Sometimes, I hear people talk about how they are always tired.

Some memes:

^^ I don't know why, but I cannot relate to this.

I almost never feel tired. I've only taken a few naps in my life. I never fall asleep in movies, or on the couch.

I can't even think of a time where I passed out involuntarily (other than if I was inebriated). I think it has something to do with being neurotic - and definitely connected with anxiety and ambition.

When I started training for my first marathon a few years ago, I noticed something. Running and regular exercise gave me even more energy! But, a better kind of energy - more alertness during the day, and easier to fall asleep at night.

You would assume that running 20-30 miles per week would make you more tired, but it actually made me less tired - that was one of those realizations that changed my life, and my perspective on fitness/exercise.

Another thing I noticed - working on projects that I'm excited about give me more energy as well - that's obvious but imagine that you work on something you are mostly excited about all day every day.

That's often the feeling while working at a startup - I can work 12 hour days and it goes by in a flash - it doesn't even feel like work. And I can't wait til the next day and just want it to be the morning.

However there's a flipside to all this energy - it's really hard for me to fall asleep. It's always been like that for me, ever since I was a kid. I'm not diagnosed, but I probably have some form of insomnia. Over the years I've built a lot of "techniques" to fall asleep. The best one is listening to podcasts or watching The Office - really, really helps me fall asleep.

Some other things I've noticed that increase my energy levels:

One of my favorite songs.

Disclaimer: I realize that I don't have kids to take care of, or sick parents, or anything like that. I realize that it would be a much different story if that were the case.