LOL, three cups a day "habit"?
I gave up coffee once after a one week flu; I felt better without that drug, but within a few months I was back using the stimulant to stay awake for prolonged and/or late night work. It is a slippery slope because the more you drink the higher your baseline tolerance becomes. I think for 2008 Ill get it down to one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Gerald

Coffee may well make some people too jumpy to focus, and then there's always the crash afterward. I can't tolerate coffee. It makes me feel like crap, and I get way too jumpy and anxious on the stuff.

But I've noticed that I need a running start in the morning. My latest, and greatest craze is Yerba Mate. It's a South American beverage, actually going back to aboriginal culture. It's amazing stuff. I get the lift of coffee without the restlessness and wandering mind. It's a completely amazing beverage. It takes a bit of getting used to; you have to get decent yerba. I brew it the traditional way: in a gourd. It's way cheaper than coffee, doesn't make you crash or jumpy, doesn't coat your mouth, make your breath bad, stain your teeth and it makes a good topic at a cocktail party. It's amazing stuff. I find I need less sleep and don't wake up tired, like with coffee (it's part of coffee's cycle of withdrawl symptoms). Mate makes me productive, happier and healthier.

philosopher_dog

I've wondered about this for a while now. Recently I've noticed that my mind is jittery and my judgment is clouded by the smallest things during the day when I consume a crapload of coffee.

I'm going to try quitting to see how it goes.

Anyone have good suggestions on replacements for coffee?

Dravidian

Why would you want to stop drinking coffee?

kenlin

Isn't coffee SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN (WITH SCIENCE) To improve concentration? I'm not going to try and find this data but it's utterly true.

Caffeine is fine as long as you aren't taking it to return to a baseline.

RiazM

Honestly, I've found exactly the opposite. I can't just pop out of bed in the morning and start working - I need some time to settle and mentally order my day, and the 20min or so standing out on my balcony drinking a cup of (really superb) coffee helps me focus and gives me a nice energy boost too.

Eric Danielson

I've recently added a cup of coffee to my afternoon routine. Although I feel guilty spending that extra dollar a day, I've found my mood, attention, productivity and (surprisingly) sleep has all been improved.

Michaelw

I find that the first large cup of coffee settles me a bit. My mind is less prone to dart aimlessly. Smaller slow tangents still happen, but those are generally welcome (and easy to reign in when they aren't). It's the second large cup that makes me jittery and subject to coming down hard.

As a person who found success with the stimulant Ritalin as a kid before kicking the habit, I wonder if the initial caffeine in coffee has the same anti-ADD effect.

bmune

Could it have been not doing anything for a number of days that caused the increase feel in productivity?

I would guess that it's not caffeine. A sabbatical from the daily grind(pun) usually increases productivity. The time off in this case was not a busy vacation it was time spent lying around listening to music, tv or sleeping. Plenty of time to re-organize your thoughts on looming projects. So when you do return to work, you're more efficient on completing those projects.

CEOself

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue." --Steve McCroskey

cv

Going without caffeine has the opposite effect on me.

I gave up caffeine for about a month back in law school. I was a lazy, miserable, sleepy, bumbling idiot for that month. Never again. Give me my coffee, you bastard.

hector7g

3 cups of day is a habit?

Snorbalp

Absolutely agree. According to my Don't Break The Chain, I'm on day 27 without caffeine and it's been a remarkable experience. Lots of green smoothies staved off any headaches. And yes, having a cold, flu or a long weekend or holiday helps kick start you into quitting for good.

William Mize

Up next: Scratch to cure your rash.

I'm totally in favor of quitting coffee though. It - just - is - not - healthy. Tried to stop, many times. Always failed. Try again. Fail better.

Yerba mate is a great substitute, but (unlike coffee or tea) I always get bored to its taste within few weeks.

Lasse Rintakumpu

I'd consider a cup of coffee (or two) a completely reasonable part of any day. Good coffee can be a part of a great routine. I always wake up, head to the office and then brew a couple cups.

One or two cups isn't enough to make me jittery or unable to focus. It's just enough to get me over the edge of feeling like i should have stayed in bed.

I'm not at all close to feeling guilty for my love for coffee. Have we all forgot about all the uppers some are addicted to? I'm fine knowing I need a couple cups of coffee to get through the day.

jaredweb

@Snorbalp: Anything done repeatedly or on a regular basis can be considered a habit.

@Emsaidso: Indeed. Everyone is different. This post smacks of "one size fits all" mentality.

@CEOself: You make an excellent point, though combined with that placebo effect and then generating a habit of increased productivity, it may seem that kicking coffee to the curb was the cause. In fact, it wasn't coffee but the common cold. Everyone should get a cold to increase productivity :-).

jtimberman

@kenlin:
my thoughts exactly, as I sip that first cup in the morning. But it's not the tinned stuff one buys in the supermarket in the States. I've been drinking European-strength coffee since the early 80's and never looked back.

Now if I had to drink what the in-laws make, I'd be off coffee for good.

karlawithak

I have never drunk coffee (I'm 45), but I procrastinate fine without it.

Emsaidso

Right now I getting ready to brew my freshly ground coffee. I proscrastinate great with or without coffee.You can't blame the beans. The only time I don't drink coffee is when I'm sick and then I'll drink tea(real strong, like coffee!!). Got to go , my coffee is ready!!!!!

swalerroe7

Voltaire supposedly drank 50 cups of coffee a day. No disrespect to Henrik, but I'm with Voltaire on this one.

The Zach

I agree with my friend up there when I say that I procrastinate fine without coffee. I love the smell of it but hate the taste of it.

(I won't mention the headache I start to get around lunchtime when I'm ready for my Diet Coke, though.)

