[brd]

I am a big fan of these ideas. I've long since concluded that caffeine is a tool best used sparingly.

As for the macro productivity cycles, I totally agree that they exist and I very much think that burn out is essentially a case of ignoring those cycles. Sometimes you just need to ease off and coast the downtrend.

I'm hoping to, at some point in the near future, experiment with working/traveling across hemispheres in order to see if I can induce highs in productivity by abruptly placing myself in nicer weather. I have a hunch that your typical seasonal depression has a manic phase and I want to see if I can exploit that.

[groby_b]

Your hunch is popular enough that there are studies looking at SAD being a variant of bipolar disorders - see e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2874241/

Of course, if you believe in the article's idea of cyclical productivity (and a constant total amount of productivity over long phases, no matter if you use stimulants or not), you might as well save yourself the trip and mope in front of the fireplace - your summer is going to be awesome ;)

[reneherse]

I too wish to make the same personal experiment. As I seem to be almost exclusively solar powered, I've resolved to spend my next winter as a summer, or at least as close to the equator as possible. :)

[brd]

if I make it to Argentina next winter consider yourself invited