I have never been a coffee drinker. I have enjoyed alcohol for years. But not until this sabbatical did I realize how essential both would be for this break’s projects.
I rarely drank coffee because I did saw no point and did not particularly enjoy the taste. I sleep well most nights and almost never feel tired. Not never, of course. I have certainly stayed out past proper bedtime on occasion and felt drowsy in the day’s quiet lulls. But 19 out of 20 days I never felt sluggish until before lying in bed. And I saw no point developing a coffee addiction if it could be avoided.
But my Chinese studies have introduced a kind of mental fatigue I had never before known. Even during my insanely busy periods at EMC–ten or more days of 12-14 hours of work a piece–my mental fatigue did not compromise my work. It was tiring, for sure. But not the kind of tiring that impacted my focus. But language study is different. One iota of sleep less than I need and I catch my mind wandering in the first hour of class. I wrangle it back into the room only minutes later to find it has again escaped. But coffee fixes this.