Equis

I'd rather procrastinate in life and enjoy some things that are pleasurable to me than be a super productive worker drone that purposely denies myself slight happiness.

Whitehead

forget no coffee crap I kick back three in the morning and two after school, through in a few tea's during the day. All that equals lots of restroom visits

Ninehand

Kudos to him. Great idea. I just really love my coffee in the morning. I suppose I could start making myself decaf.....One of these days.

Maulleigh

@RabbitRun: If you want to mess with statistics, compare these two:

1: [en.wikipedia.org]
2: [en.wikipedia.org]

Does the correlation mean that Finns are healthy because we drink a lot of coffee? Don't think so. Is this a proof that coffee is actually healthy? Don't think so either.

Coffee may actually be healthy - and then again, it may not: [en.wikipedia.org]

It just depends.

Lasse Rintakumpu

@RabbitRun: If you want to mess with statistics, compare these two:
1: [en.wikipedia.org]
2: [en.wikipedia.org]

Does the correlation mean that Finns are healthy because we drink a lot of coffee? Don't think so. Is this a proof that coffee is actually healthy? Don't think so either.

Coffee may actually be healthy - and then again, it may not: [en.wikipedia.org]

It just depends.

Lasse Rintakumpu

Why is it unhealthy? The French, the Germans, the Italians all drink coffee (and strong one) at fairly regular intervals during the day and have done so for decades - are they all unhealthy, less productive, in danger of premature death? Of course anything consumed excessively can be unhealthy, but why are three or five cups a day unhealthy?

RabbitRun

Taking caffeine(strong coffee) is MY LIFE.
I couldn't give up my coffee.

yeah, I'm a Caffeinaddict.

firealien

@ Equis

- I feel the same way about gasoline.

Nick Mortensen

Caffeine is how people with undiagnosed ADHD medicate themselves.

If you ever want to quit, read Stephen Cherniske's "Caffeine Blues". He gives a ton of facts about caffeine and anecdotal evidence of how bad it can be for you. There is a 30 day stepdown program, but once you read the myriad ways it affects you, you'll no longer be able to intellectualize consuming caffeine.

I've been clean (with lapses) a year now and everything in my life is better. I had no idea what I was doing to myself.

Nick Mortensen

i can focus on one thing when i quit drinking coffee, too - DYING.

that's cool, though; i prefer red bull or monster anyway. less stomach goofiness.

OrangeAlert

Looks to me like this is a classic, multi-anecdote description of the dose-response curve.

As they say: the dose makes the poison.

Caffeinate accordingly!

libelle

Give up caffeine to keep your mind from wandering? It's probably a reasonable approach for most but for anyone with ADD it's almost certainly going to have the opposite affect. As counterintuitive as it might seem we take stimulants to slow our thinking down and improve concentration. So we get prescribed Methylphenidate and Amphetamine Salts or self medicate with caffeine and nicotine to increase focus.

DanRP

One of the things I've read about Lowering Anxiety is to quit caffeine.

My experience supports the theory.

-Also, your body stores caffeine. Anything involving adrenaline can also trigger a sympathetic dump of stored caffeine.

spaceman7

@CEOself: You can keep your V8. :-P

I've been told to cut back before, but won't. I drink about half a pot a day (two big mugs worth) and a couple of green teas. I'm the type that uses coffee as a fuel. It takes alot of coffee to make me jittery or easily distracted.

Wasn't it about ten years ago that coffee was bad, and then three years coffee was good for you again (highest concentration of anti-oxidants in a beverage). There is probably not a one size fits all answer, scientifically. We all have differences in brain chemistry, and therefore, different reactions to stimulants.

Personally, I buy Community Coffee Dark Roast from Louisana. Still cheaper than Starbuck$ even with the shipping cost.

inconel710

I think it would very interesting to investigate the science of caffeine and its effects on humans. Could it be that it has no effect on us at all. Maybe an old, impressive marketing campaign cooked up by Jaun Valdez and some 1920's marketing guys? After they were successful in marketing that 'coffee helps you wake up in the morning' they moved to Florida and started pimping Orange Juice as the morning end'all'be'all.

After all my parents didn't drink OJ in the morning it was Tomato or Grapefruit juice. Interesting...because a can of Low Sodium V8 sure does make me fell like I had a triple shot Makiato[sp].

CEOself

Nothing like some good anecdotal evidence.

Coffee, like many things, is good in moderation.

Though, I *have* been meaning to quit drinking coffee.

Tomorrow. No, really. I'll do it tomorrow. I've got so much on my plate right now that I'll be able to really focus on it tomorrow.

nogod

Wow 3 cups. Man he was really pushing the caffeine. [Heavy sarcasm]

No seriously, I don't have the money for Aderall XR every month and I didn't like the aggravation from the Amphetamines so I turned to my trusty friend coffee. When I'm off of it, and any ADHD meds, I really am lost. I can't stop running off on rabbit trails an it's quite nearly impossible to reign in my thoughts. I have tried this for 30 days and I almost got fired from my job cause I couldn't finish network installations fast enough.

So I'm sticking with my 12 cups a day!

timbuckto

Remind me please why coffee is a bad thing? AFAIK it's good for your health, so unless your religion forbids its intake (you see what i did there, i'm being PC) or you have a heart disease/condition, why would it be bad to take 3 cups of coffee a day?

If you link caffeine to procastrination, aren't you denying the role it had on the industrial revolution?

Why not a lifehacker tip, jumpstart that headache medication by taking it with coffee (it works).

whiskey

I really appreciated this post. I wanted my readers to see this also so I've provided a link to it from one of my recent posts:

[lifehacker.com]

Keep up the good work!

JCNorthstar