How to look presentable when over-worked, over-stressed, and w/ minimal sleep?

[TopHatFox]

When I look around Amherst College, I marvel at many people's uncanny ability to present plump, rosy, bag-less faces combined with neatly pressed clothing. Almost looks like it's out of a magazine. But do not let the appearance fool you, the campus, like thousands of others around the country, has more than 2/3's of its students experiencing some form of depression or anxiety, and almost 100% saying "I have felt very stressed out over the past few months."

My question is: how the hell are all these kids looking externally primp when internally they're feeling awful!? No, seriously, I want that ability too (except I tend to feel content most of the time).

So, things like:

1. How to avoid baggy eyes (big one)
2. How to avoid pillow hair
3. Avoiding unruly facial hair (if beard)
4. Avoiding wrinkly clothing
5. Avoiding energy slumps

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What do you think? I'm sure mastering this skill is even more important for a corporate setting.

[bryan]

Make napping a priority. If I had to choose something like 5h of sleep or 3 hours of sleep plus an afternoon nap of 30m - 2h, I would pick the later every time.

Also prioritize some exercise almost every day, only opting for sleep if your body is telling you not to work out.*

* (morning doesn't count)

[henrik]

2. How to avoid pillow hair

Shave!

[JamesR]

Well if you've seen the movie "Miss Congeniality" then you'd know hemorrhoid cream can be applied to the bags around the eyes to reduce that. Never tried it.

Being young & healthy makes a big difference. They're not as stressed out as they think either. And really only maximally stressed to the point of failing their personal appearance maintenance right before major exams.

[jacob]

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/w ... rs-we-work

[cmonkey]

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/w ... rs-we-work

I'm curious did you come across this, or fall victim to it in some form, while working in finance?

This sort of thing can be found where I work as well, but its more in the layers of IT that are closer to the business. I'm sure the folks working right at the front of the business are fully engaged in the fake 80 hour week. I am closer to the other end and am on a team that doesn't push long hours at all. In fact, all but one or two of us routinely work less hours than what many consider full time. It's not about the hours, it about what you do with those hours.

[jacob]

@cmonkey - The concept [of hourly productivity] doesn't translate very well to creative or research oriented jobs. There's no such thing as "working smarter, not harder" when people are already working as smart as they can/when smart is the primary output.

However, I've still seen cultures of face time vis-a-vis go home early. The financial company I worked for was quite relaxed about face time whereas in grad school the grad students in the astro group was engaged in an unofficial competition with the solid state grads to see who could keep the lights on the longest.

More importantly, since people were allowed to come and go however they wanted in both cases, I think people just gravitated towards environments that were/are more inspiring to their creativity. This could be at work or at home.

[bryan]

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/w ... rs-we-work

also, this may not be applicable to folks with multiple "jobs" or roles. Those folks are more or less forced into putting in a bit of real work time to a task then jumping to another. Probably more likely to be "type-a" sorts (don't recall the MBTI).

I forced myself (set up my defaults to be committed to multiple, varied responsibilities) into this sort of arrangement in university. My sister is notorious for having too many projects (and excelling in each). She's been in the hospital before from overworking and not taking care of herself (when she was younger before she found a healthy sleep+exercise+diet balance).