It's no secret that people the world over use caffeine as a work stimulant, but weblog Developing Intelligence suggests that you may not be getting the most form your caffeine high. For example, the author suggests playing to your cognitive strengths when caffeinated.

Caffeine may increase the speed with which you work, may decrease attentional lapses, and may even benefit recall - but is less likely to benefit more complex cognitive functions, and may even hurt others. Plan accordingly (and preferably prior to consuming caffeine!)

The post even explains the optimal caffeine consumption (think small, frequent doses), so if you already count on caffeine to get through the day, check out the rest of this post to see how to do it best. On the other hand, if you're ready to kick your caffeine habit to the curb, your fellow readers can help.

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The Unclutterer blog rounds up the advice of some pretty knowledgeable minds (including go-to food science guru Harold McGee) on the best ways to store coffee, whether as whole beans or ground. The take-away is to never put coffee in your refrigerator, and only store your coffee in the freezer if you can't use it within two weeks. Otherwise:

From the Joy of Cooking: "The best way to store coffee beans, ground or whole, is in an opaque airtight canister at room temperature."

McGee's wisdom is to only place whole beans in the freezer, as ground coffee gets stale more quickly in any environment. For more tips on getting your best cup every day, see these tips from a "coffee snob."

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The New York Times looks into which option is better to help sleepy drivers stay alert: a nap or a cup of joe. In a study conducted by French researches to determine which better helped drivers avoid crossing the centre line, it looks like coffee wins out, but how well it works depends on your age.

For middle-aged drivers, aged 40 to 50, coffee was a far better choice. Caffeinated coffee lowered risk for these drivers by 89 percent, while the nap only reduced line crossings by 23 percent. But among younger drivers, a nap was almost as effective as caffeine. Among 20- to 25-year-old drivers, the risk of line-crossing fell by 66 percent after a nap, and 74 percent after drinking caffeinated coffee.

Of course, it only stands to reason that you could improve your alertness even more with the ever-popular caffeine nap. Now that's a winner. Photo by aphasiafilms.

When he caught a bad cold last month, blogger Henrik decided to multi-task and used the time he spent laid up to kick his three-cups-a-day coffee habit. (As if recovery wasn't enough!) He hasn't had a cup of coffee in 30 days now, and he says the change has made a big difference in his productivity. He says that now:

I'm less prone to procrastination. I didn't really notice it while I was drinking coffee but my mind seemed to wander off in all kinds of ways a lot of the time. Now it's easier to single-task and focus on one thing and I don't feel the same need to check email or other distracting stuff.

Not sure if there's any actual scientific evidence that links caffeine and procrastination, but it wouldn't surprise me. I quit caffeinated coffee about two years ago and I've also seen an increase in focus and decrease in tangents because I'm less jacked up on caffeine. (However, decaf coffee, tea, and most diet sodas, which I do drink once in awhile, do have caffeine, so I'm not off the stuff completely. Just no longer dependent on it to get me started in the morning.)

For more on how you too can kick the habit (sans Henrik's flu), see Ask Lifehacker: Quitting Caffeine? (which got posted in Lifehacker's Pre Comments Era), reader responses to the post, and more on the subject here and here.