What Essential Oils Actually Help with Grant Writing? A Field Test
Grant writing is not a mood exercise. It’s a performance task.
You sit alone. You face ambiguity, deadlines, rival applicants, and a steady stream of decisions that feel small but accumulate into fatigue. Anything that sharpens focus, reduces friction, or nudges you into action is fair game—including something as simple as scent.
This week, I ran a practical experiment using five essential oils in my office diffuser: lemongrass, spearmint, eucalyptus, nutmeg, and orange. No theory. No spa logic. Just: Did I get more real work done or not?
Here’s what I found.
Lemongrass: The Procrastination Killer
Lemongrass was hard to handle at first. Sharp. Almost aggressive. But something interesting happened: I stopped avoiding things.
On lemongrass days, I didn’t just write grants—I made the calls I’d been putting off. Nasty follow-ups. Loose ends. The stuff that creates mental drag when it’s left undone.
This tracks. According to conventional wisdom, lemongrass promotes alertness and decisiveness. It doesn’t comfort you; it pushes you. For early drafting, outlining, or clearing a backlog of avoided tasks, lemongrass turned out to be brutally effective.
Not subtle. Very effective.
Spearmint: Sustained Precision
I didn’t like spearmint at first. It reminded me of Wrigley Spearment Gum. But I can’t argue with results: I had one of my strongest grant-writing days while using it.
Spearmint seems to support sustained, upright focus. Less aggressive than lemongrass, but steadier. It’s ideal for long narrative sections, revisions, and logic-heavy writing where you need to stay mentally present for hours without burning out.
If lemongrass gets you moving, spearmint keeps you moving well.
Eucalyptus: Better Than It Smells
Eucalyptus initially smelled like the Vicks VapoRub my mom used to rub on my chest as a child. Compared to lemongrass and spearmint, it only has a faint scent—so faint I doubled the dose from 10 drops to 20 drops.
Objectively, though, I got more work done with eucalyptus than with spearmint.
That surprised me.
Eucalyptus seems to operate below the radar. It clears mental congestion without demanding attention. Still, if forced to choose, I’d pick spearmint for daily use. Eucalyptus works—but it’s not pleasant enough to become a staple. Moreover, it would take a lot of it to make a dent.
Nutmeg: Productive, But Personally Off-Limits
Nutmeg worked. I had a productive day. But the smell reminded me of clove cigarettes smoked by counter culture college girls in the 1970s—memories I didn’t particularly want surfacing during work.
This is perhaps an important lesson: effectiveness isn’t enough. If a scent triggers nostalgia, distraction, or emotional drift, it’s a tax. Even if nutmeg boosts productivity, I wouldn’t use it again.
Grant writing rewards forward motion, not 50-year-old reflections.
Orange: The Snack Trap
Orange was a miss. Surprisingly, it was easy to ignore…like the eucalyptus.
It smelled like orange Popsicles from childhood—pleasant, sweet, and distracting. Instead of working, I wanted a tangerine.
The conventional wisdom is that Orange lifts mood, but it also dissolves urgency. That fit my experience too. Orange is great for social settings or breaks. Like breakfast itself. In my experience, it is terrible for competitive writing under a deadline.
The Verdict
If you’re doing serious grant writing, and – implalusibly, you are just like me – then here are the conclusions:
- Best overall: Lemongrass (for action and momentum)
- Best daily driver: Spearmint (for sustained, high-quality work)
- Situational: Eucalyptus (short bursts, low expectations)
- Skip: Orange
- Personal taste required: Nutmeg
Grant writing isn’t about comfort. It’s about creating conditions where decisions come faster and resistance disappears. Sometimes, that starts with something as simple as what’s in the air.
Stay tuned as I try out all 10 of the essential oils that came with the new diffuser.
