still felt just that bit more dynamically enthusiastic though after my paid work is done.

Comments

[mindstalk]

Politics? Lack of light?

[mtbc]

Light's a distinct possibility: I hadn't thought of that. My present office position is practically windowless and our house isn't great either. At Vecna I wasn't near a window but I instead had my own large cubicle within which I arranged enough high-lumen daylight-spectrum lighting (including a small white ceiling to reflect more back down within) that from a distance one might have been forgiven for thinking I was being abducted by aliens. With the voltage difference it wasn't worth bringing those bulbs over here.

It is also possible that our present lack of income is a background stressor: even at my lower salary at Vecna I could still put aside $1,000 each month but now I struggle to put £100 per month into savings. That ought to be motivating, but maybe not.

[mindstalk]

Vitamin D could be a thing, too. The evidence linking it directly to depression seems spotty but still, even general supplement skeptics are saying lots of people probably don't have enough vitamin D, especially at high latitudes. Depends how much you store up during the summer, maybe.

[mtbc]

Thank you. It at least sounds worth a try to supplement with some vitamin D, maybe a B complex too: they're at least cheap and may make a difference. Goodness knows I'm not getting much sunshine here.

[mindstalk]

Probably should research B vitamin supplements first. They're not so hard to get, especially with fortified/enriched grain products.