Ask HN: How many coffee do you need per day to get your work done?
I tried to get off coffee several times (1-2 months without coffee) but it seriously affects my day to day performance. At work, home, etc. I need at least 2 coffees per day to get through the entire day and be functional.
How about you, how many coffees do you drink per day?
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[0] https://www.amazon.com/BulkSupplements-N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine-P...
I'm not sure how much it'll be worth, but I stopped worrying about any productivity of any particular day. Instead, I choose to write tools that are placed strategically: server config distribution system, data bus, data storage system, command issuing tool, things like that. I make my colleagues' lives easier (or so I like to think).
Though I'm in a somewhat privileged position, being a half-sysadmin and evading the most repeatable and/or customer-facing work.
I was similar to you in that ive given up coffee but found I was unproductive without it.
I've found the before midday approach has worked well for me.
I decided to stop caffeine because I was getting random headaches in the evenings. Also, it would be very hard to forgo that afternoon caffeine when I started to get sleepy.
With this new routine, I feel much more in control of my mind and can escape the roller coaster of energy that caffeine puts me through.
If I had a tight deadline I would drink them non-stop throughout the day.
I started setting up green tea at night in sealed cups in the fridge so they were cold in the morning when I would typically have soda. (if you're in to coffee try hot green tea).
Basically I transitioned over to green tea from soda. Now I don't even drink tea everyday. I've been drinking water with a few table spoons of lemon juice and ginger tea with apple cider vinegar when I feel like I need a pick me up and I have just as much energy as drinking soda except without the calories and the crash.
Also having a small snack when I would normally need a soda helps.
I will occasionally have a soda with pizza but I've tried to avoid that by having beer or a carbonated non-sugar drink instead. If I have one soda the next day I'll start craving one again.
Good luck. Give it a shot. You don't need caffeine like you think you do. Especially the strong/sugared variety.
It used to be that I'd be a useless blob when I got home. I seem to have mostly fixed that by standing for 5-8 hours each day at work. Only downside is I've become acutely aware of how uncomfortable some of my shoes are.
[1] https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/182/12/1010/2195423/Ass...
When's the last time you had bloods taken? There might be a thyroid thing going on.
(Fast forward two years and I'm hooked again. Turns out adding a few drops of caffeinated coffee to your decaf cup will gradually snowball into full caff cups.)
This year I am cutting back on coffee because I think it messes with my stomach. I am down to 2 cups in the morning to get going. This leaves me a bit foggy in afternoon. I try to take walk breaks when I feel a bit foggy.
My goal is to stop drinking coffee regularly. (I still love coffee too much to give it up completely. And I can never give up relaxing/reading/writing in coffee shops.)
1 in the morning after my breakfast 2 during the work day (one usually around noon (sometimes I skip this one) and one after lunch) 1 after I come home from work before dinner (sometimes I skip this one)