All these energy drinks are great and all, but at the end of the day you have to realize that they are just temporary solutions to the real problem at hand. I speak firstly to myself before anyone else when I say this but you know that for mostly any thing that comes from school, there is ample time given to do the assignment. The reason we feel that we don't have time to do it though is because of our own time management. Were we to manage our time properly, we would never be late on assignments, have to stay up late studying for exams or feel a minute of stress (well...maybe not on this one) during the school year. The larger problem at hand here is that we need better time management. I know for sure that I do.
Another thing about energy is that energy drinks usually use quick shots of caffeine or some other related energy drug. The thing about this is that if you do it too much then it's not so good for you as I'm sure you probably know already. If you want real energy, make sure to stock up on fruits and vegetables, start your day on time with a complete breakfast and go to sleep on time. Take plenty of breaks during work and make sure to work in a well lit area which is in the path of constantly flowing fresh air.
That's my advice at least.
Also, here's a post a friend made on how important sleep is:
http://www.oldgoodies.net/sleep-do-itGood advice; however, I think for a lot of people it isn't just a time-management problem it's literally not having enough time.
For example: I go to school (dur), I'm on the tennis team (2 hour practices a day starting this week) and on top of that I work almost every night of the week. When I get home on full days like that it's around 9. According to my Psych class I should be getting at least 9 hours of sleep. To do that I would need to go to bed...about an hour before I get home. If I settled for 8 hours of sleep I could go to bed right when I got home but, as anyone in highschool will testify, there's a lot of work assigned. I can't shirk off the work for various reasons (getting into college, parents, illusions of responsibility etc) so I'm stuck with about two hours (give or take) of homework and studying a night. Assuming I book it home and crank out that two hours of schoolwork I can be in bed by 11ish. That's giving me 6.5 hours of sleep. Now take into account the fact that I own a Wii and go on forums *cough* codex *cough* and I'm not getting to bed until midnight or later. That means I'm getting >5.5 hours of sleep a night.
As far as diet goes I think mine is decent. I get up pretty early (5-5:30) and make breakfast for me and my dad: eggs, bacon and potatoes normally. I eat kinda shitty for lunch, normally some fast food or sandwich place and my dinner is usually fairly healthy. My biggest problem, which you alluded to, is that I don't eat enough vegetables. Aside from potatoes I really don't enjoy eating veggies and for me it's much more convenient to grab an apple than to have a salad.
As far as I can tell, the thing that kills me in terms of energy is when I get to sleep; a problem which I'm probably exacerbating by using energy shots to stay up late and do my schoolwork. It's a vicious cycle.
Very interesting article Hydro. Your friend seems pretty brainy!
Oh and energy update: definitely seems to be working. I'm ripping through this math work!
Edit: Just for clarification, not all my days are as packed as my example as I don't work everyday. Although my boss seems to be heading towards that...
Edited by Will, 02 April 2008 - 08:32 PM.