We know that being physically tired has a negative effect on our physical skills.
Climbing a cliff and trying to decide which spot to grab on next. Going for a three point throw in the last second of the game. Deciding on which door to choose when being chased by an angry mob of lactose intolerant dinner guests after you forgot you were not supposed to put cow’s milk in the lasagne.
Then there is the decline of cognitive skills. Stuff that we don’t normally associate with fitness. Deciding on how to disciplining your kids. Picking a meal for dinner. Managing people at work and not being a dick about it.
All of those skills are suboptimal when we get tired.
Some attack the issue by trying to improve the skill while tired so they can then mimic it in a real life situation. Anger management for tired parents, anyone?
And it will not work. Because, being tired has a negative effect on our cognitive and physical skills.
Practicing a skill while you’re tired doesn’t make you better at the skill. You can’t develop your interpersonal or physical skills when you’re exhausted. None of that practice will stick. That’s a fact that even Batman has to accept.
Others focus solely on improving the skill while feeling fresh. But, if you can shoot a three pointer and navigate interpersonal relationships with ease when you’re feeling at your best, it’s likely that working to improve the skill further is not the answer. You know how to do it. You already have it.
By now, you’ve probably figured what you need to do to not be a dick or perform dickishly when tired.
Don’t get as tired in the first place.
Elevate your health and fitness to a new level. So when it comes to go-time, the tiredness is not pulling your skills and decision making into the suboptimal abyss.
This applies to escaping an angry (and likely, farting) anti milk disaccharide digesting mob. As it does to being a calmer parent at the end of a long work day.
– J
ps. to all my fellow lactose intolerant friends, I say this. I feel you. Always double check with the lasagne maker before eating. And even then, proceed with caution.