Any ideas? I only work 3 days a week, 36 hours in total so 12 hour shifts. Problem is when it comes to my 4 days off, i’m as lethargic as a lethargic thing.

I would presume shifting the diet a bit and taking more exrecise would be a good start, but does anyone have any sound ideas to help me get into a routine that doesn’t involve sitting on the internet or playing video games?

Probably a stupid question really, but any advice from anyone that has had this problem?

buy a turbo and set a old bike up on it.
easy and quick to get a session it.

where about’s are you based?

best thing i found for upping the motivation and reducing the lethargy was to tell my friends to insist i do something active with them. make plans, dont let your friends allow you to drop out of them 🙂

I’m in a similar situation, no need to do anything means I quite often do nothing;

Get out for an early morning ride/run/walk, but not so far that you’re knackered for the rest of the day.
Force yourself to get out of the house for any reason, taking a letter to the post-box, grabbing a sandwich etc. This helps me break the monotony.

Diet. When I’ve been doing odd hours I’ve, at times, resorted to too much sugar. It’s a killer.

Sort your diet and everything else falls into place. The problem is when your diet is crap you can’t be arsed to fix it…

sound advice militant

it works for me

I was the same, with the same shift pattern. You need to adopt that much quoted masculine approach to increasing the vertical position with regard to a favourite expletive.

MTFU.

Stop being cba and get on with it. Life is short.

First it’s not a stupid question, i have been trying to find ways to stop being lethargic (i call it Festering)for years, I work a shift pattern with even more time off than you and if i am not careful, can fall festering mode, so your not the only one, but at least you have realised it is happening, it can become a way of life for some people.

How bad it gets often depends on the time of year, the weather and how much spare cash i have got.

So ways to fight it. Never stay in bed late get up even if you have not got much to do. I Ride a lot by myself through the week when no-one else is around to ride with. Make sure you have got a good supply of riding gear for all weathers so there is no excuses when it is raining, snowing or baltic outside. I sometimes just get up and put on riding gear, then you just go out without thinking about it much. Always have a project on the go. I have built a house from scratch, learned to plaster, went on mamouth solo bike rides etc.Even so i still find myself festering now and again.

The most important thing though is to remember how lucky you are to have this time and not to squander it.

best thing i found for upping the motivation and reducing the lethargy was to tell my friends to insist i do something active with them. make plans, dont let your friends allow you to drop out of them

Deferment of responsibility and a lack of discipline.

OP, what’s your job, if you don’t mind me asking? Do you enjoy it?

I work a week of 12 hours shifts which is a killer 9-9 days/nights depending on the week. I ride to work each day, even by the end of the week you don’t feel like doing it, it is a routine that I now stick too (although I sometimes wimp out in winter!). As stated before, diet is very important, making sure you don’t go for comfort food and fill your face with crap.
Get riding buddies is also important, arrange a ride and then there is no backing out, if you are on your own it is so easy to make excuses not go.
Finally, as righog said

The most important thing though is to remember how lucky you are to have this time and not to squander it.

+1

Is it possible that you are experiencing mild symptoms of depression?

How much caffeine do you drink? I felt run down and crappy for ages, and it turned out to be overuse of coffee! Try giving it up for a month and see how you feel.

Is it possible that you are experiencing mild symptoms of depression?

more than likely, I have suffered in the past and I think it has warped my whole outlook. Even the wife say’s i’m not as fun to be around as I used to be (quick re-cap, family problems, anxiety issues, lost confidence, lost job, worked in call centre part time, debt mounted up, put lot of weight on, lost inclination to cycle, got new job, been there a year, happy at work, debt still there and not getting any better, constant gloomy mood……lethargic)

<amateur self diagnosis> Probably more to it all than just lethargy, but I reckon if I can get a handle on that then everything else may follow, you never know </amateur self diagnosis>

Edit: Coffee? about 4 cups a day, more if i’m at work (could probably go up to about 8 if i’m honest)

Read ‘Yes Man’. In a very small way, it changed my life. And don’t then watch the film.

Deferment of responsibility and a lack of discipline.

I don’t know if that was intended as critiscism, but if it works, go for it.
Short term achievable goals work for me.
I know I keep plugging the STW Endomondo Challenge, but that sort of thing really helps me with motivation.
It doesn’t matter where you are on the table, there’s always someone to chase or hold off. Several times I’ve either been for a ride or extended a ride solely to move up a place.

Diet and sleep are important in how you feel – an iron defficiency can rob you of energy.

Linking pubs and cake shops together is the ultimate incentive to cycling

My sympathies. It doesn’t sound great.

My last job was on the verge of being bad for me. Luckily I got a new job before I hit any real problem. Any way he recomended this book. Its very general but nicely written. I think it would be a good strating point, akthough I read it looking for other things so I don’t guarantee answers

Now some amateur advice

Think long hard about what you want and then work towards it. The book I think was good on this. Could be a MTB event, could be decorating the house could be qualifying for a different job.But something you reall want. Then plan some steps towards it

Set some rules, ideally in conjuction with the above. Time to be out of bed(could be different for each of the 4 days).

Put the games console away when You’ve finished with it. Maybe your only allowed to get it out after you’ve been for a bike ride, done 2 hours house work or whatever

Stupid question do you feel to tired to do things or just that you can’t be bothered?

[ Is it possible that you are experiencing mild symptoms of depression?

more than likely, I have suffered in the past and I think it has warped my whole outlook. Even the wife say’s i’m not as fun to be around as I used to be (quick re-cap, family problems, anxiety issues, lost confidence, lost job, worked in call centre part time, debt mounted up, put lot of weight on, lost inclination to cycle, got new job, been there a year, happy at work, debt still there and not getting any better, constant gloomy mood……lethargic)]

Our lives are a mirror in many ways all of the above is exactly how my life has been for the last 18 months, it is very hard to keep motivated and I to feel up and down, I’ve had a day off today and just let the day slip by, I really wanted to ride but really don’t want to do it alone, I may go out this evening but even that is slipping away,
So you are not alone in feeling the way you do. MTFU is easier said than done sometimes.

good luck with it all hope your situation comes good 🙂