If you want to learn persuasive writing, you got to follow David Perell! He's one of the best out there.
Check him out on Twitter!
Of course, this is not against TeeTotallers. There is a scientific basis to this (based on my limited reading on this subject and obviously some practical applications).
Creativity is our ability to think and connect different pre-existing ideas in our mind and come up with a novel outcome!
Coffee, research suggests while has many positives, particularly doesn't have a great equation with creativity. But Coffee does help in execution excellence.
This is possible due to certain compounds in our brain like Adenosine which alerts our brain when the energy is low and thereby slowing it down. It is similar to the message you get on your mobile when it is under 20% of battery power.
Caffeine blocks adenosine receptor. Due to this, the brain is fooled to think it is high on energy! It makes us hyper attentive and helps us be in flow.
Creative ideas don't come when we are focused on a certain activity. Creative ideas often occur when we stop working on a particular problem and let our mind move on to something unrelated or unfocused. When our mind is wandering! When our brain is not hyper attentive and fixated on something.
Beer or any other alcohol on the other hand helps to slower the working memory and frees it up for unconscious thinking.
Neuroscientists have studied that moments of insight or eureka happen when we are in a relaxed state which activates the part of the brain which is placed above our right ear. It is studied that therefore during shower, or while going for a walk or on the beach when we are relaxed, creativity levels go up!
A question to ask ourselves is: Do we really focus on what mode gets us best results?
David is one of those writers who makes you think and read more on the subject. It encouraged me to research a bit to understand this better.
As an individual I could reflect how when I had time for some blue sky thinking I came up with better ideas and thoughts.
It made me reflect on times when I have led teams. As a leader, I have been guilty of pushing my team who were busy with loads of tasks to also come up with creative solutions.
Well, in the hindsight, I was not just un-empathetic but also unscientific in my expectations.
With this post, I am not encouraging anyone to get sloshed / drunk in order to get eureka moments.
It can be a great indicator for leaders and organisations who assign work to know the importance of having relaxed environment in order to get great insights and ideas.
Don't expect an outcome of a scientist by making your team work in a coal mine.
Remember from what David wrote, it is about balance. But I would say it is also about moderation!
While, I agree that a lot can happen over.a coffee but there is a lot of merit in "Let's grab a beer" too!
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