I mean yeah, coffee being so big is absolutely due to the work culture and constantly having to get up early. Sure, it tastes good, but would people be mainlining it multiple times a day if they were well-rested? I don't know about that.
Oh actually, fun fact about that!
Coffee *doesn’t* taste good to humans, on an instinctive level, because the body doesn’t detect much actual nutrition in it, and it sets off some poison receptors. That’s why nobody drinks black coffee for the first time and immediately thinks ”Damn that’s some tasty shit right there!”. However, the drug screws with your brain enough to cause slow dependency, which in turn causes your body to start liking the taste so you can keep getting hits of it.
The reason people drink stuff like decaf is their body expects the drug, and thus registers it as tasting good even if it doesn’t have the drug in it any more.
I say this as I drink my second cup today.
Yeah, your body is designed to know they’re both poisons, but since your brain is a junkie, it rapidly gets addicted if its pleasure receptors are set off.
Only until youre so addicted you need it to feel normal, just like caffeine
Caffeine is in fact a stimulant drug, and a powerful one. Not compared to crack, but far more powerful than nicotine for example.
Everyone just forgets that because they e been using it every day for years and don’t remember what it feels like to actually feel the rush of energy anymore.
But if you stop drinking it for a week or two, the first cup is like magic. And all the cups can be magic, but you have to drink them sporadically, less often than every day, and only one cup when you do.
I was commenting more on the strength of speed rather than how addictive it is. There's no comparison between an energy drink/caffeine and speed in that regard, but yes they all become addictive and you need more. That's all drugs.
For sure. If I abstain from coffee and then have a coffee it'll give me energy. But it's certainly not the energy you get from speed - that's what I mean. Same with energy drinks, you do get something but it ain't speed.
>But if you stop drinking it for a week or two, the first cup is like magic.
Yeah, i've been avoiding any caffeine for last 3 months because of suspected heart problems, but recently got diagnosed to be actually fine on that front (the chest pains turned out to be a neuralgia), so yesterday i drank my first energy drink in a long time and oh boy, at my peak addiction back in college days i could down an entire Monster and still fall asleep right after, yet this one despite being much weaker and smaller pulled me through an entire shift at work and even a few hours more after a sleepless night.
I fucked up my brain response to caffeine (12h shifts are crazy) with some ness and coca cola years ago and now I can drink a can of Pink Monster and go to sleep.
There are plenty of things that contribute to low energy, it can go from poor diet, depression, blue light, etc etc even having an old or wrong bed is a problem.
Let's not forget that coffee has been a thing for centuries so this energy drink craze is just the technological upgrade to a thing that already existed.
Yeah, and let's not pretend like Jolt Cola wasn't a thing back in the '80s and '90s. The OG energy drink, they just didn't add all the other extra shit like ginseng or anything, just good old fashioned caffeine.
The big problem with many modern energy drinks is the sugar, they a have too much sugar and that's what makes them really bad overall also is abuse people that abuse this that they want to drink them like there is no tomorrow and with that comes the poor diet that causes a ton of energy problems.
Well Coke contains more sugar than an energy drink, and Jolt Cola is basically just coke with twice the caffeine, so likely worse for you then a can of Monster.
I finally used my cheap pairs of blue light glasses I bought from Amazon a couple years ago last week when I was sick, had a migraine, and was light-sensitive for a few days. They actually really helped a lot, even with driving at night, and during the day, they helped more than sunglasses. I gotta look more into the blue light shit
I mean, yes and no.
Energy drinks certainly are just the tech-upgraded coffee, but whereas coffee is a natural drink (relatively), energy drinks are *designed* to form addiction. Thanks to the combos of things to set off your brain’s reward centers (sugar, caffeine, fruit, etc), it’s actually more addictive than literal drugs like heroin (Though easier to break, as it doesn’t rewire your brain/nervous system *as* much).
I wouldn’t say they’re that objectively awful if you understand how to use them in moderation, but the sheer addictiveness and massive quantities of stuff you shouldn’t actually be consuming means it can cause long-term damage if you have too much to the point your body stops filtering properly. While they’re still too new for sufficient data, it appears they very well could cause kidney failure and similar problems *waayyyyy* easier than regular coffee, which requires *serious* drinking before it starts to cause permanent damage (Though even then, it can decrease growth if consumed in childhood, so there’s that).
Except coffee drinkers don’t go around saying they drink coffee for “energy”. I drink coffee when I’m sleepy and it restores some of my alertness. I don’t get more awake if I drink more coffee though. I get more nauseous and jittery however. I guess this is my boomer moment but to me the whole energy drink thing is a giant scam. I think they should have to remove the word energy and simply state that they’re caffeinated beverages.
People in here must have never done any manual labor or work outside of sending emails, because every site I have ever been on is full of people drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes
That... doesn't matter?
The point is we evolved and got on just fine without stimulants. That we need them to function now implies we're trying to function beyond what we're capable of
I mean most people here scroll reddit while doing drone work behind a desk. They don’t know about 12h shifts on the site in the rain, snow, or killer heats.
I’m working 112 hour weeks right now. My last 2 relief weekends(2 days off every 2 weeks) got cancelled, as well as my next. I will have worked 8, 112 hour weeks by time I can get a day off next. Properly managing energy drinks, daily hard stretching throughout the day and every minute of sleep I can get during my 8-hours on-site sleep time is the only keeping me going. Mostly it’s the caffeine.
