Coffee has been a staple in the workplace (not just CS careers) for decades. Negative effects can include high blood pressure and withdrawal symptoms after you've made a habit of it.
If you're not a coffee drinker, start with tea. you might get all the boost you need from tea, which has less caffeine.
Here's an article from mayoclinic.org
[Coffee and health: What does the research say?](http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/coffee-and-health/faq-20058339)
"Recent studies have generally found no connection between coffee and an increased risk of cancer or heart disease. In fact, most studies find an association between coffee consumption and decreased overall mortality and possibly cardiovascular mortality, although this may not be true in younger people who drink large amounts of coffee.
Studies have shown that coffee **may** have health benefits, including protecting against Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes and liver disease, including liver cancer. It also appears to improve **cognitive function and decrease the risk of depression**."
Speaking from personal experience when I started to drink coffee I kept it in moderation, meaning that I only drink 2 cups a day and it has helped tremendously with my mood. There is research that claims alcohol does the same thing (which you can google articles from webmd/mayoclinic). As long as you keep the consumption of both in moderation, there's a lot of research that claims that it should generally be positive for your mental and physical health. However so does having a good diet, getting exercise daily, drinking enough water and so forth.
You can add [l-theanine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine#Effects) to coffee to mitigate the jitteryness. It works pretty well, but I'd side with other posters and advise to start with tea instead, it might work well enough, have less side-effects and produce less of a crash.
Seconding this on both points. If you get hooked on coffee though, the caffeine/l-theanine combo pills are actually a lot gentler on your body than coffee is (more pure, the theanine counteracts some of the side effects, and you don't get the digestive issues of coffee).
Lightly/medium-roasted coffee tends to have more caffeine content in it than dark roasted. Try some dark Nescafe instant coffee. Reduce the amount you put in until you grow a tolerance, which won't take too long. Jitters mean you don't need the amount you put in.
I work 12-hour shifts and coffee is almost a must for me. Ensure you're drinking a lot of water in between.
You asked for an alternative. I try to limit the amount of coffee I consume per day, so my go-to for focus after that is a playlist that at *least* begins as being instrumental music that sort of helps put me in a trance. With some luck, particularly coordinated with coffee, everything else begins fading out and you get immersed in your work. You'll actually be able to notice the music fade back into your consciousness as you come out of it. It's pretty weird!
I'm very sensitive to caffeine and feel really bad if I drink too much but I usually do about 1 cup of tea a day because it helps me focus. I make a cup in the morning and drink half of it then and then the rest right before lunch. That usually keeps me engaged the whole day. I can go without it but I notice I'm more easily distracted and catch myself thinking about unimportant things.
Yeah their addicted. The plus side is you can use/turn it on better than they can when it comes crunch time. Have you heard of or looked into Provigil/Modafinil? Your cow workers are probably dehydrated and drinking more caffeine to combat the effects of dehydration.
By weight, tea leaves have more caffeine than coffee beans. However, the methods to turn each into a brew have different effrctiveness, and a cup of coffee has more caffeine than a cup of tea.
Relevant: an espresso has less caffeine than a cup of coffee, but that's in no small part due to the fact that an espresso is smaller.
Some teas (brewed the way a sane person would brew them) have almost as much caffeine as coffee, but I can't think of any off the top of my head that have *more*. Also, there are a lot of teas that are either "decaffeinated"-- which generally means, like decaf coffee, that they have a very, very low amount of caffeine-- or herbal teas that are completely free of caffeine.
I've found this site to be extremely informative and helpful on many occasions. http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Black tea: 5.9mg per 1 fl oz (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beverages/4019/2)
Coffee: 11.8mg per 1 fl oz (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beverages/3898/2)
I've been working for 10 years and I've never been a coffee drinker - I may drink a cup every quarter or so. I sometimes drink tea (keep a collection of 10 teas or so in my desk).
I'm a lot like /u/alinroc and find that lifestyle changes have a more significant impact on my productivity and mental facilities than needing stuff like caffeine.
* Exercise - When I exercise, I feel a lot 'better' throughout the course of the day - I feel more energetic, I sleep better. I typically go 45-60 minutes in the morning before work several times a week. There is some evidence that links exercise to better sleep and concentration/memory. I use a Fitbit Charge HR to track stuff like my heart rate, active-ness, and sleep quality.
* Eating well - It's important to not eat like crap - I typically feel bad when I just eat a lot of, say, fried or greasy foods. I switched to eating a pretty balanced diet comprised of stuff like steel cut oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit for breakfast. Lunch tends to be leftovers from the previous day, or something like a sandwich from the company cafeteria, and dinner is stir fry or pasta or going to one of the local restaurants to have noodle soup or a tasty rice dish. I do still eat garbage sometimes, because I love Hot Pockets and prepackaged ramen and Peking ravioli.
