Well today’s gone well. I’ve been able to churn through a lot of work uninterrupted, I’ve managed to write and do all my 1K tasks and it’s what, 14:10 as I write this? That’s pretty darn impressive and likely my most productive day in months. I’m hoping this is the norm after Christmas, though I’ll likely be doing some work during Christmas just to have inbox zero going into 2021.
So in the book ‘Willpower’ by Roy F Baumeister and John Tierney – one I heartily reccomend – they talk about the importance of glucose to willpower. In particular, they discuss how researchers will give a milkshake or similar quick burst of glucose to subjects to test willpower depletion, as to ensure all subjects have a full tank. It got me thinking, yes slow release glucose is better, but what if I only need a burst?
So yesterday I bought a milkshake. I panicked a bit when asked to choose three ingredients…
But aside from that I sat down with it when it arrived – it was as you’d expect for that price, huge – and tried to see if it’s boost my willpower to focus on writing. And well yes it did. But there was so much I had to put the rest in the fridge.
This morning, after morning tasks and such I was mulling writing and I remembered it was there. I took it to my desk again, laid the journal for TWO next to it and gave it a shot. Wouldn’t you know it, it worked again. Granted this is not scientific at all, there’s so many untracked variables and of course I did dip a little into quick responses to emails as they came in what with being “on break but bad at taking breaks yes I know I’m aware it’s baddddddd” but all told, a promising first test.
The real next question is how to build on this. I got the fancy milkshake because I thought it’d be fun but that’s not a long term plan. My thinking is I’ll pick up some cheap bottled milkshakes and try those next, along with Lucozade and I guess coffee as a control, though perhaps nothing should be the control. Tricky one as I’m not sure I want to cut out coffee for an experiment like this, and I’d rather just keep drinking it and preserve the habit.
Cautious optimism that I’m starting to rediscover my old self, curiosity and all, but this year isn’t over yet. Back to work now, and here’s hoping that no more surprises pop out of the blue to further sour this year…
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