* There are people with generally higher energy levels, personally I suspect it's mostly about the dopamin/noradrenalin system.
* People can choose different strategies how to approach their work. Some are very good at controlling the amount of attention they put into tasks. They might spend lower amounts of energy per task compared with other people, thus having more overall energy to spend.
* The types of task you do. I can sit in meetings all day. Draining but not exhausting. However, difficult programming and data analysis, writing acamedic texts, having actually creative thoughts? 4-6 hours per day, tops.
* Stimulants. Lots of them. Again, mostly about dopamin/noradrenalin. Amphetamines, modafinil, nicotine, caffeine, .... There's a plethora to choose from, especially if you live in the US.
I agree brain chemistry probably plays a significant role. I've avoided stimulants (even as mild as caffeine) and depressants (including alcohol) since I was a teenager. I still have what I call an addiction prone personality, and can happily spend 15 hours/day playing the same game for days or weeks on end.
I am able to direct this "addiction" to more productive tasks as long as I can convince myself the reward is there. There was a period of about a year where I averaged 100 hr work weeks and got very little sleep. I belive various forms of meditation kept me sane during that period.
I was wondering about that as well. Aside from drugs and productivity, do some of these people simply have a lot of passive income where they don't have to concentrate on a "job"? Must be nice.
* There are people with generally higher energy levels, personally I suspect it's mostly about the dopamin/noradrenalin system. * People can choose different strategies how to approach their work. Some are very good at controlling the amount of attention they put into tasks. They might spend lower amounts of energy per task compared with other people, thus having more overall energy to spend. * The types of task you do. I can sit in meetings all day. Draining but not exhausting. However, difficult programming and data analysis, writing acamedic texts, having actually creative thoughts? 4-6 hours per day, tops. * Stimulants. Lots of them. Again, mostly about dopamin/noradrenalin. Amphetamines, modafinil, nicotine, caffeine, .... There's a plethora to choose from, especially if you live in the US.