Cania

KAY-nee-ah

  • they/them

My Website
www.cania.zone/
My public discord server
discord.com/invite/bKrtWUN3mp

I quit drinking caffeine every morning in early June after one of my friends shared this article. It specifically calls out an anti-work reason to stop drinking coffee which, as someone who thinks working is a racket, was very appealing to me.

My method was to slowly start putting decaf in the coffee I make until it was all decaf. Then I stopped drinking that too because decaf is just not as good for some reason. It wasn't too hard! It was much easier than quitting smoking, for example.

That said, I have not gone totally caffeine-free. I went on a road trip and really leaned on caffeine to make sure I was alert and awake for long sections of driving. I've had a soda here and there. I'm still eating chocolate. But my caffeine intake is extremely low on most days, usually zero.

Pros:

  • My anxiety is much more manageable. It's still there but it's less of a daily attack and more of a Thing To Manage
  • I feel more creative generally, although it's hard to pin down any specifics. It just feels like my mind is a little freer to wander,
  • I can take naps now. I used to never be able to do this.
  • My guts feel better overall
  • Less heartburn (this bitch has GERD)

Neutral:

  • I'm not sleeping better, per se. This is mostly down to other bad habits though.
  • I absolutely cannot paper over getting bad sleep anymore. This is neutral because there's a positive and a negative: I know when I need to sleep now, but also I'm sleepy and I still gotta get shit done.
  • Not to harp on sleep but I think I'm just a sleepy person? Discovering this is wild because I just assumed I was a hyperactive weirdo naturally. I think I might actually be a little caffeine sensitive.

Cons:

  • Work is much harder to get done!! I'm lucky we're in a slow period right now - I have no idea how this is gonna go once things pick up. I suspect "not well".
  • I miss coffee! Yes, I could have decaf, but there are fewer varieties and it just doesn't taste the same!

I really want to dig into the work one a bit more. It turns out work is fucking boring - I knew this already of course. But I did not realize how much caffeine was giving me the ability to do boring things. It's extremely hard for me right now to just turn off my brain and do something repetitive. It reminds me of early days in trying to get a handle on my ADHD. I'm having to really lean on existing tools, create new ones, and sometimes just be miserable while I try to focus.

This is not a good reason to go back on something that has so many pros!! I just feel generally better in so many ways that I would absolutely resent being "forced" to increase me caffeine intake because work sucks! If anything, this just makes me more anti-work. But a bitch gotta eat so who knows how long this will be a hill I'm willing to die on. Probably before the death part.

I also want to be real clear that I'm still using caffeine as a sometimes stimulant. Just not for work.

Anyway, I've found this whole process very interesting at the very least, and I still haven't adjusted to like, being sleepy. It's weird.


You must log in to comment.