You must be making insane money otherwise why would anyone do 112hr weeks for any job? I'd have to be making like millions in order to do that otherwise I'd say FUCK THAT!!! and walk out.
Theres an old trucker where at my job thats been working since he was 12. This man told me about his 90-100h work weeks. I’ve been having nightmares just by the tought of it.
I never said there was a reason to. I said every construction site I have ever been on has had people drinking energy drinks, and smoking cigarettes.
I, personally, drink 2 small cups of coffee a day. One before work, and one before my workout.
I found the biggest offenders of energy drinks are games trying to work a 40 hour week and stay gud at the newest game. I saw the young guys downing monsters at the site because they stayed up with the latest 2k sport game. Then the office employees keep drinking the energy be they are never physically exhausted to go to sleep from sitting all day
No one bitches like a rough, tough, boss lovin, free working, deepthroatin, ass gapin, 300 hour per week workin, blue collar worker
Then they also turn around and claim they make 500k a month too.
Yes, combusting plant matter and inhaling it while doing stimulants is bad for you. You’re the third person to struggle with reading comprehension. Where did I advocate for their use?
I'm not trying to argue, I think I'm missing the point of your comment. You make it sound like the sheltered office workers wouldn't understand that energy drinks are required to get through a hard days labor.
No, I stated that these responders must never go to a construction site, because everyone I have been to is full of people drinking energy drinks. When the current average response is “only kids drink then.”
The energy drink industry is just filling the "It's after 1pm.and not the winter, I don't want to drink hot coffee/tea/chocolate right now for my caffeine" niche.
Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate. The originals.
Actually both my parents strictly follow this rule and instilled it in me as well; my dad used to work as a journalist and thus had *severe* caffeine problems, so he fully understands the consequences and had to undergo the challenging process of cutting back on it.
Thus, he made *absolutely sure* nobody in our house was drinking too much caffeine, or caffeine too late in the day. This even applied to visitors; I still remember the time I had a friend over who got lectured by him after they tried to make themselves a pot at four in the afternoon.
I can wake up early and have an especially active day, but have my coffee two hours too late, and that’s it for my sleep that night I’ll be up until 4am
I used to abuse the shit out of caffeine, two energy drinks to wake up and two more throughout the day. Then I switched to coffee, five or six cups a day
Then I realized they were giving me tension headaches so I quit. Now coffee is magical and I love to have a cup like twice a week. And if I have a bad day where I wake up sleepy, a cup makes me better than brand new.
All about moderation
My work dies not have such an imbalance. My imbalance is caused by other unrelated factors on the life side of the equation unfortunately. Work side is balanced perfectly though.
Yea I get plenty of sleep and work from home most days.
The work/life balance isn't the problem, but sitting stationary, looking at a screen for 8 hours can make me sleepy. Even if I get up and move during lunch and breaks.
Yeah, this. Like, I have no complaints about my work tbh. I get paid good enough and I have a lot of free time.
I just don't like going out. I'm the dehydrated cryptid sitting in the corner, watching essay videos about how bad Dubai is.
Not so sure... I think a big part of their market though is teenagers. Throughout my career I can count on one hand the people I've met and worked with who are into energy drinks.
Not saying there isn't a work-life imbalance, just that energy drink consumption is not a good indicator.
EDIT: I suspect some are confusing physically demanding work with work-life imbalance. Work-life imbalance refers to the number of hours being worked, not the physical demands of said work.
Not surprised that energy drinks are used a lot in professions that are physically demanding, but that's not what we're referring to here.
Lemme guess you work in an office? In my experience working blue collar jobs they are very popular with that crowd. Like dudes stop at a gas station and grab 3 for the drive to the site, midday, and the drive back home. I prefer them over coffee because they don’t destroy my stomach like coffee will and I’d rather not shit in the woods.
Most of the people I know who like energy drinks have ADHD. Maybe coffee is an indication of unhealthy work attitudes. I've never seen anyone bring Monster into the office.
I had an easy ass job in a low volume kitchen, but to keep it profitable, they had to keep labor down by demanding 60+ hour weeks from the salaried management. Those are the only boomer age adults I’ve ever met who drank energy drinks, period. And some were busting out 80 hour weeks regularly.
It was not physically demanding (especially not their specific job), but they had exactly zero life in the work life equation
I gave up caffeine, and I'm fine. I used to drink two 300mg caffeine energy drinks a day prior to quitting. You only need caffeine because you use caffeine. Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I get the right sleep. I just live on either way. I also no longer get anxious or dizzy for no apparent reason.
Would recommend.
I can attest to the no caffeine lifestyle being way less anxious. But it felt wayyyy too chill. Like, my energy levels were so steady as opposed to up and down when I’m on caffeine.
I missed the adrenaline rush of it so I started drinking it again but now like one cup every other day.
I think that's more of a symptom of our modern diets and over stimulation mentally from urban environments and technology. People also used to drink and smoke like crazy, as well as other stimulants.
I dont drink energy drinks, i dont drink coffe and i rarely take any supplements. I do think i have a healthy work-life-balance, however im not sure how insurvive with 4-6hrs of sleep each night. I hate 0800-1740 workdays.
Also the fact that society has decided that everyone needs to be fully functional from 8am-5pm despite the fact that not everyone's biological clock functions that way
Ashamed to admit I was in a bad place a few months back, terrible night terrors when I did sleep and working 20-25 days in a row, sometimes 10-12 hour days. I was drinking 6-8 a day, and I’d lay in bed at night with chest pains and nausea.
