The Productivity Series - Part One: Caffeine Management

The Productivity Series - How to Do A Lot In 48 Hours

Part One: Caffeine Management

Words by Dirk Calloway

This is a new series, aimed at finding the right corners to cut, when trying to get something completed. I'm no expert, but - as someone who juggles one career in IT and another (much less demanding) professional role running film screenings in Wellington; whilst regularly playing live rock gigs; recording an album; and making my own films too - I think I've learned a few tricks that might be of assistance to other creative folk out there.

The inspiration for this series stems from the V 48 Hours filmmaking competition. I've entered it annually since since 2006. It's a competition that gives you a few compulsory elements (genre, prop, line of dialogue, character, and cinematic technique to include) on a Friday evening and expects you to return with a completed short-film featuring those elements by Sunday night. Since 2008, I've attempted to complete my movie using the medium of animation. This is, obviously, a fairly stupid thing to do. It took Disney six years to make the film Tangled; it's not easy to make cartoons quickly. Just for giggles, I make things more complex for myself by doing it all solo. Again, pretty stupid of me. For an idea of how stupid it is, pay attention to The Simpsons' end-credits next time its on TV: there's  usually an army of Korean animators involved in making 2D images 'move' and 'talk' to each other.

So, how do I get this all done? There is always a corner to be cut, and as a consequence, I've somehow managed to limp 3 minutes' footage over the finishing line each year. For the next few posts on this site, I'm going to explore my favourite short-cuts. Hopefully reading the series will help you boost your own creative productivity as a result. Today's post is about.... caffeine management.

Got a deadline? Need to decrease your intraocular pressure, but increase your level of alertness? Well, that's your problem, and it's not going to be fixed by drinking a plunger's worth of coffee every hour. Don't get me wrong, you can dose up if you've only got a short run to the finishing line, but if you're 48 hours away from completion, you're gonna need to manage your caffeine intake. There are three important time periods to take note of with this drug: 

• 45 minutes after ingestion your body's finally absorbed it
• An hour after that first sip, your blood has reached peak caffeination-saturation. From there, it's a downhill glide....
• 5 hours after you put your mug down, your body has still only removed one half of the caffeine you ingested.

When I'm making a movie over the space of one weekend, I aim to always have half a coffee's worth of caffeine inside me. If it takes 5 hours to get to that place, that means I have to use a simple equation:

In my case, I find that in 48 hours I'm only allowed to consume 9.6 cups of my favourite beverage. No more than that. Apply this formula next time you're in a bind and tied to a desk, and your body will thank you for it!