The best thing I did for professional development in the last 3 months: quit coffee

I was addicted to coffee (drinking 6 to 8 cups a day) when I was beginning my developer carrier.

At one point, I stopped it and discovered a passion for tea. It changed many things:

• I was sleeping way better at night
• I didn't have any crush times during the day when I would feel very tired
• I didn't crave it anymore
• It helped me to stop smocking as well

Stopping industrial sugar had even more effect: my energy was constant throughout the day, I felt way better overall.

Exercising on top of that gave me even more energy.

I quit caffeine 3 years ago and it was easily one of the best decisions I've made.

It was just before my daughter was born (maybe not the best move) so I was heading into the most sleep depravation I'd had for a long time, but after the initial week or so of headaches and my energy levels rebalancing, it was great.

I always find it easier to get to sleep (get occasional unrelated insomnia), I never need something to 'get me going' in the morning and it also saves money frankly.

Notes for anyone thinking of trying it:

• The biggest trap I fell into was upping my sugary snack intake when I need a boost, took me quite a while to get that under control 😂
• Most soft drinks contain caffeine, often chocolate does too, and not all suppliers will tell you this...best option is to cut them out or seek reliable sources!

Well done Chris Hiestand!

Tried no caffeine for near enough 2 years. TLDR; on balance probably not worth it for me

Would say I was more on a level generally but would still stay up too late.

One problem is after I had kids I would find I was falling asleep in the day all the time, sometimes in the middle of conversations and sometimes very sleepy when driving, particular after lunch. Tried coffee again and no longer an issue.

I think the inability to sleep is more to do with screen time. If I go to bed at 11pm will fall asleep instantly if I don't have a tablet or laptop, if I do it can easily get to 1.30am

Finally that first coffee after a couple of years was amazing. And the first probably 20 coffee's were also great. Then got back used to the caffeine and no longer get the same buzz

Hey Chris,
Interesting to hear your story.

Quitting coffee was my New Year's resolution of 2017. Didn't drink any cup of coffee ever since (but I do admit I fall for a tiramisu from time to time 🙈).

The main motivation was that coffee caused me a stomach ache.
Also, I remember reading a not so scientifical article about a guy who tried out quitting coffee and his life was miraculously changed afterwards. He was much happier. His attention level was much higher and thus his relationships with friends and loved ones "liberated", to take his own words.

As far as I am concerned, I cannot tell there has been a dramatic change, in the sense that I have not noticed 90% improvement on sleep quality etc. It may be because I still consume tea, but most probably it's because these changes are more profound and not noticeable in the first place.

Generally speaking, I'd say I'm freed from the temptation of faking a boost of energy, and thus I pay more attention to my productivity cycles. Sometimes, I clearly crave for a sip of coffee, smelling coffee's scent in my colleague's cups or feeling down at 1 / 2pm after lunch.

After 2 years, I think to quit coffee has been a good step forward, my conclusion would be: it definitely improves your daily life because you leave that tension and the fake boost of energies away. No need to be as ascetic as I am though, drinking coffee from time to time does no harm at all.
Look for the right balance, like everything else ;-)

I enjoy drinking it too much!

I've also gone 1/2 or even 1/4 caffeinated instead.

Cheers to the improvements you've had!

I forgot to mention another unexpected benefit: reduced anxiety. While working on my IH project, boss, I developed tremendous anxiety about it that would regularly keep me up at night. The anxiety was there in the daytime too, some days were worse than others. Some days it felt almost paralyzing. I started seriously considering seeing a psychiatrist to ask for anti-anxiety medication. Now that anxiety is mostly gone, or at least it's no longer sufficient to hurt my productivity.

Now it may not be causal relationship. Other things have happened since I quit caffeine so there are multiple variables. But I believe quitting caffeine also reduced my anxiety significantly.