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Popping Pills to Perform...
 

sreedich's picture
 
Points)
 on 7/18/12 at 10:30pm
Pill Popping Job Performance

This may come as a shocker to some of you (sarcastic tone) but there may be rampant use of prescription medications in your office. Look around, how many of your office peers could be diagnosed with ADD or severe anxiety? Issues that require medication for legitimate reasons should not be judged, however, a growing trend indicates the use of medication is not based on diagnosis but on need to perform on the job. A recent article published by The Harvard Business Review highlighted this growing trend of pill popping in the office (Should Your Boss Encourage You to Take Drugs).

So, why are prescription medications flourishing? Is it the pressures of the job or the culture of the employment world? Should your boss “pressure” you into taking prescription medications to perform? In any case, the use of medication should be reserved for the impaired, not the disingenuous. Natural feelings of anxiety or lack of concentration should not be a cause for an (rx) script; these mental and physical reactions are again, natural, more or less the body’s reaction to keeping us on our toes. So do yourself a favor, next time you have an interview, a big presentation, or can’t stay focused on the job, seek a much safer alternative to popping a “magic” pill.

So, what are the alternatives? Here’s 3 of the safest, most effective ways to stay focused and energized on the job:

(1) Sleep; affects cognitive abilities and energy levels. So, to ensure on the job performance make sure you catch enough zzz’s.

Tip 1 Keep away from electronics before bed.

Tip 2 Refrain from caffeinated beverages and that late night cocktail.

Tip 3 Try and get 7-8 hours of sleep on a regular basis.

Tip 4 Have a pre-bed routine. Wind down, detach, and relax.

(2) Exercise;

John Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, compares physical exercise to medication, saying it offers some benefits of Ritalin, Prozac and morphine combined, without pills

(Forbes. Nevermind your Abs-Tone Your Brain).

Tip 1 Workout 3-4 times per week.

Tip 2 Mix some aerobic exercise with strength training. Optimize your time by doing high intensity interval training. Here’s a few workouts from Menshealth.com that can help you get started.
Interval Training Workout
Strength Training Workout

Tip 3 If hitting the gym isn’t your thing try something different; yoga, dancing, racquet ball, tennis, kayaking, swimming, ping pong…

(3) Eat Healthy; Nutritional health counselor Penny Klatell suggested busy professionals consider eating themselves to more consistent energy levels.

Food is both the culprit and the treatment for a big part of our lack of energy, muddled thinking, and mid-afternoon drowsy eyes

(Inc. How to Eat for All-Day Energy).

Tip 1 Eat a solid breakfast to start the day.

Tip 2 Eat every few hours including snacks in between meals.

Tip 3 Focus on meals with protein and complex carbs.

These are just a few alternatives to help you perform on the job without the need for pill popping. In any case, lets here some feedback from you guys. What are your experiences with office meds? Do you have any other alternatives or tips for performing on the job?

See my WSO blog posts
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Comments

dwight schrute's picture

Totally expecting this to be

(Gorilla, 673
 
Points)
 on 7/18/12 at 11:25pm

Totally expecting this to be about dudes not getting it up lol

Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art - Andy Warhol

PossumBelly's picture

This may come as shocker to

IB
(King Kong, 1,689
 
Points)
 on 7/18/12 at 11:49pm

This may come as shocker to you (sarcastic tone), but this has been posted about multiple times.

balls.mahoney's picture

The most effective

IB
(Orangutan, 282
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 12:20am

The most effective alternative to "popping" performance enhancing pills is railing them.

Monkeyfaces's picture

This is the most generic post

ST
(Monkey, 54
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 1:19am

This is the most generic post I've ever seen on here. Sleep, exercise and eat healthy? Are you serious? Isn't this common knowledge that every mom teaches her children from an early age? Do we really need a front page post for this?

gstackle32's picture

try popping an adderall

O
(Gorilla, 500
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 1:23am

try popping an adderall before your next blog post and see what happens.

Aimez's picture

gstackle32: try popping an

CO
(Orangutan, 291
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 1:49am
gstackle32:

try popping an adderall before your next blog post and see what happens.

Lol. I don't condone encouraging taking drugs. But I admit this made me laugh.

Onetwobit's picture

As for the exercise portion

CF
(Orangutan, 252
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 9:05am

As for the exercise portion -- I work out 5-6 days a week and I tell you that it does NOT give you the superhuman powers :) that Ritalin / Adderall does -- it's not even comparable no matter what research is presented. Sure these things help an overall healthy balance of life, but they don't replace the advantages that 'pills' provide for me.

bankerella's picture

Monkeyfaces: This is the most

IB
(King Kong, 1,863
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 12:38pm
Monkeyfaces:

This is the most generic post I've ever seen on here. Sleep, exercise and eat healthy? Are you serious? Isn't this common knowledge that every mom teaches her children from an early age? Do we really need a front page post for this?

I'm literally snickering out loud in my office. What morons we've all been -- working 100+ hours a week, popping those mean nasty pills, pumping our bodies full of unnatural stimulants, when what we REALLY should do for maximum performance is to leave the office early to make sure we're getting our 7-8 hours of beauty sleep.

Know what? I'll just walk out right now.

Don't worry, Mr. Boss Man, when I roll in tomorrow with clear sparkling eyes and a bounce in my step, you won't care that none of your changes got turned and that you now have no product to show the board of X company. I'll just start in with my newly-tuned productivity and get it done twice as fast.

