Work It, Dad!
with Avi Spivack
Hi, I'm Avi, and I try to put the work and the dad together, with mild success. This is all about trying to give you a view from what it looks like on the dad-man's side of the world, and I hope you find my ruminations humorous because I try not to take myself too seriously.
I went into CVS the other morning to buy some scotch tape and found myself yawning uncontrollably, so I bought one of those coffee-flavored, vitamin-packed, large-can “energy” drinks, the quick pick-me-up.
The funny thing, I can’t get past 10am without needing a caffeine hit, and by early afternoon I need another.
Addiction? Probably. But why I am so tired all the time?
There’s a piece today in the NY Times about how we’re all more stressed and sleeping less, and I won’t lie that since my layoff and the general state of the world, I’ve been sleeping much worse, but still at least 5-6 hours - that should be plenty for a man of my age and vigor, right?
A cursory google search provides this result from webmd, which would suggest that I am better off avoiding one of the bunk energy drinks, but I began to wonder if the amazing proliferation of these drinks actually speaks to a larger demand in society - are we all tired and in need of a daily jolt?
Of course, parenting takes a lot out of us, and the daily grind of being a working parent undoubtedly adds to the effect, but are we living our lives the wrong way in the US? Do the Europeans and their 35-hour workweeks and 6 weeks of vacation know how to live better, with their priorities in the right place?
Oh, so many questions that I cannot answer; all I know is that I need a nap or another cup of coffee and it’s not even noon yet.
How about you: are you under-slept, always tired? What do you do about it?
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I wake up at 6 am during the week. My husband makes fun of me because i would LOVE to be in bed, asleep, by 9pm every night. Of course that never happens. But if I’m not in bed by 10:30pm, I am completely worthless the next day.
I think its a combination of things. 40 hours a week at work (45 if you include the lunch hour that I generally spend at my desk) then the rest of the time being Mommy, wife, and housekeeper. For me its not really lack of sleep, but more lack of relaxation, lack of exercise, not eating right, etc etc.
I generally just deal with it, and then I’ll hit a short period of time where I do as little as possible, let the house and laundry go, and just try to enjoy spending time with my daughter and hubby.
Erica | April 9th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
oh wow, i was just thinking about this. Especially with the recent passover holiday and seeing some family members do their preparations the day of Passover versus days before. Also, seeing how late we got together for dinner and couldn’t even fully talk about the story of passover. Also another night we went to a restaurant, which was just felt wrong.
So I wondered, why is working and everything else priority over spending the holiday with the family in piece, without feeling rushed.
So I guess that just depends on how much you want. The more riches you want, the more you will work. If you settle for less riches, then you will just work less.
vera babayeva | April 10th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Work stress: maybe that’s it. I’m not sleeping well either, and I’m depending much too much on my daily coffee to get me going in the morning.
Daisy | April 15th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Me too - I drink at least 3-4 cups a day, and I need 2 before I do any work in the morning.
Avi | April 15th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I am the exact same way! Total caffeine addict! But how else to get through the busy day?!
Shannon | April 16th, 2009 at 12:07 am
I think the problem is more along the lines of people eating a poor diet (high-gluten, low-fresh raw foods). Remove all bread & bread products out of your diet, eat more fresh fruit & raw vegetables/salads and drink water instead of other drinks and you’ll notice a huge difference and will need WAY less sleep.
~Monica | April 27th, 2009 at 1:01 am