Nicotine—the substance that enabled 8h of deep work, every day

Boy, this will be controversial…

But I wanted to publish this anyway because it might help a few high performers.

Here's the story.

…

3 weeks ago, I started taking nicotine in lozenge form.

The results were the following:

• Enhanced my already high focus, energy, & motivation

• Increased my deep work from 6 to 8 hours per day

• Reduced or even eliminated the evening slump

• Experienced no noticeable negative side effects

…

However, making this decision was a slow-boil process.

A few months back, I heard Huberman and Attia repeatedly talk about the potential positive effects of nicotine. (here, here, and here)

To summarize, when taken smartly, it can act as a nootropic with similar effects to caffeine.

What does taken smartly mean?

• Not in tobacco from—no smoking, vaping, snusing, dipping, etc. (sorry, guys)

• Not overdosing

• Not for recreation

If you take it smartly, you can expect higher focus, motivation, and mental energy without any major side-effects.

As a productivity freak, this obviously was music to my ears.

I decided to give it a try.

…

This is what I did:

• Took 2-3 2mg nicotine lozenges every workday

• Only took it during work (not at parties, for example)

• Didn’t take it on the weekend

The results were as promised: higher focus, motivation, & mental energy leading to more deep work and eliminating the evening slump.

In other words, lovely!

…

Did I get addicted or do I need it to work effectively?

No.

As I mentioned, I don't take it on the weekends and still hit around 6h of deep work without feeling any urge to take it.

I’m good without it, but like caffeine, it gives me this "kick" that increases my productivity by 5-10%.

And, if you're in the business of enhancing performance, an additional 5-10% in productivity over a long enough time horizon means millions of additional dollars and hundreds of saved hours.

…

So there you have it!

That’s my story with nicotine.

Please make your own decision whether to try it and let me know how it went.

With love,
Simon

P.S. If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to free up time and headspace for growth, book a free consultation with me. Link: https://cal.com/processized/d

P.P.S. I’m moving my newsletter to another tool, ConvertKit. Please don’t be surprised if the next essay will have a slightly different design and come from a different source.