Beer Mode and Coffee Mode

Creatives have two ways of working: beer mode and coffee mode.

Beer mode is a state of unfocused play where you discover new ideas. It's filled with intellectual surprised that are impossible to predict. On most days, you feel like you wasted time because you don't make a breakthrough discovery. But once in a while, beer mode leads to an intellectual breakthrough that you would've never discovered in coffee mode.

In contrast, coffee mode is a state of focus where you work towards a specific outcome.

The problem with traditional productivity advice is that it doesn't take beer mode seriously. Standard tropes like turn off the Internet, tune out distractions, and turn towards your goals are all examples of coffee mode thinking.

The see-saw of beer mode and coffee mode is like breathing.

Your best ideas emerge when you balance the inhale of beer mode with the exhale of coffee mode. Beer mode rewards laughter, while coffee mode rewards action. Beer mode rewards conversation, while coffee mode rewards focus.

Our best ideas rarely arise when we're busy. They spring to life in aimless contemplation.

In beer mode, you find inspiration. In coffee mode, you harvest it. If you only spend time in coffee mode, you'll shut yourself off to transformative ideas because the fruits of genius are sown with the seeds of beer mode serendipity.