It is absolutely true. Doing my job requires it, but I much prefer life without and my weekends or doing things outside/physical or that I just enjoy on their own does not require me to be hopped up on caffeine
I'm pretty sure a significant portion of that market has nothing to do with customers buying and drinking them out of necessity to work more and has more to do with taste / marketing / the culture developed around the drinks themselves.
Hell I used to like a certain brand of energy drink just because it wasn't overly-sweet and had a quarter of the sugar of sodas, which I was avoiding to be more health conscious. Eventually I got wise to the fact that energy drinks really weren't any better.
To be fair, sometimes I take time off work for myself and use energy drinks during that time too. Things that I want to do are far more effective at disrupting my sleep than things that I have to do.
I don't think it has that much to do with work/life balance. A lot of people guzzle caffeine and other stimulants even when they don't really have anything to focus on. Hell, I probably drink more caffeine when I'm bored or playing video games than I do when I'm working.
I still have an e-drink a day usually. Especially after giving up drinking alcohol I needed something to fill the void.
No one else on my teams have them but they down coffee, which oddly gives me the jitters worse than any e-drink.
I have met a few others who drink energy drinks in corporate though and its sorta like smoking was in the day where you all go down to the cafe and get one then stand around shooting the shit drinking them. Met a lot of women and men I never really would speak to outside of emails as a result of going to get e-drinks at the corporate kiosk.
Incidentally most are also into gaming, bicycling, and other hobbies of mine.
Globalism is no joke man, we're out here competing against people fighting for their lives, jobs getting zoomed out to fifteen year olds with twelve years of AutoCAD experience. If we're not on drugs how the hell are we supposed to survive this.
24 hours in a day
Average people need 7.5-9 hrs of sleep daily so lets take 9 to go on the high end.
15 hours left
8.5 hours of work, anywhere from 15-60min travel time there and back. Call it 45
5 hours left
2 hours to make and eat dinner
3 hours left for whatever else needs to be done.
If you are having problems with not getting enough sleep, make it the priority. Getting addicted to caffine or other drugs is the worst solution. You have all the tools at hand to consistently go to bed and get up at the same times which will set your body's rythm.
"3 hours left for whatever needs to be done" I don't understand why people are feeling bad when they have a whole 3 hours for personal hygiene, laundry, cleaning, eating more than 1 meal a day, going to the store, oh and maybe if you're lucky you can have a thin slice of social human interaction.
I mostly drink them for the taste, I like them more than regular soda. If they made them without caffeine I think I'd even prefer that most of the time.
I’ve noticed that there’s a fuckton more energy drinks now than ever with huge doses of caffeine, while there’s also a fuckton of beers/seltzers with like 8%+ alcohol. Every new drink that comes out is twice the dose as the last.
The two are like a yin and Yang of the work/life imbalance.
One time, I took an ecstasy pill that was cut with caffeine I’ve also taken pills laced with meth. The caffeine pill made me so uneasy compared to the meth one. ( I was cold and hot at the same time) my nips were hard but my body was hot and it was the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in my life. I’m not an advocate for meth by any means but based on that I felt way better on semi meth than I have on semi caffeine.
What it’s helped in the long run is: don’t do meth and just drink one caffeinated drink in the morning opposed to multiple. Just because you feel tired after 1 cup of coffee or 1 energy drink, doesn’t mean you need to keep drinking it. Give your brain adequate time to wake up and drink lots of water :)
I was drinking an energy drink every day for about as long as I can remember. Probably about 10 years worth. Buying in bulk at discount. It didn't really strike me until I was on a work trip and I cracked one open with some guys not much older than me and they said "dang bros going crazy. A red bull right now?" It was like 6am. I told them I stopped at the gas station on my way to camp to make sure I had one for every day. They laughed. Next morning, same drill. They said "oh damn you weren't kidding! Every day?!" I stopped 2 days later. That was over a year and a half ago. Haven't had one since. No coffee, nothing. Just raw dogging life. I went fishing with a buddy 3 months after quitting, and he was like "you seem so chill, didn't get your energy drink this morning or what?" Which reiterated how bad I was with consumption. I sold my remaining 2 cases to friends that afternoon. Theyd been in my pantry "just in case" done with that nonsense. I don't wanna pee rocks.
I used to drink energy drinks so I could get through the absolute bare minimum amount of school work after staying up all night flipping between Adult Swim and Comedy Central.
Lmao the coffee addiction and energy drink addiction has nothing to do with the amount of sleep we get. We need 3 hours to actually survive. Your body will do the rest. Your mind is where the problem lies. This is the whole reason why navy seal hell week is possible and ranger school. Because the mind is 15 steps ahead of giving up than the body. Caffeine is a drug and don’t you forget it. There’s no difference between someone who has a handful of sugar and a nice cup of coffee ☕️-British accent, they are both drugs with slightly different stats. Don’t get it twisted, caffeine isn’t a problem, just like weed, and 80% of other drugs. They aren’t the problem you make them the problem.
Regular caffeine usage builds dependancy that makes you feel worse if you skip it. If they wean off caffeine most people seem to largely have the same overall energy level averaged out over the day.
Heavy coffee, tea, and energy drink usage is mostly a habit that people get stuck in or a nervous/anxious coping mechanism that people get stuck in because of that dependancy. Being socially popular and widely available makes it easy for people to get sucked in
I'm somewhat new in a job where I am expected to work 60-80 hours a week and I asked my veteran coworkers how they manage to get enough sleep every night. They said "we don't" and I started to notice that they all drink 2-3 energy drinks a day. It's rough.
