Your Morning Cup of Coffee -- and Creativity!

Is this how you feel without coffee? 

Monday morning? Did you load up on a big cup of coffee? 

Caffeine can definitely help you focus, but it can also be a big roadblock to certain types of thinking. It can even put your brain in the wrong state of mind to think creatively, as I'll explain below. There is a definite time and place for it, as I'll explain. 

CAFFEINE AND CREATIVITY 

Your brain is in various states (that are measurable) during the day and night. When you're asleep, your brain is in a Delta state. An Alpha state is how you feel when you're relaxed, creative, and thinking well (great for solving difficult problems). Beta is how you feel when you're late for the train and pushing through people on the street, or quickly processing (a huge stack) of boring paperwork at work. Theta is how you feel just before you fall asleep, or in a very deep meditation or hypnosis -- it's where your subconscious is accessible. 

When you drink a lot of caffeine, it pushes you into a Beta state. This means you are no longer in the calm, creative, clear-thinking Alpha state, where big problems are best creatively solved. However, in Beta, it's easier to add a list of numbers or do anything repetitive that doesn't require higher thinking. Single-minded thinking is where Beta is at. 

*Sometimes you might need to get into Beta, such as during tax time, or if you have a lot of paperwork to deal with. If so, a little caffeine can only help you complete this straightforward task.

*When you have a big-picture problem to solve, and need your brain in an Alpha state, or you need to tap into your creativity, lay off the caffeine (this is why not being addicted is SO important, because otherwise you'll experience withdrawal effects such as headaches). Do some deep breathing, meditation, listen to relaxing music, get in touch with the feeling of your body in your chair, and exercise to vent out the stress that prevents you from normally entering this state. If you must drink something, drink green tea, which can help you relax more than coffee can due to the L-Theanine it contains. 

*It can be easier to enter the Delta state of sound sleep when you are fully relaxed (and not hopped up on stimulants). Definitely avoid caffeine here. 

*To get into a Theta state -- useful for getting in touch with your subconscious -- work with a hypnotherapist who will read you relaxing stories and work on your breathing to help your brain enter this relaxed and barely-awake-state. You can also try deep breathing and allowing your mind to show you images (similar to day dreaming), among other techniques to access your subconscious. Tapping into your subconscious allows you to work on any blocks you may have preventing you from reaching a goal. You'll want to avoid caffeine for this one as well. 

ABOUT BRAIN WAVE STATES

1 BETA -- Alert, tense, afraid, agitated. In your brain, this is measured as 13-60 pulses per second on the Hertz scale. 

2 ALPHA -- Relaxation in your mental and physical state. Aware of what's happening and conscious. In your brain, this is measured as 7-13 pulses per second on the Hertz scale.  

3 THETA -- Semi-conscious and able to access your subconscious mind. In your brain, this is measured as 4-7 pulses per second on the Hertz scale. 

4 DELTA -- Deep sleep. Not conscious. In your brain, this is measured as .1 and 4 pulses per second on the Hertz scale. 

WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO REDUCE THE COFFEE YOU DRINK? 

Personally, I've noticed I feel more freedom since stopping all caffeine. I have an advantage of not needing it to function, so in the rare situation caffeine isn't available, I won't turn into a groggy edgy monster with a pounding headache, and I can still function just fine at work or socially. This was an easy switch for me, because I just get decaf or a decaf tea (such as Chamomile) when meeting with clients at coffee shops. I do occasionally enjoy a cup once a month or two, if decaf isn't available, or if I have a task to complete that I think caffeine could help with (see below). 

While caffeine and sugar can both give you a feeling of energy and concentration (great for doing boring, repetitive, tasks at work), they can also result in a pounding heart, dehydration, a feeling of nervousness or edginess. This makes it harder to relax your body (caffeine is a stimulant drug after all), and with your body in high-alert mode all day, it's easier to burn yourself out. You might also find you're a bit on edge while trying to socialize in this state -- I'll never forget a first date I had with an investment banker who was so hopped up on energy drinks, he could barely sit in his chair (at least, I think it was energy drinks?). That did not result in a second date, if you were curious.

Not being hopped up on caffeine can really increase your brain's ability to focus (by itself, without stimulants), meaning you'll have an added edge of not needing coffee to have a killer answer in your morning (or afternoon) meetings. It can also make it easier to be creative or solve big-picture problems. 

Caffeine can also reduce your appetite, making it harder to get the important nutrients that your body (and brain) need to thrive. A nutrient-starved brain is foggy and slow. This will not help you excel and achieve ambitious goals. 

To reduce your coffee drinking? Try drinking a half cup less coffee today than normal, and gradually reduce the sugar, or switch to Stevia. Reduce very gradually (1/2 cup to a 1/4 cup less per day) -- or mix with decaf -- to help avoid headaches and trouble focusing. 

Caffeine helps you focus on left-brained tasks, such as adding a list of numbers, and it can help you get through boring tasks you dislike at work, but it can actually reduce your right-brained creativity for higher level problem solving (Alpha brain wave state). This is obviously a problem if you ever need to solve a higher level problem. 

Worst case? A brain affected by coffee-guzzling could get stuck in single-minded task mode (such as number-crunching or similar repetitive or boring tasks), making it harder to creatively problem solves your life problems. This means your brain would have a harder time creatively considering other options (new job, moving, traveling, working on self-development, even a new fitness routine), if you're not using your creative side to consider other options -- it's pretty tough to creatively analyze your whole career path and life when your brain is hyped up on the single-minded stimulant of caffeine. 

I do work with a lot of brilliant people who are simply cut off from their creative side, and I do blame coffee as one reason why. Many people who insist they don't have a creative bone in their body have been guzzling caffeine since college. I'm not saying it could cure someone who truly isn't creative, but the potential is there for a lot of people to excel and become better problem-solvers, by better understanding how their brain works. 

Hope you've enjoyed reading about this. For you, what is your best approach for caffeine? 

Wishing you all a fantastic week! Keep up the amazing work I know you're all doing. :)

-Julie