tiredness after composing

[gritz]

hi all just curious if you experience the same tiredness after a few hours working on music on your DAW. I find if I;m trying to come up with a new track or its not working as I wanted after a few hours I feel tired, eyes ache and slight headache.

if you do, what do you find the best way of re energising or stopping this issue

[MrFigg]

hi all just curious if you experience the same tiredness after a few hours working on music on your DAW. I find if I;m trying to come up with a new track or its not working as I wanted after a few hours I feel tired, eyes ache and slight headache.

if you do, what do you find the best way of re energising or stopping this issue

Glasses

[BananaSkins]

hi all just curious if you experience the same tiredness after a few hours working on music on your DAW. I find if I;m trying to come up with a new track or its not working as I wanted after a few hours I feel tired, eyes ache and slight headache.

if you do, what do you find the best way of re energising or stopping this issue

Constant hours sat looking at a screen and listening to audio willl produce all your symptons - always take a break.

You've probably Googled this:

For your eyes, try the 20-20-20 rule - every 20 minutes, look up from your screen at something about 20 feet away for about 20 seconds. This gives the muscles in your eyes a chance to relax.

If you prefer to listen at moderate to high volumes, you need to take frequent breaks at least every half hour. This gives your ears a chance to recalibrate so to speak, and prevents them from sonic over saturation. Another method is to listen at low levels, and prevent having to take so many breaks.

[Rising Night Wave]

if i do not feel it i do not do it. simple as that.
now, if you have a job or deadline, then this is something else.
in this case i advice you to:
- drink some not too cold clear water
- slightly press on your eyes with palms ... until that whiteness dissappear (do not be afraid - if it is too bright, just release a bit the pressure with your palms)... you will be compeltely renewed and rested
- open your windows in working room ot get some fresh air
- as said before: use glassess for blocking blue light from electronic displays
- for me this is new: yes, try as said 20-20-20 rule - it sounds good

- go for some time, lets say at least for 15 minutes away from that working room, out of it, and do nothing. lay down and be in complete silence

or just go completely mad and demolish your equipment ... you will solve your problems
haha, sorry for saying that. i couldn't resist. just a joke. hehe.

i onced lost my temper and threw out of house in front of hous on our yard my laptop. haha. it flew for about 10 meters. everything was demolished. except for SO-DIMM RAMs and SSDs. haha. yay yay. my bad was that. i had to completely renew my laptop. i went online with my phone and orderd original spare parts: from casing to display and motherboard. damn. that was not wise.

[Dabbler]

i went to my dr. once for "sequencer neck". got a shot. all better.

[selig]

I try not to wait for that feeling, if I feel it coming on. Get up, move around (even just a little, sometimes a lot).

I always want music to be fun. When it stops being fun I stop. Pretty soon I’m itching to get back to it, which is the goal for me!

Sometimes all it takes is to switch to a different task in the song, or to a different song, or a totally different (but necessary) task.

I also recently got better computer glasses with a wider sweet spot, plus I got a new monitor with a VESA mount so I could (finally) get my monitor at a more comfortable level.

A comfortable chair is also key, as well as lighting that works for you (I’ve gone a little OTT with Hue lights in the studio).

[motuscott]

Intellectual activity is work, it will physically tire you out.

[gritz]

thanks for your input guys,

I think I don't have the proper seat, unfortunately I don't have the space a permanent studio area so I sit on either a dining room chair or a wooden bench when looking after my mum, also my full time job is sitting in a office, so I guess posture has a lot to do with it, but its true when working on a laptop you are just staring at the DAW listening then re listening and listening again, so I guess we have all been there when you look at the clock and 4 hours have gone by.

[pushedbutton]

Regardless of your equipment you should always plan breaks. The Pomodoro Technique is quite popular. The common way to do this is have a 25 minute break timer and a 30 minute work timer, that gives you 5 minutes break every half hour. In this time it's important to discipline yourself to do something else, move about, stop thinking about what you were thinking about. In practice you probably find yourself wanting to hit snooze, owe yourself a break, say you'll do double next time or just get distracted or fear forgetting what you were doing at the time. But on the whole people who get into this routine find themselves being much more productive.

[BRIGGS]

Caffeine...

....that, and fruit

[plaamook]

I literally just go to bed. I pace a lot and when I’ve had it I go lay down. Maybe only for five min but I get the hell away from the computer.
This is mostly deadline work. But yeah. It’s not an environment I can just push harder with.
Something physical Is different. Different energy cycles.
I’ve never done anything like IT work so I can’t say there. The only work I’ve done on a computer is music sound design and taxes.
Now taxes…I probably should just take drugs to get through that shit but I feel kinda principled about sticking to coffee and booze. For various reasons.

