Alcohol: I wonder if there is a trade off between productivity and creativity

Soon I’ll be sounding like one of those boring authors forever writing about sobriety.

No. Not really.

I was never addicted. I never drink heavily, certainly not to the extent that would damange the quality of my running on the following day.

But I wrote several times though how I like my couple of drinks in the evening. Beer or wine, especially white. Every day. For many years.

This is how it’d look. I’d finish my run in the evening and enjoy a cold beer. Then with my dinner I’d have some wine. Then I’d write here on Medium. I run every day. So I’d have a drink every day. And, in the past year, I’d write here on Medium every day. Of course I also wrote on Medium during the day, outside of that running-dinner-having-a-drink routine. But I was usually more creative in the evening.

This past weekend I broke my habit, even if for a few days.

Nothing triggered this change. I wasn’t soul searching or feeling like needing a change my life. I just thought — why not try something fresh, a reset?

On Sunday I was going to throw away an unfinished bottle of Chardonnay that I had in my fridge but decided against it. I felt that with this supposedly symbolic act I’d actually trick myself. It’s still in the fridge.