
Singing in the Brain - DanielBMarkham
http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/2011/06/singing-in-the.php
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greengirl512
I wonder if age might not have something to do with it. When I was in high
school, drinking lots of coffee and staying up all night put me in the right
state of mind to churn out A-quality essays at the last minute.

When I was in college, I sometimes used Adderall to the same ends. It used to
make me into a writing goddess. Seriously, that's what it felt like. Even
though I was pulling all-nighters, the words just flowed and I rarely needed
to edit. I felt great and my performance was excellent (at least according to
my professors).

Now, I'm 30, and stimulants just don't help as much. If I take them and then
try to get some work done, I make significantly more mistakes- like leaving
out little chunks of sentences. At this point in my life, adequate sleep seems
to be the most effective mind hack for me.

Maybe wakefulness drugs just work better for young people?

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Uhhrrr
There is an advantage to the overconfidence described (from drugs,
sleeplessness, or whatever) - if you are the sort to over-edit and second-
guess yourself ( _cough_ ), then it can help produce a first draft of
something. It'll be a lousy first draft, but that's often better than one that
doesn't exist.

