Death By Blogging

Wesleying is a fairly laid-back blog. Certainly there's no Nick Denton-type slave-driver, and I doubt there are any posters here resorting to serious coke and Adderall habits in order to deal with the immense pressure of posting emailed events and quirky anecdotes about this place.

But blogging can apparently get pretty serious, as in the case of two prolific bloggers who died recently of stress-related heart problems:

They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment... Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic... But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.

Possibly a good thing then that there's no financial incentive here, and if anyone on Wesleying is losing sleep over the blog it is purely out of their genuine concern for the student body's awareness of Wesleyan's grueling 24/7 news cycle.

Full article: In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop

UCAB hosts stress-free zone... tonight!

Chase Parr '10 doesn't like stress. So she wants you to come to Usdan tonight for UCAB's "stress-free zone." Chase says, "There will be treats, coffee, and games."

Date: Thursday, Dec. 6
Time: 9:00 PM
Location: Usdan

Go get your de-stressin' on, Wes!

Getting the Perfect Nap

Here's a little guide to napping from Men's Journal:

Everyone, no matter how high-strung, has the capacity to nap. But the conditions need to be right. Dr. Sara Mednick, who will publish a book on napping in the spring (tentatively titled Take Back the Nap!, Workman Publishing) has some helpful hints:

1. The first consideration is psychological: Recognize that you're not being lazy; napping will make you more productive and more alert after you wake up.

2. Try to nap in the morning or just after lunch; human circadian rhythms make late afternoons a more likely time to fall into deep (slow-wave) sleep, which will leave you groggy.

3. Avoid consuming large quantities of caffeine as well as foods that are heavy in fat and sugar, which meddle with a person's ability to fall asleep.

4. Instead, in the hour or two before your nap time, eat foods high in calcium and protein, which promote sleep.

5. Find a clean, quiet place where passersby and phones won't disturb you.

6. Try to darken your nap zone, or wear an eyeshade. Darkness stimulates melatonin, the sleep- inducing hormone.

7. Remember that body temperature drops when you fall asleep. Raise the room temperature or use a blanket.

8. Once you are relaxed and in position to fall asleep, set your alarm for the desired duration (see below).

How Long Is A Good Nap?

THE NANO-NAP: 10 to 20 seconds Sleep studies haven't yet concluded whether there are benefits to these brief intervals, like when you nod off on someone's shoulder on the train.

THE MICRO-NAP: two to five minutes Shown to be surprisingly effective at shedding sleepiness.

THE MINI-NAP: five to 20 minutes Increases alertness, stamina, motor learning, and motor performance.

THE ORIGINAL POWER NAP: 20 minutes Includes the benefits of the micro and the mini, but additionally improves muscle memory and clears the brain of useless built-up information, which helps with long-term memory (remembering facts, events, and names).

THE LAZY MAN'S NAP: 50 to 90 minutes Includes slow-wave plus REM sleep; good for improving perceptual processing; also when the system is flooded with human growth hormone, great for repairing bones and muscles.

Going crazy

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES WESLEYING A DULL BLOG.

FUCKING FUCK

Bunnybaby can't take it anymore

Bunnies don't take to pressure very well.

The Essential Reading Week/Finals Mix

Here are four songs to get you through the next week. I have been listening to these every morning to get pumped. And man, I am so PUMPED!! It's so EXTREME!!! I'm so fucking ENERGIZED that it's 5:30am and I am watching my friend play Final Fantasy XII!!!!

I'm not even going to tell you their names. It's a guessing game. You like games, yes? Especially ludicrously easy ones? Unlike your life right now? Fine, okay, the song titles are in the file names, I don't even care.

Man, fuck finals.

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PRIMAL SCREAM

This Sunday, December 17th, at about 11:55pm-- Throw open the window. Step onto your balcony. Come to the steps of Olin, to Foss Hill, in front of the campus center, next to your dorm, with your friends, with some strangers.

When the clock strikes midnight, SCREAM as loudly as you possibly can. Whoever you're with, no matter what you're doing--Just go outside and YELL. Even if you don't remember in time, join in when you hear everyone else.

Bring your cell phones: Their times are relatively synchronized.

Make it satisfying, passionate, cathartic, orgasmic. Tell your friends and spread the word. Hell, make flyers if you want.

Maybe Jesus will come. Probably not. But scream like he is.

Ready...Set...

Check out Lifehacker's Finals Prep Roundup. In case you don't know how to pull an all-nighter.