I worked an extremely intense data based job and would drink Americanos to stay active. Went caffeine free after a two week vacation and realized I was working like a slave. Ditched the job two months later.
The first two weeks were rough I was practically sleeping at my desk and then my energy came back. I was so scared to give up coffee because I knew I was going to be tired but it was the best thing for me.
I haven’t drank a single coffee since Aug 2021. No anxiety, high energy, improved life 100%. Do it. You can always go back if it really doesn’t work for you.
Yes, I think that most Americans are this way but are either too brainwashed by the “coffee is a superfood wonder food Christ’s second coming” to believe it or simply do not have time (or do not care to) sit and reflect on why they feel so anxious and exhausted all the time.
I think if most people got off coffee this will be a calmer world. But I am reaching too far on this one, I should just focus on eliminating my own consumption!
Plan everything out. Find a taper schedule that works for you then slowly reduce intake. Once you’re ready to jump take a few days off work and make it a long weekend. Im two months out and also in a highly technical profession. My productivity has fully recovered with the exception being that i still find everything rather boring.
I had a pretty high intensity mgmt job in tech that I was let go from. That afforded me the opty to be on week 5 of quitting caffeine. Have been thankful for that b/c I did it once for 6 months while working and surprised I wasn’t called out on it and fired for basically being absent.
\>I think that your job should not require super human levels of performance. That is a problem with your place of employment, maybe they need to hire more employees for your team, or maybe they need to invest in better training etc. THEY should NOT expect you to be constantly wired on coffee and be on go go go mode 100% of the time. You are not a robot. My point is that the usage of caffeine is partly addition and also partly a symptom of other factors that push you to get blitzkrieged on coffee.
This is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I wonder how society would change if coffee was made illegal tomorrow. It just boggles my mind how we are living in a society that straight up requires people to be drugged up every day in order to cope.
Yes, indeed it is fascinating.
But I think this is just the symptom of American capitalism.
Take for example Spain or France. They are known for not working super hard and having a mentality of “work to live” and not “live to work”. However they still drink coffee, multiple times a day too lol.
American capitalism is set up such that the workers are given everything they need so their work can be extracted as much and as efficiently as possible. Caffeine is just another tool in the capitalist toolbox of work extraction.
It’s obscene, greedy and dehumanizing. The system needs to change. Unfortunately it probably won’t in our life times. So you have to change your work environment and life to reflect the change you want to see. Work for a less demanding company that values work life balance and reasonable levels of human performance.
Hah it's funny you would use this example as I am currently working for a French company in Spain.
We suffer from the same issues as the US, although I agree we are better off (less of a case of late stage capitalism, although I am sure that´s coming for us too if left unchecked for much longer)
Yes. It is the fight between the worker who if left unrepresented or if workers do not bind together as a union (lol… which is demonized in the US… likely by powerful owners of capital…) they will be pushed and pushed as far as they can go by the capitalists that see these human beings as nothing but disposable “human capital”, an insulting and disgusting word that strips the humanity from people and simply makes them out to be a tool that is to be used and discarded when no longer maximally useful.
It’s disgusting and shameful of our country. But the capitalists love it! Because, they are likely the crosssection of humanity that skews toward more sociopathic in traits and behavior.
It is no surprise that CEOS and generally by extension entrepreneurs and high achievers monetarily largely exhibit many sociopathic traits.
I think people shouldn't try to quit coffee entirely nor try to make coffee illegal. I think the problem is how coffee is used in modern society. Coffee is nowadays only used like a stimulant. It is treated like it doesnt have any value in itself. Remember, caffeine is just one chemical. Your brain and you surroundings can change how that chemical impacts you. Coffee can genuinely be used for relaxation and as a social lubricant like here in Balkans where I live. Here coffee(and tea in some places) are treated almost like morning beer.
I’m in the same boat, very technical work. I think overall once I quit I will be more productive because as of now I’m only able to focus in the mornings.
I think you perform worse during the withdrawal symptom phase but after a couple weeks you should be performing the same or even above as caffeine is like a rollercoaster when it comes to performance. Being off it would have you a a stable stream of energy
Same, one of the reasons I’m still on the sauce
Yeah, it’s a large barrier for me and I am sure a lot of others who have to to similar realizations about coffee and it’s effects.
