Quitting coffee for the last f-ing time goddammit.

[AntiGuru]

Over the past few days I've hit a breaking point, one I've been at before. My caffeine intake has just gotten away from me and I've hit past the point of declining returns. In short, I gotta go off coffee again.

I listened to a lecture from Harvard Biz Review a few months ago that I can't get out of my head, it was titled "Don't manage your time, manage your energy".

The basic thesis is no amount of time management or planning will do you any good if you are constantly over fatigued and run down.

And every so often I hit that point with coffee, then once i go off I feel better, so much better I start up again, first one cup a day, then two, then whatever, slippery slope and I hit a wall.

Which is where I am now.

Anyway, good book: Caffeine Blues, this is the first time I've gone off coffee after reading it, so I think this is the last time, dammit.

(as is my attitude toward alcohol, which I haven't touched for 14 years, this is just my opinion, for me. It is not that I think that nobody else should drink coffee or alcohol, I just know myself and have to face the fact that i can't)

 

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[bflbob]

Congrats!

I gave up the alcohol 24 years ago, but switch to pot -- about one pot a day.

Two weeks ago, I started getting headaches every day. Finally measured my BP and it was 169/102.

I got off the coffee and onto the treadmill, and my BP today was 132/84.

I was actually drinking 6-10 big cups per day, thanks to our office Kuerig. Now I'm down to one or two cups. I don't know as I could get to zero, but I do understand the whole "one cup is too many and a pot is not enough" mindset.

Best of luck to you!

 

[DennisD]

I gave up the alcohol 24 years ago, but switch to pot -- about one pot a day.

Switched to coffee? Or marijuana? haha

 

[JasonR]

Good luck, I quit caffeine for about 4 days until I was incredibly cranky I went and got some more.

My drug of choice is blue monster...other's like sugar free redbull.

 

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[Guest682]

Congrats man, these things are drugs man, mind altering chemicals, and they do sap energy from us. I too recently quit coffee, my energy is consistent now and I don't have that dropoff halfway through the day, and not to mention my focus is now much more steady. I also quit smoking, smoking I realized was causing most of my stress, and plus I just don't like feeling or looking weak when I smoke, people pick up on that, like 'oh you need a cigarette or you're going to be having a nic-fit' What helped me quit coffee is Yerba Mate, once I ran out of yerba mate I just stopped all together now I drink lemon juice or a non-caffeine mint tea in the morning. Good luck to you

 

[EastWind]

I drink coffee and it never saps energy from me. Just don't over do it.
I have 1 or 2 cups at work, a few days I might skip it. If I want to stay up late, I might have one, but I notice I don't need to have any to stay up late if I'm sufficiently motivated to work. I don't have any during the weekends.
Most things in moderation are pretty safe. Coffee included. I drink tea too, lots of it.

 

[Ivan]

My drug of choice is blue monster...

I hope you're not talking about the plumbing glue XD

 

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[JAJT]

To those thinking of quitting caffeine: except 4-5 days of utter hell in the form of a painful, nagging, seemingly never-ending headache.

I've given up caffeine a few times before and the week of withdrawal headaches really, really suck.

These days I just have a cup in the morning, a cup when I get to work and leave it at that. I don't drink any other caffeine so I'm happy with this intake level.

Alcohol on the other hand... that is one delicious siren's song... one day I'll quit you.
But not today.
(tomorrow doesn't look good either)

 

[GPM]

Everyone thinks I am crazy when I say that I don't drink coffee, I need to point them in the direction of a thread like this.

 

[BearNVa]

I've gotten to where I drink 2 20oz Red Bulls almost every other day...and plenty of tea... I've found that after drinking 40oz of Red Bull in one day I can go home go to bed around 7pm and still have a decent sleep... kind of sucks though cause when I stop I get cluster headaches that last for about 2 weeks...

 

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[AntiGuru]

I've quit coffee cold turkey and I'm not going that route again, in fact I can't, I need to be able to function over the next week.
Fortunately this is one time I can taper down: smaller sizes, starting to mix with herbal coffee (teecino) in greater proportions, and right away cutting out one "batch" of coffee per day (I usually do three, I can survive on two).

 

[MMatt]

I was in your shoes several times before and uh "relapsed" as many times as I can count on one hand. I have now eliminated caffeinated coffee down to about one cup a week and have switch entirely to decaf. I drink coffee for the taste, not the caffeine so it was difficult removing coffee from my diet simply for the fact that I would get a headache if I missed a cup. Stats say decaf needs to be something like 97% caffeine free to be labeled so, so I think it is a relatively safe alternative. If you are just quitting coffee altogether, that is ok too. This was just a recommendation if you enjoy coffee like my self rather than drink it for a burst of energy.

 

[andviv]

Harvard Biz Review a few months ago that I can't get out of my head, it was titled "Don't manage your time, manage your energy".

During B&P there was a presentation about this topic.

One recommended author was Tony Schwartz (I assume it is the same author you mentioned here from HBR)

Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review

He's got a couple of books and I have them on my To-Read list.

 

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[Astute]

I had a similar problem, it didn't help that I used to put a load of sugar in my coffee too. In the end I decided to replace it with camomile tea. Once you get over the initial "this stuff is disgusting" bit then you actually start to like the taste. Also good for your bowels, skin etc.