Why High Temperatures Kill Productivity: A Personal Account of Climate's Creative Cost

Recently the term El Niño has been buzzing on the Internet. A little research and I realized it's a term for a recurring change in a climate pattern characterized by an unusual warming of the surface water over a particular region. Unfortunately, the change isn't constant and the impact differs between towns. Towns and villages surrounded by rivers, mountains, and trees tend to suffer less impact compared to towns with fewer trees and more industries. So the impact of the heat and temperature is influenced by certain factors, and that's why the temperature is never the same between two cities.

I have heard people complain of unusual heat. Honestly, nothing is unusual in my city. We experience the usual temperature and sunshine that occurs yearly during this period. Some days are cloudy with cool temperature, some days are hot with high temperature. In between, people still go about their daily jobs as if El Niño doesn't exist, except for a group of people experiencing a situation that seems a bit tougher to bear. Elsewhere around here, it's the same climate, the same weather, and the same heat. Unless it gets worse as days go by, it would still be the same heat.

Image generated using Gemini AI

However, generally I'm unproductive in humid temperatures. I find it hard to concentrate or become creative. It just seems as if the brain has been locked out and no creativity is allowed in. This is especially true for tasks that involve creative thinking and writing. Some people call this moment writer's block. High temperature and heavy heat hinder productivity by making the body uncomfortable to explore imagination and think outside the box. While one struggles to think, the body fights for comfort, leaving the author without direction and clueless about ideas. I have faced such encounters.

It was in Lugbe, Abuja. The city is congested with barely enough space and ventilation between houses. This adds to the torment the city is already suffering from. The heat at one point became unbearable, and the only thing the brain desired at that moment was good air, not ideas for productive work. I usually stayed up until sunset to start drafting articles. Not because I loved that moment, but because it was the only time when my head thought clearly without being interrupted by the desire to find a cool breeze. The only way I coped during the day was to walk to a place with trees and shade where I could sit under and enjoy the breeze—which sometimes was rather hot than cool—and I had to drink a lot of cold water to stay hydrated all day.

Personally, I don't love high temperatures. I don't want to do anything when it's hot. Not only does it have an unproductive impact on me, but it also makes me more stressed. When I have to work, I know I'll make provisions to stay unaffected, like drinking more water and pouring some on my heated head. Hot weather isn't safe for high productive thinking and effective strategies, because the body merely tries to survive under that condition rather than find answers.