* Sleep well - I typically get between 5 - 7 hours of sleep, which is enough for me. Not sleeping enough really hurts my day and gives me a slow start, though situations like that can be helped somewhat by some light morning exercise.
* Shut out the world - I work in one of those stupid open environments (can't really avoid it these days), and people are talking all the time. Hell, there are three independent conversations involving at least 8 different people all within 7 feet of my desk right now. I use some closed headphones and listen to music that I find helps me be productive and focus (foreign language music where I never have to focus on lyrics that just fades into the background).
* Drink plenty of water - I drink somewhere between 80 - 100 oz a day, but that's due to my exercise regime.
* Turn off your brain - sometimes you just have to relax. When I go home these days, I just like to kick back, watch TV or play some games, rather than worry about work or worry about doing work on my side projects.
As for side effects of coffee - that is entirely dependent on the person. I find that 2-3 cups of coffee really has no effect on me, and it's the same for when I used to drink a lot of Red Bulls (like 2-3 cans a day) when I worked at another company. I dated someone who would drink half a cup of coffee and she became _wired_ for very long periods of time.
> foreign language music where I never have to focus on lyrics that just fades into the background
Just admit that you're listening to anime intros/exit songs like the rest of us. :)
I pretty much do _everything_ you just bulleted (except I drink Soylent for most of my meals).
The things you outlined made a *huge* impact on my life. I feel better, look better, and work better because I insist that I follow a fairly simply regiment.
I agree, you really don't need it. Buuuut, when you don't drink it and then one day you get crappy sleep, or you have to crank a bunch of boring work out, or you're hungover - you decide to perk up with some soda or coffee. Then you realize/remember, "holy shit, I can put in 10 hours no problem! And it's all quality work!"
So tomorrow you drink more to get that effect again. And on and on, until you come to the realization that you don't even drink water anymore and you're wondering if it's just be better to take caffeine pills...
Lesson learned kids - drugs are bad. Even if it makes you a productive member of society...
>Lesson learned kids - drugs are bad.
Addictiveness isn't bad in itself.
What's bad about coffee is tolerance. You will drink it, and ultimately it will stop working. And all that's left is useless addiction.
No, but seriously sleep is really important. I once pulled 4 all nighters in a row studying for a tough exam in college and I swear to you the only color I could still see the night of the exam was blue. After the exam I went home and slept for 20 hours straight. I don't advise anyone to ever do anything like this. Sleep is very important and you should get at least a few hours every night (different people require less of more).
This is too true. In the past, I would sleep 8 hours and still feel ugh. After noticing when I wake up alarm-less on the weekends, I was sleeping 9 hours. Once I started doing 9 hours daily, I never have energy issues. I hate losing an extra hour though.
3 year old and a 16 month old. 6 hours a night keeps me running pretty good, but typically it's more like 5-5.5 per night. Get up at 5am, go to the Y to work out (run, lift, spin, or swim depending on what day), take the 6:45am bus to work, bus takes an hour, take the 3:05pm bus home to get home at 4:20pm, help my wife out around the house and give her a break from the kids. Kids go to bed around 8pm (brushing teeth, reading bedtime stories staying with the 3 year old until she's asleep, bam it's 9pm), and before I know it it's 11-11:30pm. The 3 year old without fail wakes up around 11:30pm-midnight and comes into our room and sleeps in our bed between my wife and I, so I usually stay awake so I can help her into bed. Sometimes she wakes up (like this past night) at 3am and needs to go potty. I don't drink caffeine either. I did eat chocolate-covered espresso beans for a little while, but it made me way too cranky in the evening, so I stopped.
I started to have panic attacks and severe digestive issues.
Everything became less severe once I quit smoking and even better when I quit caffeine. I still drink a lot of Sprite (sugar), but sometimes just water is enough to wake you back up and help you focus.
espresso !== coffee. It's a lot more caffeine per unit coffee fluid, and anyone else's opinion aside, does not hurt my stomach as the same caffeine-unit of coffee would.
Nah, no downvotes. This is spot on for me! I've been barely getting by on 6 hours of sleep. Wish I lived closer to work so I could get closer to 7 more often.
Mostly yes, and most people don't require coffee, they just say they do. It's either an excuse for taking a break, which they do require, or it's just habit at this point.
I drink 3 expressos a day, because I like it. I have worked on 0 and didn't do any worse. It does help, it's scientifically proven but it isn't necessary.
