Why Do We Change As The Day Progresses?
September 29, 2015 4:19 AM Subscribe
Why do our expectations and ambitions tend to be so different first thing in the morning vs mid-afternoon vs last thing at night - e.g. "I have so much to achieve!" vs "I'm just busy doing some things!" vs "it can wait till tomorrow!" Is it really as simple as energy level, depleting as the day progresses? Why does this change how important things seem to us? Can our outlook at different times of the day be "reprogrammed"? And why do we tend to be delusional to these changes occuring at all (and daily)?
It's not just over the course of the day. We do the same exact thing over longer timescales: week, year, lifetime. If we weren't constantly adjusting our expectations and recalibrating our goals to fit them to our reality, life would just be one crushing disappointment after another.
posted by phunniemee at 5:08 AM on September 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 5:08 AM on September 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
See also the Planning Fallacy - link - which means you inevitably go from "I've time to do all of this, it'll be great" to "if I achieve one thing today I'll count it as a win".
And unfortunately due to Hofstadter's law - link - there's not much you can do about it anyway ;)
posted by DancingYear at 5:17 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
And unfortunately due to Hofstadter's law - link - there's not much you can do about it anyway ;)
posted by DancingYear at 5:17 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hormones/Neurotransmitter levels?
(and how about in the middle of the night, when everything seems hopeless??)
posted by DMelanogaster at 6:23 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
(and how about in the middle of the night, when everything seems hopeless??)
posted by DMelanogaster at 6:23 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jerome K. Jerome attributes it to diet:
"It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive
organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so.
It dictates to us our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon, it
says, "Work!" After beefsteak and porter, it says, "Sleep!" After a cup
of tea (two spoonsful for each cup, and don't let it stand more than
three minutes), it says to the brain, "Now, rise, and show your strength.
Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature and
into life; spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-
like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes
of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!"
After hot muffins, it says, "Be dull and soulless, like a beast of the
field - a brainless animal, with listless eye, unlit by any ray of fancy,
or of hope, or fear, or love, or life." And after brandy, taken in
sufficient quantity, it says, "Now, come, fool, grin and tumble, that
your fellow-men may laugh - drivel in folly, and splutter in senseless
sounds, and show what a helpless ninny is poor man whose wit and will are
drowned, like kittens, side by side, in half an inch of alcohol."
We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. Reach not after
morality and righteousness, my friends; watch vigilantly your stomach,
and diet it with care and judgment. Then virtue and contentment will
come and reign within your heart, unsought by any effort of your own; and
you will be a good citizen, a loving husband, and a tender father - a
noble, pious man."
posted by Across the pale parabola of joy at 6:45 AM on September 29, 2015 [17 favorites]
"It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive
organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so.
It dictates to us our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon, it
says, "Work!" After beefsteak and porter, it says, "Sleep!" After a cup
of tea (two spoonsful for each cup, and don't let it stand more than
three minutes), it says to the brain, "Now, rise, and show your strength.
Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature and
into life; spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-
like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes
of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!"
After hot muffins, it says, "Be dull and soulless, like a beast of the
field - a brainless animal, with listless eye, unlit by any ray of fancy,
or of hope, or fear, or love, or life." And after brandy, taken in
sufficient quantity, it says, "Now, come, fool, grin and tumble, that
your fellow-men may laugh - drivel in folly, and splutter in senseless
sounds, and show what a helpless ninny is poor man whose wit and will are
drowned, like kittens, side by side, in half an inch of alcohol."
We are but the veriest, sorriest slaves of our stomach. Reach not after
morality and righteousness, my friends; watch vigilantly your stomach,
and diet it with care and judgment. Then virtue and contentment will
come and reign within your heart, unsought by any effort of your own; and
you will be a good citizen, a loving husband, and a tender father - a
noble, pious man."
posted by Across the pale parabola of joy at 6:45 AM on September 29, 2015 [17 favorites]
It might have something to do with, or work similarly to, the phenomenon of willpower decreasing over the course of the day: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/12/29/a-conversation-about-the-science-of-willpower/
posted by lakeroon at 11:06 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lakeroon at 11:06 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
FWIW, I'm not sure your examples are universal. I don't think I've ever in my life thought: "I have so much to achieve!" in the morning. I can't even imagine being like that. Until about 11am, I'm mostly just attempting to put one foot in front of the other without falling over, while thinking things like: "Just do this one thing you really have to do. If you can leave the house in time to catch the bus to work, that's all we need right now," and so on.
Whereas by the time I should be going to bed, when the world around me is quiet and my brain's all warmed up, I'm just all like: "The world is full of such potential!"
posted by penguin pie at 3:04 PM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Whereas by the time I should be going to bed, when the world around me is quiet and my brain's all warmed up, I'm just all like: "The world is full of such potential!"
posted by penguin pie at 3:04 PM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by smoke at 4:49 AM on September 29, 2015 [1 favorite]