Business Owners Talk Cannabis Use and Productivity

workers using weed at work

When it comes to running a successful business – being productive is a key skill to maintain. While cannabis does have the potential to keep you focused, more often than not it is used as a means of “unwinding and letting go”. Is cannabis use in the workplace good or bad?

This is what one business owner was worried about when she asked the question, “Can you be successful and a pothead?”

Here’s her question;

30F - business owner and always been a high achiever. I began smoking pot when the pandemic hit. I was training for a marathon and alcohol slowed me down too much. I began substituting marijuana instead. Now it’s been a year and I’m still smoking pot almost every day after work.

On one hand, I love it! It helps me chill and “turn work off”, I sleep well, and I feel great the next day.

On the other hand, I feel guilty for using it, I’m nervous about long term effects on health and cognitive performance, and as a business leader I feel like I should be holding myself to a higher standard (no pun intended).

I never know if I’m being too hard on myself or not hard enough.

In essence, her question boils down to two things;

Is cannabis detrimental to my performance over time?
Should I hold myself to a higher standard as a leader?
Is the benefits worth the cost?

Before I post the answers from other business leaders, here’s my quick take on these questions;

Cannabis can be detrimental if you allow it to become your “EVERYTHING”! Fortunately, most people who smoke cannabis (even daily) have a very good relationship with it. In the case of the business woman, she only smokes after work to unwind – this indicates that the entire day she has no qualms with smoking. She would easily be able to “not smoke” for a few weeks or even months. In fact, she only smoke due to the anxiety from the pandemic – and now with reduced stress…it seems that smoking cannabis is beneficial for her.
This is a subjective position. Perhaps your higher standard isn’t high enough for someone else. The only person you need to be comparing yourself to is yourself – even as a leader. Do you think Elon Musk is asking whether he should be held to a higher standard or is he too busy inventing crazy shit and focusing on his performance? You may be a leader – but that doesn’t mean you’re not human!
If you are feeling less stress, it means you’re thinking more clearly. If you can sleep well at night, it means that your body has the ability to wash away toxins from the brain and boost your overall performance. Cannabis is known to bring to body to homeostasis and the long term negative effects are few and only limited to heavy cannabis users who smoke massive bong-rips every morning. Even then, it’s hard to experience long lasting effects. Typically, when most people quit weed they recover quit quickly from any negative effects.

These points are simply my view on the subject matter.

Below are some other people’s personal anecdotes.

Apolicywonk said;

Successful business owner, recovered hard drug addict, weekend lightweight pot smoker here.

Anything you do daily is worth examining IMO. I think you're smart for asking "why am I doing this?" Examining that opportunity cost honestly is important - is the quick fix of taking a hit preventing you from learning how to relax and connect with yourself in other ways? The answer might be no, and that's ok, but maybe there's something there. Yoga, meditation, art...there's a universe of beautiful ways to meet yourself in the present moment just as you.

Just as important, you might really consider why you "feel guilty for using it." Most business owners I know are high achievers who are brutal on themselves (myself included). You're human, you are enough today just as you are, and you don't need to shame yourself into "a higher standard" by never stopping and slowing down. Full stop. We all need rest and recuperation to perform our best - no matter what anyone says, resting is part of working. Regardless of whether your pot habit is helping or hurting you, the emotional tendency towards guilt is for sure not helping you. Love yourself and let that shit go. :)

I hope this helps. Nothing but the best vibes for your journey from here.

Similar to my position – you’re only ever competing with yourself. If you’re running a business, you are also harboring more stress than the average Jane or Joe. Cannabis could very well be a means to let some of that pressure go in a healthy manner.

MakeorMark had this to say,

I'm a business owner as well. I've found that smoking has slowed me down compared to the earlier years of the business. I'm not crushing it like I was. I'm starting to see the consequences of daily smoking. They are small, mostly around a lack of motivation, drive, and interactions with employees.

Spacing out your sessions to weekends only or doing sober months has helped me deal with it. I don't want to quit, I enjoy it for the same reasons you do.

As with all things, enjoy in moderation.

I am also a high achiever and do plenty of work – and similar to makeormark, I have found that sometimes NOT smoking is a good way to get shit done. I also discovered that microdosing LSD does wonders for motivation. However, a key takeaway here is that you need to “read your situation”. If weed is hindering you, take a break – smoke on weekends when you have nothing to do and make sure you stay productive.

AutomaticYak also dropped some motherly wisdom;

I turn 40 in two weeks.

I’ve been smoking consistently, minus the nine months I was pregnant, since I was 14 years old.

I have a college degree and a successful, professional job where I am consistently a top performer. I have been married to a person that doesn’t smoke for 14 years. My house is pretty clean most of the time and my son is well adjusted and doing well in school. I have two dogs, one fully trained and one in training (we’ve had her six weeks). I attend aerial silks and trampoline tricks class each once a week. My kid and I have a $10 bet one who can master a few trampoline tricks first.

All this to say you can be active and successful as a person that smokes daily for decades.

Do I have bouts of laziness? Sure, I’ve got at lease one PC game with over 2000 hours on it. But so does my husband and he’s smoked twice in his life.

At the end of the day, you need to be mindful of your own actions. If you feel that cannabis is hindering you, then take a break – if you feel like its helping you, keep on smoking. Simply be mindful of your habits and you can’t go wrong. If there’s one thing we can learn from AutomaticYak is that PC Games can be a real time suck!

What’s some of your productivity hacks with cannabis? What advice can you deliver? Let us know in the comments!