10 December 2009

What's the best shade of tea for design?

USB mugs When it comes to setting up a working environment, care and attention needs to be put into even the tiniest details to ensure maximum productivity and focus. For instance, some people like to keep their desk completely tidy, have gentle music playing in the background, and have photos of stunning beaches and hillsides pinned up around the room. I'm not one of those people. My desk is constantly a mess, the whole room is filled with other junk that doesn't fit anywhere else, and the only inspirational landscape I have is the view from my window. Still, there is one factor that is still critical to maintaining my working day - a cup of tea.

Although I've cut down on my tea intake since I was at university (at my peak I was drinking 10-12 mugs a day, I'm now down to about 3-4), it is still a hugely important part of my day, and one that I wouldn't function correctly without. And that got me thinking - is tea (or coffee, I suppose) essential for other designers too? Is it an undocumented requirement for anyone working in the design industry?

A typical tea routine for me generally goes as follows. In the morning I switch my computer on, check my emails, and if there isn't anything critical that absolutely can't wait I go and make myself the first cup of tea. Since I'm the only one drinking tea I don't bother with a pot, I just make one mug. While the kettle is boiling I prime the mug with a tea bag (preferably PG Tips) and a teaspoonful of sugar, then pour in the boiling water, move it around a bit (not too much, I like my tea relatively mild), take the teabag out (without squeezing it against the side of the mug) and put it in the composter, then add a generous lashing of semi-skimmed milk, before giving it a good stir and taking it back to my desk. I have another mug in the early afternoon, and usually another towards the end of the working day, and if I'm in I'll have another in the evening when I'm relaxing. If it's a busy day or I'm working on something really complicated the tea intake tends to increase a bit.

I wouldn't say I was addicted to tea. Not any more anyway. But I do notice if I don't have any tea. If for some reason I don't have a mug of tea in the morning my brain tends to work more slowly, and if I leave it too long it can sometimes result in a mild headache. If I'm hitting my head against a creative block I'll go and make a cup of tea, and then everything seems to slot into place and I wonder what all the trouble was.

But here's the conundrum - how strong should you have your tea for the optimum productivity? If you have it too weak, you run the risk of not getting enough caffeine into your system for it to be much help at all. If you have it too strong, you're constantly in need of... ahem... relieving yourself.

What about you? How strong do you like your tea? Do you take sugar? How many do you have on an average day? Do you find your creativity responds to your tea intake? I'd be interested to hear, if only to reassure myself that I'm not alone...

About Matthew Dawkins

Matthew is a web designer based in Somerset, UK. He has a passion for CSS and design, and runs his own web design business.