What's your poison?

Question

As I have spent hours and hours on my apps - late nights, no social life, mounds of dirty dishes - it gets a bit hard to put myself in front of the computer everyday. I have found that pouring myself a drink really seems to help. I am not sure why - I suppose I associate a glass of wine with pleasant times, and certainly not with drudgery. And the ensuing relaxation seems to help me concentrate. (But just one drink - too much relaxation leads to non-sensical essays that seemed like a great idea at the time.)

Anyone else finding that an appropriate beverage is an effective fuel for the application fires? And what's your drink of choice? Personally, it's either red wine or Hawaiin Screwdrivers. (My own invention - oj, pineapple juice, and vodka. Can I use this in my essays as an example of my creativity??? :wink:

).

pelihu · Answer

In college, I took a class on Milton; for those not familiar with Milton he wrote some f'd up sh!t. Anyhow, the professor of the class used to say things like "this stuff is pretty f'd up, but if you find a place to relax, turn down the lights and open a bottle of wine, you might enjoy it." She was cool.

I didn't drink much wine then, but these days I favor Napa Valley and Bordeaux reds, sweets from Saurtenes and as much Champagne as possible.

aaudetat · Answer

but while you're writing apps???

eazyb81 · Answer

Red Bull(s) to help kick-start the essay process; Tom Collins (vodka, not gin) during the refining stage. 

As you mentioned, having more than one tends to simply create more work the next day (i.e. erasing the crap that sounded good when you were tipsy).

pelihu · Answer

I have lots of experience drinking and writing. The law firms I used to work at didn't really frown on drinking during business hours - as long as you got your work done.

lepium · Answer

Single malt Scotch, straight, for me in the evenings. And mate - pronounced "mateh" (a local non - alcoholic tea style beverage) in the mornings. In case you are curious about the latter, check this link :

https://www.mundomatero.com/yerba/Health-Benefits.html

Cheers. L.

aaudetat · Answer

when I was in Bolivia, my host family drank a lot of mate, but I think it was the same word used to describe the tea made from coca leaves. I like that better than Yerba Mate.

willget800 · Answer

how about plain old coffee?

rustmonster · Answer

I write better with coffee. Edit better with wine. :-D

mbadart07 · Answer

Second that, A cup of hot coffee does get things goin for sure.. :-D

braindancer · Answer

My poison is definitely  yerba mate . It's a tea-like stuff grown in Latin America that has an effect similar to that of coffee (i.e. you get more concentrated and energetic), yet doesn't make your hands shake and all that blood pressure-related cr@p (try drinking 5 cups of coffee in a row).

lepium · Answer

Glad to hear I'm not alone. How were you introduced to yerba mate? I know it's somehow relatively widespread in the Middle East (aside from southern South America), but never heard of it being used elsewhere.

Cheers. L.

braindancer · Answer

Well, Ukraine is rather close to Middle East

I was introduced to yerba quite incidentally - a bar of my friends had one in the menu, and they advised me to give it a try. Now I'm addicted

venky1979 · Answer

Beer was my poison But gave up drinking before giving gmat and admisiion procedures so no poison for me while at essays

Just a Latte with choco

polobrute · Answer

i find that a single glass of that cheap $4 handle of carlos rossi sangria puts me in the perfect state of mind to write an essay.

homefry · Answer

My poison is some mary jane.

I had some last night. Much needed. I have 1 more app to go.

That and Counter Strike Source. I don't even like to play video games when I don't have anything important to do. I just play when I have to get something done.

rhyme · Answer

Red wine or, kettle one and tonic

Fig · Answer

Sweet white wines

and... rarefully, porto

karlfurt · Answer

I would say red wine. Yesterday evening, after a day of work, I sat at my desk with a glass and a bottle of wine, few cigarettes, preparing myself mentally for the essays. But I wasn't in the mood to write, so I kept drinking and surfing the internet, gmatclub included.
I'll give another try tonight, still with some wine(I have to finish the bottle now!).

homefry · Answer

I know what you're saying. I did that same thing for the past 3 months.

What's your poison?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards