Ming Chu
Healthcare IT and Machine Learning Researcher
Bozeman, Montana
đź”— LinkedIn
by Ming Chu
“How are you, man?”
“Tired…”
That answer shows up everywhere in IT. At the desk. In Teams. In the hallway.
Long hours. Screens all day. On-call nights. Alerts at 2 a.m.
You are not lazy. You are worn down.
This is not a program. It is not motivation.
These are simply the rules I follow to stay ready and steady while working in healthcare IT.
Sleep is the primary way the body recovers. Rest is training too.
I aim for eight hours. More, when possible.
As we grow older, we forget what a good night of sleep does. When we were kids, sleep came easily. We had time. With age, time feels scarce. That is what makes sleep precious.
So treasure it.
I stop eating a couple of hours before bed. I do not eat and then go straight to sleep. The body is not built for that.
Before sleep, I read the Word. Not to analyze. Not to overthink. Just to let my mind slow down and rest in the Truth.
Sleep fixes more problems than caffeine ever will. Especially in healthcare.
Caffeine only in the morning. Nothing after noon.
Borrowing energy late in the day steals sleep. Poor sleep makes everything harder tomorrow.
If I am truly tired, a short nap helps more than caffeine. About 25 minutes. Shorter is not enough. Longer pushes the body too deep.
Respect the timing.
I eat twice a day. Sometimes three.
No snacks. No soda.
Water. Electrolytes.
I eat fruit daily. Apples. Berries.
My eating window stays within eight to ten hours. Enough fuel to recover. Not so much that I feel heavy or foggy.
I eat in a way that lets me think clearly at 2 p.m. I also drink plenty of water.
IT work locks the body into a chair. Consistent movement unlocks it.
Movement clears my head after the chaos. After tickets. After outages. After intense calls.
Most days, less truly is more. Doing less, consistently, does more than any hard workout.
Less is more. But not lesser.
I train for strength three to four times a week. Not to punish my body. Not to prove anything.
My body is my temple. A broken body makes work and life harder. A capable body stays ready.
The biggest mistake I made in my first year of IT was training to maximize strength too often. The day after hard sessions, my body felt empty. I had no energy left for my real work.
Training is meant to build the engine, not redline it. Our profession is IT, not competitive lifting. Train to support your work, not sabotage it.
Every training session starts with walking. Incline walking, if possible. Sometimes just two to three 400-meter sprinting laps.
Strength stays basic, but complete. Two sets each. Built around simple movement patterns.
Squat. Hinge. Press. Pull. Core. Grip.
Dumbbells. Kettlebells. Barbells. Calisthenics.
Whatever you have in your hands.
The rule of thumb is simple. Keep it simple.
I train for the long term. I train in a way I can maintain. I train my body to hold up under life’s pressure.
Always leave the gym stronger than you came in. If you feel weaker, you trained too much. If you feel stronger, you are on the right track.
One day each week is unscheduled. No training plan. No performance targets.
Either rest fully or do active recovery. Light walking. Stretching. Mobility. Breathing.
Preferably in nature. In the woods. By the sea.
Stay out of the noise. Let the mind sit in peace.
Sometimes I fast for the day and pray. I rest the nervous system, the digestive system, and the mind.
Recovery is not weakness. It is how the body stays useful and capable.
I do not try to win the year. I focus on today. And today only.
“Let tomorrow worry about itself.” Make today complete.
I keep people around me who move and stay positive. Boxing. Jiu-jitsu. MMA.
People who speak life to others. People who do the real work. People who lift others up and do not complain. People willing to set aside their own things for someone else.
I measure progress, not appearance. Consistency, strength, energy, and focus matter more than comparison.
This is not about becoming someone new. Not a New Year’s resolution. But staying steady, present, and capable.
If you are tired and want that to change, start small.
Start from rest.
One nap a day.
One selection of good food.
One day a week totally off.
“How are you, man?”
Still tired sometimes.
But no longer stuck.
Because when I am weak, then I am strong.
At the end of the workday, I would like to tell myself:
tags: Healthcare IT - Fitness - Longevity - Discipline“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”