[Quarmat]

A lifechanger for me was finding the right heigt of the main monitor you are working on. Too high (as it is often the case in those desks with a shelf for the keyboard, another for the midi controller etc) and you'll have your neck suffering fatigue making your eyes get tired sooner. Too low and you'll have your shoulders suffering and the eyes short after. Find the sweet spot for your height and your chair and It will be wayyy more easy to work on music for long stretches of time. All the previous hints are also relevant, quality chair, small breaks, caffeine, etc.

Especially hydration: my eyes suffer if am not properly hydrated so I have a cuppa filled all the time

[selig]

A lifechanger for me was finding the right heigt of the main monitor you are working on. Too high (as it is often the case in those desks with a shelf for the keyboard, another for the midi controller etc) and you'll have your neck suffering fatigue making your eyes get tired sooner. Too low and you'll have your shoulders suffering and the eyes short after. Find the sweet spot for your height and your chair and It will be wayyy more easy to work on music for long stretches of time. All the previous hints are also relevant, quality chair, small breaks, caffeine, etc.

Especially hydration: my eyes suffer if am not properly hydrated so I have a cuppa filled all the time

Good call on hydration, not to mention having (healthy) snacks handy for those extended sessions.

I mentioned the same about monitor height above, but it’s worth repeating especially if you wear glasses. I wear progressive lenses, which means I had to tilt my neck up to see the top of the monitor (where menus are!). Getting a monitor arm was the best thing I’ve done for ergonomics! The second best things was when I got new computer glasses that have a wider area for computer viewing, which also helps keep my neck from craning up to see everything. Not only less eye strain but also less neck strain. Every little bit helps when you spend hours in the same position…

As for chairs, they are super important and also super personal. I use an adjustable stool with no back. This makes picking up a guitar or percussion instrument easy, and I think the reason why I don’t mind a chair with no back is from playing piano nearly my entire life and also drums for most of my life - neither of which typically have a seat with a back! So I learned proper posture early on and actually prefer it to even the most comfortable studio chairs, though I’ve spent a HUGE amount of my life in those chairs as well…

All of these things (which can seem small) can add up and contribute to fatigue over time, especially when you get hyper focused on the creative aspects of music and loose track of time!

[plaamook]

Not to hijack the thread but I usually have to work on a laptop, often at different locations, and I’d really appreciate any pointers on laptop working, posture, what have you.
As it is I try breaking sessions up, pacing a bit, not hunching over the thing…but never the less I suffer during long projects. Shoulders and neck. It’s a drag.
External monitor isn’t usually an option but it depends on where I’m at.
Cheers.

[pushedbutton]

Not to hijack the thread but I usually have to work on a laptop, often at different locations, and I’d really appreciate any pointers on laptop working, posture, what have you.
As it is I try breaking sessions up, pacing a bit, not hunching over the thing…but never the less I suffer during long projects. Shoulders and neck. It’s a drag.
External monitor isn’t usually an option but it depends on where I’m at.
Cheers.

laptops are not really supposed to sit on your lap, it's a stupid name really.
I'd say the only way to use one for a prolonged length of time is to have an external keyboard and mouse.

[plaamook]

Not to hijack the thread but I usually have to work on a laptop, often at different locations, and I’d really appreciate any pointers on laptop working, posture, what have you.
As it is I try breaking sessions up, pacing a bit, not hunching over the thing…but never the less I suffer during long projects. Shoulders and neck. It’s a drag.
External monitor isn’t usually an option but it depends on where I’m at.
Cheers.

laptops are not really supposed to sit on your lap, it's a stupid name really.
I'd say the only way to use one for a prolonged length of time is to have an external keyboard and mouse.

I don’t use it on my lap. Agreed.
I tend to get to where I’m going and set up a work station.
I think a monitor would be best actually. Looking up rather than down. But I can’t cart that around.
Keyboard etc…I need the Mac trackpad. I can handle a mouse any more. But I do have an external magic pad to change positions. That helps.

[Popey]

Not to hijack the thread but I usually have to work on a laptop, often at different locations, and I’d really appreciate any pointers on laptop working, posture, what have you.
As it is I try breaking sessions up, pacing a bit, not hunching over the thing…but never the less I suffer during long projects. Shoulders and neck. It’s a drag.
External monitor isn’t usually an option but it depends on where I’m at.
Cheers.

I use a laptop for work and am always working at various locations. If possible try and find an adjustable chair (not always possible) and I have a cheap laptop stand so I can adjust the screen to the right level. Its not ideal but means I am very rarely hunched over my laptop and suffering from poor posture.

[plaamook]

Yeah. Keyboard, magic pad, laptop stand as opposed to ext monitor.
Actually just need the keyboard. Can build a stand.