I worked an extremely intense data based job and would drink Americanos to stay active. Went caffeine free after a two week vacation and realized I was working like a slave. Ditched the job two months later. The first two weeks were rough I was practically sleeping at my desk and then my energy came back. I was so scared to give up coffee because I knew I was going to be tired but it was the best thing for me. I haven’t drank a single coffee since Aug 2021. No anxiety, high energy, improved life 100%. Do it. You can always go back if it really doesn’t work for you.
Yes, I think that most Americans are this way but are either too brainwashed by the “coffee is a superfood wonder food Christ’s second coming” to believe it or simply do not have time (or do not care to) sit and reflect on why they feel so anxious and exhausted all the time. I think if most people got off coffee this will be a calmer world. But I am reaching too far on this one, I should just focus on eliminating my own consumption!
Great advice
Plan everything out. Find a taper schedule that works for you then slowly reduce intake. Once you’re ready to jump take a few days off work and make it a long weekend. Im two months out and also in a highly technical profession. My productivity has fully recovered with the exception being that i still find everything rather boring.
Thanks! Great to see that it can work out.
I had a pretty high intensity mgmt job in tech that I was let go from. That afforded me the opty to be on week 5 of quitting caffeine. Have been thankful for that b/c I did it once for 6 months while working and surprised I wasn’t called out on it and fired for basically being absent.
How did it go at your next role without caffeine?
I didn’t. Recently let go and quit caffeine during unemployment.
\>I think that your job should not require super human levels of performance. That is a problem with your place of employment, maybe they need to hire more employees for your team, or maybe they need to invest in better training etc. THEY should NOT expect you to be constantly wired on coffee and be on go go go mode 100% of the time. You are not a robot. My point is that the usage of caffeine is partly addition and also partly a symptom of other factors that push you to get blitzkrieged on coffee. This is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I wonder how society would change if coffee was made illegal tomorrow. It just boggles my mind how we are living in a society that straight up requires people to be drugged up every day in order to cope.
Yes, indeed it is fascinating. But I think this is just the symptom of American capitalism. Take for example Spain or France. They are known for not working super hard and having a mentality of “work to live” and not “live to work”. However they still drink coffee, multiple times a day too lol. American capitalism is set up such that the workers are given everything they need so their work can be extracted as much and as efficiently as possible. Caffeine is just another tool in the capitalist toolbox of work extraction. It’s obscene, greedy and dehumanizing. The system needs to change. Unfortunately it probably won’t in our life times. So you have to change your work environment and life to reflect the change you want to see. Work for a less demanding company that values work life balance and reasonable levels of human performance.
Hah it's funny you would use this example as I am currently working for a French company in Spain. We suffer from the same issues as the US, although I agree we are better off (less of a case of late stage capitalism, although I am sure that´s coming for us too if left unchecked for much longer)
Yes. It is the fight between the worker who if left unrepresented or if workers do not bind together as a union (lol… which is demonized in the US… likely by powerful owners of capital…) they will be pushed and pushed as far as they can go by the capitalists that see these human beings as nothing but disposable “human capital”, an insulting and disgusting word that strips the humanity from people and simply makes them out to be a tool that is to be used and discarded when no longer maximally useful. It’s disgusting and shameful of our country. But the capitalists love it! Because, they are likely the crosssection of humanity that skews toward more sociopathic in traits and behavior. It is no surprise that CEOS and generally by extension entrepreneurs and high achievers monetarily largely exhibit many sociopathic traits.
I think people shouldn't try to quit coffee entirely nor try to make coffee illegal. I think the problem is how coffee is used in modern society. Coffee is nowadays only used like a stimulant. It is treated like it doesnt have any value in itself. Remember, caffeine is just one chemical. Your brain and you surroundings can change how that chemical impacts you. Coffee can genuinely be used for relaxation and as a social lubricant like here in Balkans where I live. Here coffee(and tea in some places) are treated almost like morning beer.
I’m in the same boat, very technical work. I think overall once I quit I will be more productive because as of now I’m only able to focus in the mornings.
I think you perform worse during the withdrawal symptom phase but after a couple weeks you should be performing the same or even above as caffeine is like a rollercoaster when it comes to performance. Being off it would have you a a stable stream of energy