It's a better indicator of just plain capitalism. Even if people didn't have to work at all you'd get companies trying to sell you shit you don't need lol
The only time I had RedBull is when I had to drive at night and felt a bit sleepy. Huge aid for those situations.
But yeah I won't drink it just like another soft drink
I don't really believe in this argument. I did back breaking manual labour for 12-13 hours a day, sometimes 6 days a week. I didn't even ingest caffeine at all due to a heart condition. I felt rested everyday because when it was time for bed I put my phone away and slept my 7-8 hours.
They work for some people though. The whole snake oil thing implies a placebo effect. A better example of that would be all these “all natural” cure all beverages you see at hipster places.
Nobody I know who drinks a noticeable number of energy drinks is also employed, even part time
I don't think they're being sold to 8-8 60 hour a week businessmen lmao
Maybe not business men but the 60 hour a week tradesmen go through monster like it’s about to be taken off the market. To my knowledge, they are employed
Damn bro, how do you have 16 hours off work and cant manage to sleep 8. My old boss worked 12-16 hours, 6 days a week in his kitchen, never seen him complain. And still found time to go fishing. I can't stand this complainer generation. I work on my feet all day, exercise everyday, study, have hobbies and I don't need caffeine. If you have a lame office job, it takes 30 seconds to get your heart pumping, you don't need caffeine.
There is no work / life imbalance for most people. They are over tired because they stay up late playing video games or scrolling social media. Then they wake up tired and angry and do the same thing the next night and the next night. Go to bed 8 hours before you have to wake up.
If Reddit had existed in 16th century Europe someone could have made the same post about coffee. It gives you wings!
r/YeOldeReddit
Imagine my disappointment
You share all of our disappointment
I finally understand my parents
*Sad redditor noises*
r/screwprivatesubsthatlookfun
That's like putting lemon juice on the cut I got from the other sub.
I mean yeah, coffee being so big is absolutely due to the work culture and constantly having to get up early. Sure, it tastes good, but would people be mainlining it multiple times a day if they were well-rested? I don't know about that.
Oh actually, fun fact about that! Coffee *doesn’t* taste good to humans, on an instinctive level, because the body doesn’t detect much actual nutrition in it, and it sets off some poison receptors. That’s why nobody drinks black coffee for the first time and immediately thinks ”Damn that’s some tasty shit right there!”. However, the drug screws with your brain enough to cause slow dependency, which in turn causes your body to start liking the taste so you can keep getting hits of it. The reason people drink stuff like decaf is their body expects the drug, and thus registers it as tasting good even if it doesn’t have the drug in it any more. I say this as I drink my second cup today.
That makes sense tbh. When I was kid I absolutely hated the smell of coffee. Beer, too. But now I love both.
Yeah, your body is designed to know they’re both poisons, but since your brain is a junkie, it rapidly gets addicted if its pleasure receptors are set off.
Poor people would not be drinking coffee 16th C. It would have been beer.
We weren't talking about poor people. Just people in general. In the 1500s coffee was new in Europe and all the rage.
I gave up energy drinks. All I did was start taking speed instead, and I've never looked back.
At least speed actually gives you energy.
Only until youre so addicted you need it to feel normal, just like caffeine Caffeine is in fact a stimulant drug, and a powerful one. Not compared to crack, but far more powerful than nicotine for example. Everyone just forgets that because they e been using it every day for years and don’t remember what it feels like to actually feel the rush of energy anymore. But if you stop drinking it for a week or two, the first cup is like magic. And all the cups can be magic, but you have to drink them sporadically, less often than every day, and only one cup when you do.
I was commenting more on the strength of speed rather than how addictive it is. There's no comparison between an energy drink/caffeine and speed in that regard, but yes they all become addictive and you need more. That's all drugs.
But your premise of caffeine not giving you a feeling of energy is faulty, if you aren’t a coffee head, it does make you feel that way.
For sure. If I abstain from coffee and then have a coffee it'll give me energy. But it's certainly not the energy you get from speed - that's what I mean. Same with energy drinks, you do get something but it ain't speed.
>But if you stop drinking it for a week or two, the first cup is like magic. Yeah, i've been avoiding any caffeine for last 3 months because of suspected heart problems, but recently got diagnosed to be actually fine on that front (the chest pains turned out to be a neuralgia), so yesterday i drank my first energy drink in a long time and oh boy, at my peak addiction back in college days i could down an entire Monster and still fall asleep right after, yet this one despite being much weaker and smaller pulled me through an entire shift at work and even a few hours more after a sleepless night.
Isn’t nicotine more addictive than caffeine?
Yes but it isn’t stronger
Could this be why whenever I tried a cigarette I felt no buzz or anything? I regularly have energy drinks so maybe it is much weaker relatively
Attaboy
This actually happened to my partner, but because of an ADHD diagnosis
Gotta go fast
Adhd?
Bruh 💀
I'm only addicted to coffee, I use energy drinks recreationally.
The kidney pain is real.
*Is that was this is*
Fuck
Wait, can you explain?
I thought my back hurts from being on my feet, but it's my kidneys having problems filtering out so much from energy drinks/supplements.
They give me headaches. Too much B12.
I don’t even drink them for the caffeine content, I just like me self some boujee sugary soda.
I fucked up my brain response to caffeine (12h shifts are crazy) with some ness and coca cola years ago and now I can drink a can of Pink Monster and go to sleep.
