Alcohol consumption is sometimes linked to laziness for several reasons.
Drinking alcohol every once in a while wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but when alcohol consumption turns into a bad habit, then it can have long-lasting effects on your levels of laziness.
This article will discuss the effect that alcohol can have on your productivity in both the short and long term.
Can Alcohol make you lazy?
Alcohol can make you lazy because it affects the Cerebral Cortex, an area of the brain responsible for attention, perception, awareness, thought, memory, language, and consciousness. It also works as a sedative, so it can rob you of energy and your ability to think clearly.
Heavy consumption of alcohol can affect your sleep quality. When your sleep is disrupted and you’re unable to rest properly, you won’t be as productive the next day.
If you’re normally an early riser, you may get up a few hours later than normal. In that way, alcohol consumption would disrupt your normal schedule and the work that you would normally do at that time.
Alcohol raises your body’s epinephrine levels and that increases your heart rate. An increased amount of this stress hormone can also cause nighttime awakenings. Alcohol use may be the cause of 10% of cases of persistent insomnia and the problem is, that users may not even be aware of just how badly their sleep is being affected.
Alcohol is produced when grains, fruits, and vegetables undergo fermentation. The product that we drink as alcohol is known as ethanol. It’s a natural product but just like anything else, it can have detrimental effects if it is not consumed in moderation.
Since alcohol relaxes you, it has that effect on the muscles in areas such as your throat. If you already have a problem with sleep apnea, alcohol use can make it worse. As the muscles in your throat relax, it can make it difficult for you to breathe. If no one is nearby, you may go through the night without being aware that you were having problems with breathing because of your alcohol use.
Some people may decide to have a beer or another alcoholic drink at lunchtime. Individuals may also consume alcohol if they are working late. In both of these situations, alcohol use can cause them to move and think in a more lethargic manner. They will not be able to focus fully on the tasks that they are doing. In this way, alcohol does make them lazy.
How much alcohol can you consume without affecting your productivity?
If you want to remain productive while at work, it’s best to avoid alcohol completely. It’s not good to even have a beer during the day, since this can impact your focus and creativity. Brain imaging studies have shown that even a little bit of alcohol can affect brain function.
SPECT scans of the brains of people who drank no more than three glasses of wine a week, showed that their brain function was impaired. Three glasses of wine a week is not a lot but it does affect you. It damages your neurons, especially those located in your cerebellum. This area of the brain is responsible for thought coordination and that’s why people who have consumed alcohol often seem to have problems with putting their thoughts together in a logical manner.
In some cases, consumers are told to drink two glasses of red wine a day because of the beneficial effects that resveratrol can have on heart health. However, what is sometimes ignored is the toxic effect that alcohol is having on the brain while you are doing that. When you drink alcohol, it decreases firing in your prefrontal cortex. That section of the brain is the most thoughtful area, so if all systems aren’t firing there, you’re going to struggle through your work.
It’s not a good idea to even consume a glass of wine if you do not want to affect your productivity. It’s best to avoid alcohol altogether. Even a little bit will impact brain function. Leave it for a time when you don’t really need to focus on anything complex. No matter how little alcohol you consume, it will affect you and there is always a chance that you could make a small but important mistake.
Decreased vitamin B absorption is one of the side effects of drinking alcohol. This effect is seen even with just a little drink or what some people would think of as just having a glass with a friend. Vitamin B1 is responsible for assisting with brain cognition, as are some of the other B vitamins. If your body cannot absorb vitamin B properly, you’ll develop problems with cognition.
How Long-Term Alcohol Use Affects our Laziness
Long-term alcohol use predisposes you to sugar abuse and stimulates your appetite. It prompts you to continue eating instead of getting up and moving on to another task. In the long term, alcohol can contribute to overeating. Your body tries to adjust by increasing its production of insulin and this can lead to low blood sugar levels.
When your blood sugar levels drop, that affects your thinking. Your brain will be unable to function properly and you won’t be able to process your thoughts. In the long term, you’ll feel sluggish all the time, instead of feeling energized as you go about your daily activities.
Remember, the effect of alcohol is not just felt on the day that you decide to drink. If you have even one glass of wine in the evening, you’ll feel the effects of that the next day and even longer. If you’re drinking alcohol regularly you’ll also be at greater risk of sustaining physical injuries because your physical coordination will be affected.
A 2008 study showed that long-term alcohol use can actually shrink your brain. If you keep on using alcohol over the years and your neurons die off, you’ll end up having a smaller brain than someone who doesn’t drink. Alcohol prevents oxygen from reaching the energy centers of the cells that are in your brain. When your brain cells cannot get enough oxygen, they will start to die.
Alcohol also reduces the effectiveness of the neurotransmitters that are responsible for learning and memory. When you have difficulty with learning things, it affects your productivity.
When you cannot remember what a client said to you or what information was presented in a file, it will not only make you seem lazy, you will also become frustrated.
