How Gum Effects Productivity

You are in class. You are confronted by a workload assigned by a teacher. They walked passed and dropped a firm stack of papers on your desk of various colors. You pick up your pen and get to work. The clock ticks by and what went from hours remaining to conclude dwindles down to minutes. You’re bored. Your mind darts between different thoughts regularly. You at first dived into the work, but now you rarely place your pen on paper. It is unlikely you will finish. Except you have one trick up your sleeve. There is a pack of gum in your pocket.

Often in class one can observe their peers chewing gum. Some teachers allow it. Others don’t. Overall, gum is a heavy part of our Cal Young culture and because of that I want to know how it affects productivity. Will its chewing allow us to achieve excellent heights as a school and increase the grade point average? Or in its chewing will it reduce our success far below usual?

Chewing gum is generally associated with higher levels of awareness and lower levels of stress. You can see this in, ‘Chewing Gum: Cognitive Performance, Mood, Well-Being, and Associated Physiology,’ by Andrew P. Allen and published by the National Library of Medicine. They in the article conducted several tests and found quite interesting results. They found that in chewing gum people became more productive and had less cognitive issues. It also, according to the article, can increase one's attention span. The article also goes on to say that the people tested in the article self reported greater productivity in their work days and self reported reduced stress and anxiety. It also goes on to say that those going through depression who use gum alongside antidepressants had greater outcomes than those who only used antidepressants. Chewing gum also seems to help prevent declines in awareness as well. When looking at, ‘Chewing gum moderates the vigilance decrement,’ by Kate Morgan, Andrew J. Johnson, Christopher Miles and published by the British Psychological Society, you find they did vigilance based tests for two groups. One used gum, the other didn’t, and the group with gum were found to not decline in performance. ‘The impact of chewing gum resistance on immediate free recall,’ by Sarah Rickman, Andrew Johnson, Christopher Miles and published by the British Phycological Society, did a study and they found the quantity of gum used affected their recall ability. People who chewed the same amount of gum in both tests they had them undergo experienced better results compared to people with inconsistent gum chewing.

So gum seems to be beneficial, but what causes this? ‘Chewing Gum: Cognitive Performance, Mood, Well-Being, and Associated Physiology,’ by Andrew P. Allen and published by the National Library of Medicine does go on to say that chewing gum is associated with an increased heart beat. Though it is unsure whether the increased heart rate is the cause. ‘An Offbeat Method for Breaking the Afternoon Slump,’ by Tanner Garrity and published by INSIDE HOOK, claims that gum increases productivity because in its chewing one enhances oxygen flow to their brain. This helps to enhance one’s focus. It also says that mentally the repetitive action of chewing may aid in allowing the chewer to enter a flow like state. "The impact of chewing gum resistance on immediate free recall," by Sarah Rickman, Andrew Johnson, Christopher Miles and published by the British Phycological Society, claims that chewing gum is associated with greater blood flow and cerebral activity.

So yes, chewing gum has benefits in productivity. It increases productivity, vigilance, and memory. Alongside this, it also reduces cognitive issues such as stress and anxiety. This will, of course, also reduce issues found from stress and anxiety such as depression. Therefore, if we want our school to thrive, gum is a route towards such.

You take a stick of gum from your pack and pop it in your mouth. All the stress in your mind is quickly alleviated as the minty aroma fills your nose and you enter the repetitive motion of chewing. It is pleasing. Very much so. You begin to quickly fly through your work. What you did in an hour you now do in fifteen minutes. You finish your work and hand it to your teacher as a smile spreads across their face. You now personally understand the positive effects of gum on productivity.

Sources:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4449949/

https://www.insidehook.com/wellness/productivity-hack-chewing-gum

https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8295.2012.02124.x

https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjop.12025