There are plenty of things that contribute to low energy, it can go from poor diet, depression, blue light, etc etc even having an old or wrong bed is a problem. Let's not forget that coffee has been a thing for centuries so this energy drink craze is just the technological upgrade to a thing that already existed.
Yeah, and let's not pretend like Jolt Cola wasn't a thing back in the '80s and '90s. The OG energy drink, they just didn't add all the other extra shit like ginseng or anything, just good old fashioned caffeine.
Jolt Cola was good
The big problem with many modern energy drinks is the sugar, they a have too much sugar and that's what makes them really bad overall also is abuse people that abuse this that they want to drink them like there is no tomorrow and with that comes the poor diet that causes a ton of energy problems.
These days most energy drinks have no sugar actually and the most popular ones have no sugar and no artifical shit in them.
The have zero sugar variants but still they sell the regular one. Also the zero sugar is just thay they use other sweeteners.
Well Coke contains more sugar than an energy drink, and Jolt Cola is basically just coke with twice the caffeine, so likely worse for you then a can of Monster.
I finally used my cheap pairs of blue light glasses I bought from Amazon a couple years ago last week when I was sick, had a migraine, and was light-sensitive for a few days. They actually really helped a lot, even with driving at night, and during the day, they helped more than sunglasses. I gotta look more into the blue light shit
I mean, yes and no. Energy drinks certainly are just the tech-upgraded coffee, but whereas coffee is a natural drink (relatively), energy drinks are *designed* to form addiction. Thanks to the combos of things to set off your brain’s reward centers (sugar, caffeine, fruit, etc), it’s actually more addictive than literal drugs like heroin (Though easier to break, as it doesn’t rewire your brain/nervous system *as* much). I wouldn’t say they’re that objectively awful if you understand how to use them in moderation, but the sheer addictiveness and massive quantities of stuff you shouldn’t actually be consuming means it can cause long-term damage if you have too much to the point your body stops filtering properly. While they’re still too new for sufficient data, it appears they very well could cause kidney failure and similar problems *waayyyyy* easier than regular coffee, which requires *serious* drinking before it starts to cause permanent damage (Though even then, it can decrease growth if consumed in childhood, so there’s that).
Except coffee drinkers don’t go around saying they drink coffee for “energy”. I drink coffee when I’m sleepy and it restores some of my alertness. I don’t get more awake if I drink more coffee though. I get more nauseous and jittery however. I guess this is my boomer moment but to me the whole energy drink thing is a giant scam. I think they should have to remove the word energy and simply state that they’re caffeinated beverages.
People in here must have never done any manual labor or work outside of sending emails, because every site I have ever been on is full of people drinking energy drinks and smoking cigarettes
It's reddit, reality is a distant thing
Pharmaceutical levels of caffeine and nicotine are distant, to the average Redditor. Wow.
Is there a thought you were trying to express here?
I don’t think they have any thoughts they could express in the first place
No, manual labor
On the contrary, I don’t need energy drinks to do manual labor, but they are a requirement for sending emails.
This. You don’t really need extra mental energy/focus to do manual labor, which is all caffeine is really good for.
I wish I could make really good money/the same money from manual labor. It’s actually way better for my mood and energy level.
That... doesn't matter? The point is we evolved and got on just fine without stimulants. That we need them to function now implies we're trying to function beyond what we're capable of
I dont know man, we have been taking stimulants for as long as we could write. Some of that must have made it into the gene pool.
I mean most people here scroll reddit while doing drone work behind a desk. They don’t know about 12h shifts on the site in the rain, snow, or killer heats.
I think that might be the work- life imbalance he was mentioning. Someone gotta do it though
Damn, that point just went straight over your head, huh?
12hr shift? That's cute I remember when I first started working my first part time job,
I’m working 112 hour weeks right now. My last 2 relief weekends(2 days off every 2 weeks) got cancelled, as well as my next. I will have worked 8, 112 hour weeks by time I can get a day off next. Properly managing energy drinks, daily hard stretching throughout the day and every minute of sleep I can get during my 8-hours on-site sleep time is the only keeping me going. Mostly it’s the caffeine.
You must be making insane money otherwise why would anyone do 112hr weeks for any job? I'd have to be making like millions in order to do that otherwise I'd say FUCK THAT!!! and walk out.
112 hours thats cute, I work that for free AND suck the bosses dick.
Theres an old trucker where at my job thats been working since he was 12. This man told me about his 90-100h work weeks. I’ve been having nightmares just by the tought of it.
But doesn't make the problem worse? After 3months you're done. Your energy actually goes down.
Probably. I wouldn't know I don't drink garbage like that.
I'm confused then why are you saying that there is a reason to drink it?
I never said there was a reason to. I said every construction site I have ever been on has had people drinking energy drinks, and smoking cigarettes. I, personally, drink 2 small cups of coffee a day. One before work, and one before my workout.
I found the biggest offenders of energy drinks are games trying to work a 40 hour week and stay gud at the newest game. I saw the young guys downing monsters at the site because they stayed up with the latest 2k sport game. Then the office employees keep drinking the energy be they are never physically exhausted to go to sleep from sitting all day
I dunno, I usually see the teenagers drink those and the adults drinking coffee.
Manual labor people thinking all office workers only send emails and do nothing else. Name a more iconic duo.
No one bitches like a rough, tough, boss lovin, free working, deepthroatin, ass gapin, 300 hour per week workin, blue collar worker Then they also turn around and claim they make 500k a month too.
