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Most people like to drink sometimes. Having a drink or two on Saturday night may seem to be a good idea and some people drink more than that. Getting drunk on parties is a regular practice for some people. But what kind of impact will it have on your performance?

To be honest, I will say at once the drinking alcohol will not help you to increase your productivity. To some extent, drinking will help you to lower stress, but there are many better ways for relaxation. If we compare playing tennis, talking a walk in the nature or going fishing with boozing then drinking is the least beneficial option for resting. Damage from moderate consumption is not so big, but if you consume it in big amounts then the effects on your performance will be devastating.

While I would not say that you have to totally quit drinking I will still recommend that you do not have a drink during your work day. Having a beer during your lunch may sound good, but it will not help you to work faster. Have two and it will make you much slower and less productive for the second half of your work day. So if you want to drink then you should wait till the evening with it.

If you drink too much then it will affect your performance in the next morning. How much is too much? It is individual, but I would say that too much is when you feel in the morning that you have been drinking in the previous evening. If you get a hangover then you will not be able to be fast and creative in the beginning of your day. But the first hours in the morning are critical for getting a good start to your day and often they can be the most productive ones. You will just throw away your best time by heavy drinking in the previous night. Even if you do not have a bad headache, but if you feel only just a bit tired then you still will be 5 or 10% less productive than you would have been without drinking.

As getting drunk is an easy way of relaxing and having fun then it may demotivate you in the long run. It is very easy to have a drink and feel good. Why bother with hard work and pursuing with your goals? Even if you do not succeed in your life then you can always drink and forget your problem. Well, it is everyone’s choice what do you want to do with your life.

I have many friends who drink almost every weekend. Every week the wait for the Friday night to arrive. Some of them think more on partying than there career progress, and they are making no big progress with their careers. They are not earning promotions, there income has not increased much over the years, and their life standard has not improved. They drive old cars, cannot have overseas vacations and they even do not drink expensive drinks. But they really do not care about it.

In the long run heavy drinking will destroy your health. Alcohol damages all your organs. Excessive drinking will ruin our and it will also reduce our brain size, our reactions become much slower and our memory starts to go. Alcoholics cannot be productive workers.

I personally was relatively heavy drinker when I was younger. During my university days it was natural for me to get drunk on weekends and this habit continued when I started my academic career. I think that one reason for that was that I was bored in my life and I did not have clear goals. Then it was easy entertainment and an escape form the dull everyday life.

Thing started to change when I started dealing with speed reading. It did not mix well with alcohol. If you want to read fast then you have to keep your mind fresh. Getting drunk and having hangover will just hold you back. And if you want to make progress then you take it into account and do not drink so often.

Now I drink much less. Although I will allow myself to party from time to time and to get relatively drunk, there are many other activities for me now. I simply do not have so much time to drink. Furthermore, there is no need to drink for forgetting the everyday troubles. Now I like facing the challenges and not running away from them.

kristjan time management alcohol, drinking, motivation, productivity