Dream Team Blog Series: Drinking on the job = better at your job?

By Christine Cesarino

We’ve all had days where we would kill for a glass of wine by the time happy hour rolls around. Or on really bad days, an 11am Bloody Mary.  Then of course on sunny summer days you may think wistfully of a frosty Pina Colada… Or is that just me?

Anyway, an activity that is definitely prohibited in the workplace may now see a glimmer of hope. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago found that alcohol helps get your creative thoughts, well, lubricated. In the study, participants whose blood alcohol level (BAC) was slightly under .08 percent performed better in a creative task than did their sober counterparts. In fact participants reached a “creative peak” at a BAC of .075 percent.

As a professional evening-wine drinker you can imagine how exciting I found the results of this study.  So, how to find a way to put this to the best use?  First, find out how to calculate how many drinks we need to reach .075 BAC. Second, find a list of office friendly alcoholic drinks – since I’m going to attempt to do this regularly, I focused on low calorie options. Third, get buy-in from your boss.

I suggest you take a modified version of this approach:

Dear Rob,

If you’re reading this blog, I’d like to take this opportunity to suggest bringing mimosas in for our next brainstorming meeting. New research has shown that I am more creative at .075 percent BAC and as a truly dedicated employee, I want to be able to bring my A game to our brainstorming meeting.  That happens to equal 2 mimosas. Thank you for your consideration.

Christine has been working for Rob for almost 7 years now as his executive assisant. She graduated from LIU: CW Post with a Bachelors in History but came to Advantage with an extensive background in executive support and event planning. She and her husband have a two year old son, and in her free time she’s a professional wine drinker.