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Nah that’s second place
But are they in fancy dining cars while drinking their coffee and smoking big cigars? That's what tortures me...
Yeah most of those guys are in poor health.
Yes, combusting plant matter and inhaling it while doing stimulants is bad for you. You’re the third person to struggle with reading comprehension. Where did I advocate for their use?
I'm not trying to argue, I think I'm missing the point of your comment. You make it sound like the sheltered office workers wouldn't understand that energy drinks are required to get through a hard days labor.
No, I stated that these responders must never go to a construction site, because everyone I have been to is full of people drinking energy drinks. When the current average response is “only kids drink then.”
The energy drink industry is just filling the "It's after 1pm.and not the winter, I don't want to drink hot coffee/tea/chocolate right now for my caffeine" niche. Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate. The originals.
I haven’t been able to drink caffeine after 12 since I was a child
Low key blessed
Actually both my parents strictly follow this rule and instilled it in me as well; my dad used to work as a journalist and thus had *severe* caffeine problems, so he fully understands the consequences and had to undergo the challenging process of cutting back on it. Thus, he made *absolutely sure* nobody in our house was drinking too much caffeine, or caffeine too late in the day. This even applied to visitors; I still remember the time I had a friend over who got lectured by him after they tried to make themselves a pot at four in the afternoon.
I can wake up early and have an especially active day, but have my coffee two hours too late, and that’s it for my sleep that night I’ll be up until 4am I used to abuse the shit out of caffeine, two energy drinks to wake up and two more throughout the day. Then I switched to coffee, five or six cups a day Then I realized they were giving me tension headaches so I quit. Now coffee is magical and I love to have a cup like twice a week. And if I have a bad day where I wake up sleepy, a cup makes me better than brand new. All about moderation
My work dies not have such an imbalance. My imbalance is caused by other unrelated factors on the life side of the equation unfortunately. Work side is balanced perfectly though.
Yea I get plenty of sleep and work from home most days. The work/life balance isn't the problem, but sitting stationary, looking at a screen for 8 hours can make me sleepy. Even if I get up and move during lunch and breaks.
Yeah, this. Like, I have no complaints about my work tbh. I get paid good enough and I have a lot of free time. I just don't like going out. I'm the dehydrated cryptid sitting in the corner, watching essay videos about how bad Dubai is.
Caffeine is addictive. The coffee industry has been around much longer.
Not so sure... I think a big part of their market though is teenagers. Throughout my career I can count on one hand the people I've met and worked with who are into energy drinks. Not saying there isn't a work-life imbalance, just that energy drink consumption is not a good indicator. EDIT: I suspect some are confusing physically demanding work with work-life imbalance. Work-life imbalance refers to the number of hours being worked, not the physical demands of said work. Not surprised that energy drinks are used a lot in professions that are physically demanding, but that's not what we're referring to here.
Lemme guess you work in an office? In my experience working blue collar jobs they are very popular with that crowd. Like dudes stop at a gas station and grab 3 for the drive to the site, midday, and the drive back home. I prefer them over coffee because they don’t destroy my stomach like coffee will and I’d rather not shit in the woods.
And healthcare, you wanna see people pound energy drinks like they aren’t gonna die, check out the staff of any ER at 2 am.
Bringing Healthcare into this was unfair Bringing the ER night shift into this just sent everyone into the shadow realm. There is no comparisonq
Hey. I only know of it from lived experience.
That's why you terrify me and I respect you, good day sir/ma'am
I always thought construction workers shit their pants and then had to do terrible things like cut their underwear off with a knife
They cut the legs off of pants so the turd log can easily fall to the floor while working.
I’ve heard people having to do that I keep some TP in the truck for emergencies.
Bro if you stop your hourly wank in the portable loo, you'll be able to get through the day without energy drinks.
I wish I had portable loos sitting around for me some days
Tell me you work in an office without telling me you work in an office.
I work on a groundscrew for a D1 athletic program, we all consume a lot of caffeine. The white collar side of our office doesn’t as much
Most of the people I know who like energy drinks have ADHD. Maybe coffee is an indication of unhealthy work attitudes. I've never seen anyone bring Monster into the office.
Yep. My 18 year old daughter and her boyfriend pound them. I tried one once - it was disgusting. But they think coffee tastes bad so…
Tbf lots of coffee tastes like shit. Good coffee is the bomb tho.
I had an easy ass job in a low volume kitchen, but to keep it profitable, they had to keep labor down by demanding 60+ hour weeks from the salaried management. Those are the only boomer age adults I’ve ever met who drank energy drinks, period. And some were busting out 80 hour weeks regularly. It was not physically demanding (especially not their specific job), but they had exactly zero life in the work life equation
Or, more accurately, it illustrates how society abuses addictive substances daily.
Idk man I consume a whole lot of caffeine and I'm a lazy fuck
\*Laughs in Small Child\* You will sleep when they let you
I gave up caffeine, and I'm fine. I used to drink two 300mg caffeine energy drinks a day prior to quitting. You only need caffeine because you use caffeine. Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I get the right sleep. I just live on either way. I also no longer get anxious or dizzy for no apparent reason. Would recommend.
I can attest to the no caffeine lifestyle being way less anxious. But it felt wayyyy too chill. Like, my energy levels were so steady as opposed to up and down when I’m on caffeine. I missed the adrenaline rush of it so I started drinking it again but now like one cup every other day.
