I recently had to stop smoking weed to go on an Ayahuasca ceremony a week or so back. While I’m not a hardcore “stoner” anymore, I have been smoking cannabis consistently for years now. If I was thrown in front of a judge in a drug court, they’d probably say I have “marijuana use disorder” or something of the sorts due to my frequency of consumption, but during that week I realized that, “no, I’m not addicted to cannabis”.
Sure, I enjoy smoking cannabis frequently, but when it came to stopping for a week, I really didn’t have an issue. It didn’t negatively affect my sleep or mood, nor my appetite. I guess, I am one of the fortunate ones who can consume cannabis without getting addicted.
However, with my week of abstinence I discovered a few things in relation to my own productivity. One thing that I am continuing these days that has helped me achieve a significant amount more in my day to day activities.
Today, I’m going to be sharing a few productivity hacks for the productive cannabis consumers out there.
While I don’t smoke a lot of pot these days — at least when comparing to how I used to smoke — the Wake-n-Bake has been a staple for me for many years. I enjoy waking up in the morning, getting some coffee, meditating and maybe doing some breath work before toking up. Sure, that’s not technically a wake-n-bake, but considering that I wake up at 5:30 a.m. every day, I’m toking up by 6:30.
Lately, however, my need for morning tokes have waned because of the breath work and meditation and with the recent venture into the Ayhuasca ceremony, it allowed me to reassess my relationship with cannabis.
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For the week leading up to the ceremony, I was to abstain from several things — one being smoking marijuana. This, as I had mentioned earlier, did not cause me any significant discomfort. It was simply a decision, “okay, don’t smoke weed” and my body and mind followed suit.
While I was focusing on the ceremony over the weekend, I realized that there was a lot of things “pending” that had to be completed and being the “sober” version of myself, I got to it.
The entire week, I felt that I was more productive — maybe a little more stressed, but more productive overall.
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When I came back after the ceremony, I decided to only smoke cannabis at night time. No longer would I consume marijuana [at least for the week] in the hopes of replicating the productivity of the week earlier.
After a few days, I was enjoying the evening toke far more than I was enjoying the morning toke. I realized, that this shift in behavior allowed me to reach optimal levels of performance while still obtaining the benefits of consuming cannabis.
That’s a win right there!
So here are a few tips I wish to share with anyone interested in boosting their productivity while maintaining a regular cannabis habit.
Forgo the Wake N Bake
The name of the title and the inspiration to this piece, it does wonders. Cannabis relaxes you, and sometimes you don’t need to be relaxed. Sometimes you need a little stress to motivate you. You manage the stress at the end of the day.
Your prize toke
At the end of the day, when you’re done with all the hustle, reaching for a premium toke is the best. You can feel all the stress melt away, clearing your mind, allowing you to focus on other things for a moment.
Plan your day the night before
While not cannabis related, making a rough outline of your next day helps you stay on track.
If you must smoke, toke wisely
Some people, like my wife for example, use cannabis for medical purposes. If you need to consume cannabis to alleviate some symptom, then that is the productivity enhancer right there. In my case, I don’t have chronic pain or anxiety or stress. I use cannabis as a stimulant to shift my perspective and come up with an infinite vault of content pouring out of my brain. I use it to help me write new music or literature. However, if you’re using it for medical purposes and it’s suppressing a symptom of discomfort, then consume only until the symptom subsides and continue about your day.
Make a list, cross out tasks
You’ll want to have a small notepad on hand. There’s something about physically crossing out tasks that just provides an extra sense of “accomplishments.” Of course, most people have phones and that works too, but the small notepad is a personal touch that helps me stay on track a bit more. If you wish to use your phone, a task manager is a great way to stay on track and optimize your time.
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Cannabis can be a deterrent in terms of productivity. We have to be honest about that. If you take a bong rip every morning, you’re not being 100% as productive as you can be. This may be okay, perhaps productivity isn’t your major concern. If that’s the case, I am no one to tell you to not chill-on as you are doing.
However, if you are smoking cannabis and wish to be a bit more productive, I recommend trying any one of the things I mentioned. The worst that can happen is nothing. The best that can happen is you become more productive.
This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.