Oh wait... except I have to get to the gym by noon in order to get my natural high and keep my brain in top condition. Do you think the board could just push their meeting back a few days? We can just explain to them that we'll get started on that work product as soon as we've completed our ping-pong matches and pre-bed routines.

Love it. This made my day.

See my other WSO blog posts

Monkeyfaces's picture

bankerella: Monkeyfaces: Th

ST
(Monkey, 54
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 12:51pm
bankerella:
Monkeyfaces:

This is the most generic post I've ever seen on here. Sleep, exercise and eat healthy? Are you serious? Isn't this common knowledge that every mom teaches her children from an early age? Do we really need a front page post for this?

I'm literally snickering out loud in my office. What morons we've all been -- working 100+ hours a week, popping those mean nasty pills, pumping our bodies full of unnatural stimulants, when what we REALLY should do for maximum performance is to leave the office early to make sure we're getting our 7-8 hours of beauty sleep.

Know what? I'll just walk out right now.

Don't worry, Mr. Boss Man, when I roll in tomorrow with clear sparkling eyes and a bounce in my step, you won't care that none of your changes got turned and that you now have no product to show the board of X company. I'll just start in with my newly-tuned productivity and get it done twice as fast.

Oh wait... except I have to get to the gym by noon in order to get my natural high and keep my brain in top condition. Do you think the board could just push their meeting back a few days? We can just explain to them that we'll get started on that work product as soon as we've completed our ping-pong matches and pre-bed routines.

Love it. This made my day.

SB'd.

Exactly my thoughts.

Isra's picture

Can someone please tell me

HF
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 1:37pm

Can someone please tell me what the actual side effects of using adderall? I use it quite often and it works great, the only real down side for me at least is that I'm a but anti-social on it, just wanting to get my work done/not waste time.

It seems that the 2 main claims for people that oppose it are:
1. Its not safe, I dont want to use drugs
2. It puts people without access to adderall at a disadvantage

I can understand the puts people at a disadvantage part, although that is a quick fix if you have health insurance (not to difficult getting a prescription these days) and of course, just getting it from somebody else.

But whats the deal with the negative connotation of the adderall as a hard drug, like your injecting heroine or railing coke? Yes its a controlled substance, but how often do you see doctors prescribing daily doses of heroine to school children?

So back to the point, are there any real health side effects that need to be considered when using adderall?

FutureWaller's picture

One long term effect I know

O
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 1:41pm

One long term effect I know of is increased motivation.

I know, terrible for you...

IRRelevent's picture

When not taken, taking a sh*t

PE
(Monkey, 51
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 2:14pm

When not taken, taking a sh*t is pretty tough.

bankerella's picture

Isra: So back to the point,

IB
(King Kong, 1,863
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 2:16pm
Isra:

So back to the point, are there any real health side effects that need to be considered when using adderall?

You could Google that shit. But if you want a real-life perspective, here's what I think the risks are:

Cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac exhaustion. Spending all day every day with your heart pumping 110+ beats per minute is not ideal. It's easy to ignore that little unsettling moment when your heart responds by doing something weird for a sec, since nobody likes to be reminded that the whole shebang rides on a small and specialized muscle in your chest. The question should arise, though: "How many more of those little blips do I get before the big one?"

Nourishment. In the super-long run, taking this stuff at high doses every day for ten years or more, it's going to be really hard to stay properly nourished. You got delayed gastric emptying, loss of appetite: you won't be eating as much nor as healthily. Forcing down the wad of salad and then digesting the fibrous mass painfully over a period of many hours is not going to happen every day.

Nothing else long-term, IMO. There are many more short-term health effects. Many of them can be managed by (guess what) other prescription drugs.

If you're thinking about it, I would recommend using only when needed, and on 50% or fewer of days.

See my other WSO blog posts

aempirei's picture

Adderall is a wonder drug and

IB
(Gorilla, 726
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 4:22pm

Adderall is a wonder drug and it goes together with investment banking (or any long-houred profession) like PB & J.

Certainly played a big part in my undergrad studies.

My name is Nicky, but you can call me Dre.

Themistocles's picture

Isra: Can someone please tell

VC
(Baboon, 105
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 4:52pm
Isra:

Can someone please tell me what the actual side effects of using adderall? I use it quite often and it works great, the only real down side for me at least is that I'm a but anti-social on it, just wanting to get my work done/not waste time.

It seems that the 2 main claims for people that oppose it are:
1. Its not safe, I dont want to use drugs
2. It puts people without access to adderall at a disadvantage

I can understand the puts people at a disadvantage part, although that is a quick fix if you have health insurance (not to difficult getting a prescription these days) and of course, just getting it from somebody else.

But whats the deal with the negative connotation of the adderall as a hard drug, like your injecting heroine or railing coke? Yes its a controlled substance, but how often do you see doctors prescribing daily doses of heroine to school children?

So back to the point, are there any real health side effects that need to be considered when using adderall?

Well, like most drugs, it's highly addictive: "The D.E.A. lists prescription stimulants like Adderall and Vyvanse (amphetamines) and Ritalin and Focalin (methylphenidates) as Class 2 controlled substances — the same as cocaine and morphine — because they rank among the most addictive substances that have a medical use."
NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/education/seekin...

I tried it, made me too jittery and gave me serious headaches without really improving anything. I just use my "Stop f*ckin d*ckin around and get your sh*t done now!" inner voice... works just as well, without side-effects.

Aei ho theos geōmetreî

kraziazi's picture

dwight schrute: Totally

IB
 
Points)
 on 10/16/12 at 1:44am

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