Managing the Caffeine, A Coaching Tool
William Bergquist, Ph.D.
Abstract: [This is excerpted from book about organizational coaching currently in preparation by William Bergquist and Agnes Mura. Contact ijco.info for update regarding status of this book and publication date.]
Our daily behavior is profoundly impacted by our patterns/decisions regarding sleep, exercise, exposure to light, and the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and other mind-altering drugs (including caffeine). It may be hard to assist other people until they are “physiologically-primed/prepared” for this assistance. Should a coach insist that her client be physiologically prepared for the challenges of coaching prior to beginning the coaching process? If one’s client is taking more than 250 mg. per day of caffeine then this person is likely to be struggling with inadequate (interrupted) sleep. At 350 mg per day of caffeine, one’s client is likely to experience a diminished capacity to focus on a specific issue for a sustained period of time—the kind of concentration that is needed during a coaching session.