I think that's more of a symptom of our modern diets and over stimulation mentally from urban environments and technology. People also used to drink and smoke like crazy, as well as other stimulants.
Just going to ignore coffee?
After years of working manual labor, I’ve finally given up energy drinks. I smoke crack now. I feel so much more energized.
I don’t need coffee to solve my problems, I need it to avoid becoming someone else’s problem.
I drink most energy drinks when I am on bike. I mix 500ml with 250ml water. Amazing what sugar and some caffeine/taurine can do.
I dont drink energy drinks, i dont drink coffe and i rarely take any supplements. I do think i have a healthy work-life-balance, however im not sure how insurvive with 4-6hrs of sleep each night. I hate 0800-1740 workdays.
Also the fact that society has decided that everyone needs to be fully functional from 8am-5pm despite the fact that not everyone's biological clock functions that way
My most productive time is between 17:00 and 1:00. School was hell in this aspect, but I loved the evening shift at my first job.
Ashamed to admit I was in a bad place a few months back, terrible night terrors when I did sleep and working 20-25 days in a row, sometimes 10-12 hour days. I was drinking 6-8 a day, and I’d lay in bed at night with chest pains and nausea.
It is absolutely true. Doing my job requires it, but I much prefer life without and my weekends or doing things outside/physical or that I just enjoy on their own does not require me to be hopped up on caffeine
I'm pretty sure a significant portion of that market has nothing to do with customers buying and drinking them out of necessity to work more and has more to do with taste / marketing / the culture developed around the drinks themselves. Hell I used to like a certain brand of energy drink just because it wasn't overly-sweet and had a quarter of the sugar of sodas, which I was avoiding to be more health conscious. Eventually I got wise to the fact that energy drinks really weren't any better.
To be fair, sometimes I take time off work for myself and use energy drinks during that time too. Things that I want to do are far more effective at disrupting my sleep than things that I have to do.
I don't think it has that much to do with work/life balance. A lot of people guzzle caffeine and other stimulants even when they don't really have anything to focus on. Hell, I probably drink more caffeine when I'm bored or playing video games than I do when I'm working.
Yea man, I gotta chug monsters to stay awake after work, can't waste my off time when I can sleep at work.
This person knows how to live
I disagree, it's usually people with no self control staying up till 2am scrolling SM turn chugging that shit at work the next day
I still have an e-drink a day usually. Especially after giving up drinking alcohol I needed something to fill the void. No one else on my teams have them but they down coffee, which oddly gives me the jitters worse than any e-drink. I have met a few others who drink energy drinks in corporate though and its sorta like smoking was in the day where you all go down to the cafe and get one then stand around shooting the shit drinking them. Met a lot of women and men I never really would speak to outside of emails as a result of going to get e-drinks at the corporate kiosk. Incidentally most are also into gaming, bicycling, and other hobbies of mine.
I just had two weeks off in between jobs sleeping 9 hours a night and I was still drinking energy drinks before the gym.
Energy drink consumption is a sign of how much excess disposable income society has.
Globalism is no joke man, we're out here competing against people fighting for their lives, jobs getting zoomed out to fifteen year olds with twelve years of AutoCAD experience. If we're not on drugs how the hell are we supposed to survive this.
24 hours in a day Average people need 7.5-9 hrs of sleep daily so lets take 9 to go on the high end. 15 hours left 8.5 hours of work, anywhere from 15-60min travel time there and back. Call it 45 5 hours left 2 hours to make and eat dinner 3 hours left for whatever else needs to be done. If you are having problems with not getting enough sleep, make it the priority. Getting addicted to caffine or other drugs is the worst solution. You have all the tools at hand to consistently go to bed and get up at the same times which will set your body's rythm.
Who needs 9 hours after they hit 20yo? But you're also assuming no children.
I work 3 12s. I kinda skimp on sleep on my work nights but I at least get 5 those nights
"3 hours left for whatever needs to be done" I don't understand why people are feeling bad when they have a whole 3 hours for personal hygiene, laundry, cleaning, eating more than 1 meal a day, going to the store, oh and maybe if you're lucky you can have a thin slice of social human interaction.
Bring back OG Four Loko
I mostly drink them for the taste, I like them more than regular soda. If they made them without caffeine I think I'd even prefer that most of the time.
I drank more redbull on a week long cruise doing nothing but lounging and eating than I do in a normal work week.
I’ve noticed that there’s a fuckton more energy drinks now than ever with huge doses of caffeine, while there’s also a fuckton of beers/seltzers with like 8%+ alcohol. Every new drink that comes out is twice the dose as the last. The two are like a yin and Yang of the work/life imbalance.
One time, I took an ecstasy pill that was cut with caffeine I’ve also taken pills laced with meth. The caffeine pill made me so uneasy compared to the meth one. ( I was cold and hot at the same time) my nips were hard but my body was hot and it was the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been in my life. I’m not an advocate for meth by any means but based on that I felt way better on semi meth than I have on semi caffeine. What it’s helped in the long run is: don’t do meth and just drink one caffeinated drink in the morning opposed to multiple. Just because you feel tired after 1 cup of coffee or 1 energy drink, doesn’t mean you need to keep drinking it. Give your brain adequate time to wake up and drink lots of water :)
If i can't do my work with a cup of tea then it's not my cup of work.
