The great writer Ernest Hemingway once allegedly said, “write drunk, edit sober.” Although it’s been debunked that he ever said anything of the sort, it’s undeniable that the man enjoyed his drinks and treated alcohol like his muse. On the other hand, us copywriters are rarely seen without our trusty mugs of coffee or tea – because frankly, any assignment without caffeine can feel like running a marathon through a swamp. Whether your poison is alcohol or caffeine, these pick-me-ups can seemingly work wonders, but do these substances actually enhance our writing performance? Read on to find out more…
The buzz about booze
From a pint of beer and a glass of wine to two fingers of whiskey and a piña colada, the myriad of ways that alcohol can be served casts a wide net over our tastes. Consuming alcohol triggers the release of endorphins in our brain – the feel-good chemical that helps to relieve pain and stress. For obvious reasons, writing while flat out drunk is not ideal – a lesson we’ve probably learned in college when we’re trying to hammer out an essay at 3 am after too much partying. Even if you managed to complete the assignment, it was probably riddled with an embarrassing amount of mistakes and incoherent arguments.
Low doses of alcohol can enhance creativity in certain tasks, like creating associations between various words or topics, but it’s not a golden ticket to solving all creative challenges!
Although alcohol often gets a bad rap for influencing people to take regrettable actions, did you know that it can also be a rather effective stimulant when consumed in controlled doses? In a social experiment conducted by The Drum, they found that groups receiving an alcoholic drink of their choice to be more creative and productive than those without.
There’s a reason why alcohol is often the star of parties and gatherings – because it removes social boundaries and helps people open up. In the case of the social experiment, alcohol didn’t make people suddenly more creative, but it did help the participants become more willing to share and accept new ideas. How does alcohol fit into copywriting then? Why, during brainstorming sessions of course! Whether you or your team are discussing a narrative for a new campaign or trying to come up with ideas for a new story, a drink may be the way to explore new paths.
(Note that one drink, as set by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is considered to be one 12-ounce beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits or equivalent – exceeding this amount would put drinkers at risk of inebriation and reduced mental capacities.)
The caffeine crank
Productivity around the world would plummet if there was ever a shortage of caffeine. Without our daily fix of caffeine, we’d turn into sluggish, grumpy zombies. The consumption of caffeine creates a buzz similar to alcohol, but instead of endorphins, we get dopamine – a chemical with pleasure and cognitive enhancing properties that also increases feelings of positivity and well-being. For many, this buzz acts as the quintessential alarm clock for raising mental alertness and inspiring action.
A study from the University of California Davis yielded results surprisingly similar to The Drum’s experiment – revealing that coffee (more specifically, the caffeine in it) is a potential lynchpin in fostering greater thoughts and arguments during group settings. This raises a key question: did the caffeine enhance participants’ performance or was it the improved group morale from the caffeine that enhanced performance? Inc. writer Scott Mautz believed neither point to be mutually exclusive, but rather, they were a cause and effect – “a morning group coffee yields better engagement, productivity, and performance,” explained Mautz. “The bonding opportunity creates camaraderie, which creates happiness.”
Whether we are working alone or in a group, a caffeine burst is indeed linked with increased productivity. However, we need to be clear that caffeine does not boost our skill or competence at work – rather, it boosts the speed at which we can work. So if we’re trying to think about what sort of points and arguments we want to put into an article, an energy drink or coffee isn’t going to do much – but, if we’ve already established a clear outline and brief on how to write it beforehand (perhaps from the boozy brainstorm earlier), a quick caffeine trip will help us whip up a draft sooner!
Coca-Cola shares how much caffeine can be found in a can of their classic cola compared to other caffeinated substances. For a healthy adult, 300-400 mg of caffeine per day is the general consensus on safe consumption.
According to Healthline and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, caffeine has a half-life of about five hours in our system, but it only takes 30 to 60 minutes from consumption to reach the peak effects (high alertness and working speed) – meaning that we need to routinely ingest more of the stuff if we want to maintain peak performance. As with alcohol, too much caffeine in one sitting can have equally unwanted consequences. Like a child on a diet of sugary snacks and soda, you’ll feel hopelessly jittery and restless – terrible symptoms to have when you’re trying to focus on a job that requires seated concentration. Furthermore, your overclocked system will crash and be fatigued once the rush subsides – also bad for productivity.
Both alcohol and caffeine have their perks (pun intended), but as with anything in life – the key is to use them in moderation. In the most optimal circumstances, provided your workplace allows it, have a wee tipple when you’re brainstorming new ideas. Then when it comes time to execute your plan, let caffeine be your point man.