Weird mood progression from day to evening

peterdevore

It could be that I'm simply a nightowl, but I have this strange but subtle progression in mood and energy during the day. In the morning and during the day, I'm uninspired to get to work on things. If I thought up an ambitious idea or plan last night, I'm much more pessimistic about it during the next day.

When I have free time, like in the weekends, I usually spend the daytime with passive activities like playing computer games or reading on the internet. After dinnertime however, I start posting on the forums here, write short stories or essays and think up grand ideas. This gets 'worse' as I'm nearing bedtime, usually resulting in significant moments of clarity and insight when I'm already in bed and really should get to sleep.

Right now it's not affecting my life in a significant way. I get enough sleep and get most important stuff done during the daytime. It's just that I'd really like it if I had the same mood and look on life during the day as I have in the evening. It might be a metabolism thing or it might be because I don't really do much exercise except cycling to school and back every weekday (40 min total), but I can't really explain it.

I wondered if any of you had similar experiences and what you did to address it.

Daemonion

Yea, wow. Ditto.

I wouldn't say I have an energy problem, though. Just lack of inspiration/harmony. All those things come when the sun goes down and I feel compelled to make the best of everything.

I used to have terrible sleeping issues. Now I'm finding myself in bed at or around midnight, and up by 0800.

My sleeping habit changed dramatically when I began to realize my conditioning goals via a new diet and exercise plan that took me a month to come up with. Essentially, I'm eating 3,800 calories a day and am doing HIT four days a week.

Although I feel more balanced, the morning is still a weird time for me. Everything just seems to come together in the late evening.

peterdevore

I also find myself giving up on things a lot easier during the day than in the evening. For example, I think the ratio between forum posts posted and forum posts written but not posted because they were no good changes during the day. This might be because I really start to write better in the evening or rather because I'm more pessimistic about my creations during the day.

Dalboz

Of course, there's the question of sleep habits. Do you work out at all? What are your eating habits like?

I found that when I switched my eating habits to eating 200-300 calories (of healthy food) every three hours on the nose, my energy level went up and my mood evened out. I wasn't having spikes in blood sugar levels and my metabolism was being kept consistent throughout the day. You might try that. Could take a couple of days, though.

Dark Moon

I am exactly like this when I don't get any exercise during the day. If I can get a good hour or two in at the gym, though, I'm far more stable and productive throughout the day and pass naturally into sleepiness as the evening progresses. If you aren't already, try exercising!

Thanatos

Like everyone else says, diet and exercise.

Also, if you don't already, start making a habit of drinking a cup of coffee or black tea (not decaffeinated) in the morning.

peterdevore

Thanatos wrote: »

Like everyone else says, diet and exercise.

Also, if you don't already, start making a habit of drinking a cup of coffee or black tea (not decaffeinated) in the morning.

I kinda expected this to be the answer, but it's nice to have confirmation. I rarely have lunch and rarely exercise to the point of exhaustion, so there's definitely room for improvement and experimentation.

I thought about asking how to start exercising and eating regularly, but that's rather obvious to me. It seems the insidious thing about a lazy lifestyle is that you have to get active to get in the mood for a non-lazy lifestyle.

EggyToast

It also wouldn't surprise me if it's a bit of simple procrastination in there. I mean, a lot of people do things at night because they didn't get them done during the day. A burst of energy at night may not mean anything is wrong with your mood or your diet or health. It may just mean that you procrastinate and that means you do things when you realize the day is almost over and you better get started.

That doesn't really help as far as changing thing goes, since procrastination could arguably just be called "being lazy," but I think it may come down more to motivation than anything. Being pushed to do things because the day is over may motivate you now, so the change might be to set a deadline for certain things and just pushing yourself.

Theungry

peterdevore wrote: »

I rarely have lunch

Well thats gonna kill your blood sugar consistency right there. You need consistent fuel for your brain or body to be productive. You might try increasing omega 3 fatty acids in your diet (by pill, fish or flax seeds). I've found that keeps my brain sharper and thus I am more apt to be more productive.

Ergandar

This happens to me, particularly when considering writing.

At night, I have these grandiose plot ideas before I fall asleep. I write them down, and the next morning I realize what I wrote is utter crap.

So much for my inner muse o_O