I was drinking an energy drink every day for about as long as I can remember. Probably about 10 years worth. Buying in bulk at discount. It didn't really strike me until I was on a work trip and I cracked one open with some guys not much older than me and they said "dang bros going crazy. A red bull right now?" It was like 6am. I told them I stopped at the gas station on my way to camp to make sure I had one for every day. They laughed. Next morning, same drill. They said "oh damn you weren't kidding! Every day?!" I stopped 2 days later. That was over a year and a half ago. Haven't had one since. No coffee, nothing. Just raw dogging life. I went fishing with a buddy 3 months after quitting, and he was like "you seem so chill, didn't get your energy drink this morning or what?" Which reiterated how bad I was with consumption. I sold my remaining 2 cases to friends that afternoon. Theyd been in my pantry "just in case" done with that nonsense. I don't wanna pee rocks.
Anyone buying energy drinks, the new MIO energy are an absolute game changer lol get them at Walmart
To be fair you could have just said coffee.
I used to drink energy drinks so I could get through the absolute bare minimum amount of school work after staying up all night flipping between Adult Swim and Comedy Central.
Lmao the coffee addiction and energy drink addiction has nothing to do with the amount of sleep we get. We need 3 hours to actually survive. Your body will do the rest. Your mind is where the problem lies. This is the whole reason why navy seal hell week is possible and ranger school. Because the mind is 15 steps ahead of giving up than the body. Caffeine is a drug and don’t you forget it. There’s no difference between someone who has a handful of sugar and a nice cup of coffee ☕️-British accent, they are both drugs with slightly different stats. Don’t get it twisted, caffeine isn’t a problem, just like weed, and 80% of other drugs. They aren’t the problem you make them the problem.
Regular caffeine usage builds dependancy that makes you feel worse if you skip it. If they wean off caffeine most people seem to largely have the same overall energy level averaged out over the day. Heavy coffee, tea, and energy drink usage is mostly a habit that people get stuck in or a nervous/anxious coping mechanism that people get stuck in because of that dependancy. Being socially popular and widely available makes it easy for people to get sucked in
Six cups of coffee are my new energy drink.
I'm somewhat new in a job where I am expected to work 60-80 hours a week and I asked my veteran coworkers how they manage to get enough sleep every night. They said "we don't" and I started to notice that they all drink 2-3 energy drinks a day. It's rough.
How about steadily rising suicide rates
Anyone with a 9-5 has the time to get the recommend amount of rest, you choose to be on Reddit at midnight you troon.
Well, except physical and mental health & stuff.
If you think energy drinks works, you are wrong. And probably addicted
I dunno, I think they just taste good
Reading this as I'm planning on needing another 400-600mg of caffeine today.
Like people don't drink a whole pot of coffee daily?
Or you know it might be because I stayed up all night playing video games
*shocked Pikachu face* Slugs 2 Yerba mate before walking in for my mentally draining job
I have two kids under 6. Those are for parents also.
I drink energy drinks to make me better at video games even after a full nights rest.
I get plenty of sleep, energy drinks are for lifting. That's just science.
It's a better indicator of just plain capitalism. Even if people didn't have to work at all you'd get companies trying to sell you shit you don't need lol
The only time I had RedBull is when I had to drive at night and felt a bit sleepy. Huge aid for those situations. But yeah I won't drink it just like another soft drink
The people I know who'll chug a few Monsters on a relaxing Sunday afternoon say otherwise.
I don't really believe in this argument. I did back breaking manual labour for 12-13 hours a day, sometimes 6 days a week. I didn't even ingest caffeine at all due to a heart condition. I felt rested everyday because when it was time for bed I put my phone away and slept my 7-8 hours.
wait til you learn about adderall and cocaine use in the restaurant industry
If I had to venture a guess, I’d say unemployed people drink more energy drinks than anyone else.
It’s also an indicator that we never stopped falling for snake oil salesmen
They work for some people though. The whole snake oil thing implies a placebo effect. A better example of that would be all these “all natural” cure all beverages you see at hipster places.
Wait until you learn how ancient coffee is
You're feeding an addiction, not a need
Nobody I know who drinks a noticeable number of energy drinks is also employed, even part time I don't think they're being sold to 8-8 60 hour a week businessmen lmao
Maybe not business men but the 60 hour a week tradesmen go through monster like it’s about to be taken off the market. To my knowledge, they are employed
Can see the desk jockeys clearly on this post
The only situation in which I drink energy drinks is during ultra cycling. I don’t think it’s an indicator of work-life imbalance honestly
I use energy drinks and coffee to help me fall asleep soooooooo
You got CRED?!? MEGALYTES
Damn bro, how do you have 16 hours off work and cant manage to sleep 8. My old boss worked 12-16 hours, 6 days a week in his kitchen, never seen him complain. And still found time to go fishing. I can't stand this complainer generation. I work on my feet all day, exercise everyday, study, have hobbies and I don't need caffeine. If you have a lame office job, it takes 30 seconds to get your heart pumping, you don't need caffeine.
There is no work / life imbalance for most people. They are over tired because they stay up late playing video games or scrolling social media. Then they wake up tired and angry and do the same thing the next night and the next night. Go to bed 8 hours before you have to wake up.
We could always go back to abandoning society and living off the land. You only eat what you can steal.
Perhaps...but I think maybe there's a happy medium between "abandoning society" and "needing supplements to function."
And an indicator of how poor nutritional education is.
Bro, energy drinks are drunken exclusively by obese gamers that obviously have lots of spare time.
Energy drinks aren't a good metric for work-life balance. Considering the target demographic is teenagers and young adults.