SDS 514: Does Caffeine Hurt Productivity? (Part 2: Experimental Results) — with Jon Krohn

Study Setup

Jon Krohn conducted an experiment to explore the impact of caffeine on productivity, focusing on his own work habits. He tracked his productivity using the Pomodoro technique, comparing days with and without coffee consumption. Jon found that on days without coffee, he completed significantly more Pomodoros, suggesting higher productivity 1. He noted, "That was statistically significantly more than on the days that I did drink coffee, where I only had 10.9 pomodoros, corresponding to just 4.5 hours of deeply focused work" 2.

   

Statistical Analysis

The statistical analysis of Jon's experiment revealed a clear difference between coffee and no-coffee days. Using Welch's t-test, he found that the no-coffee group had a significantly higher mean of 15.4 Pomodoros compared to 10.9 for the coffee group 3. This result was statistically significant, indicating a strong relationship between caffeine abstinence and increased productivity. Jon explained, "The no coffee group has a very statistically significant increase in the number of pomodoros that I complete" 3.

   

Experiment Limitations

Despite the compelling results, Jon acknowledged several limitations in his experiment. As both the subject and experimenter, he recognized potential biases and the lack of a double-blind setup 2. He emphasized that while the findings are interesting, they are based on a small sample size and should be interpreted with caution. Jon remarked, "Now I'm just one person. So while these results are interesting, uh, it's not a huge sample size" 2.