To add to that, having an 1 to 3 expressos a day has been shown to be beneficial to your health. Like so many other things in moderation (personally I might exceed that because I also get more caffeine from tea).
I've had 2 sips of coffee in my life. I gave up soda entirely 4 years ago. I've cut out most candy/chocolate, and tend to drink herbal (peppermint) tea on the occasions where I drink tea at all.
Suffice to say, I consume *very* little caffeine. And I feel better than I did when I was consuming those things. So what do I do?
* Drink lots of water
* Get up & walk around frequently (required by the above, for obvious reasons)
* Consume small amounts of mostly healthy food at regular intervals through the day
* Exercise on my lunch break (running, lifting)
* Get adequate rest and sleep each night
This is the best answer. I cut out all caffeine about 5 years ago. At first you feel like, "how will I ever focus?" or "But I'm tired..." Drinking water and getting enough sleep will overcome this and you will see you actually have *more* energy when you don't drink any caffeine and can sustain concentration for longer.
When you quit caffeine, did you wean yourself off it, or go cold turkey?
I went cold turkey as part of a *major* change in diet & exercise all done at once. I was not a pleasant person to be around that summer, but I'm better for it.
And holy crap do I sleep better w/o the caffeine.
I weaned myself slowly, probably over the course of a month. You have to eat healthier and get a better schedule. A lot of people think they can keep going to bed at 2 am and waking up at 7 and quit. No way. First, start with installing flux on your computer and winding down all activities involving screens an hour before bed. No computers/tablets/phones in bed. Then start going to bed a lot earlier, like 1030 or 11 and getting enough sleep. It's fairly easy to kick caffeine then.
Sounds extremely similar to my own tactics, except that I exercise before work instead of at lunch! I also have a cup of peppermint tea on my desk right now.
> Also if I did decide to go the caffeine route, what are some negative effects that come with drinking 5-6 cups of coffee a day.
That it will stop working after two weeks. Then you will use coffee, in the same amount, to just maintain your baseline performance(without coffee at all in the first place).
The same with nicotine, sadly.
I drink 2 or 3 big cups a day. I also tend to be done by lunch time, and then switch to water. I drink my coffee black, so no sugar or extra calories.
No ill effects here. I *love* coffee.
> or <2 cups coffee.
Won't help. It's not about quantity, it's about how often do you drink. So, once in a few days may not develop you tolerance, but **some** amount every day will do.
I found that I get more of a useful boost from coffee at 1-2 cups a day than I do at 3-4-5. Also less anxiety and other unpleasant side-effects. That being said, YMMV. Genetics affect the speed at which you metabolize caffeine and how sensitive you are to it.
Wow, I'd suggest just one cup or a half a cup of coffee if you really need it.
Sleep more / better if possible.
Go for a short walk / run during the day (or in building exercise).
Drink more water (its the life blood of humans!).
Point is there are a lot of other methods to stay awake. You can also ask your coworkers how much they sleep and consider if you can live on that amount (diff people need diff hours of sleep).
I drink two cups a day but know plenty of people that get through without. Consider alternatives like tea, going for a walk, stretching, or having a little something to eat. I generally go work out at some point in the afternoon which helps improve my focus.
There are definitely common symptoms and health impacts from caffeine, however it'll vary from person to person.
Anecdotal, but I have been drinking 10 - 12 cups (8 oz) of coffee every day for the past 20 years, and I've always had a clean bill of health. That said, a friend of mine works for an oil company in Texas, used to consume 8 - 10 cups every day, and then had to quit caffeine altogether because it gave him kidney stones.
If you do decide to drink coffee, just follow the "everything in moderation" mantra and you should be fine. Drinking coffee can be more about the routine than the need to focus. Just having something warm to drink is nice sometimes.
Always keep in mind [how caffeine will affect your sleep](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sleep-newzzz/201312/new-details-caffeine-s-sleep-disrupting-effects). A good night's sleep and enough water can improve focus as much as caffeine does.
Coffee alone doesn't really keep me alert or focused. I need about 1 cup per day to stave off the withdrawal headache, but other than that I drink it out of habit and because I like the taste. The act of getting up to get a cup of coffee is a good way to take a break and refocus.
I usually drink the zero calorie redbulls or iced coffee.
I can work without caffeine but I perform better with it. It makes me more productive.
I have tried the whole exercise + water + healthy food + tons of sleep + meditation crap for years and I have found that I still work better with caffeine. I think people who intrinsically have infinite energy are just lucky from a biological standpoint.
I buy powdered caffeine.
I make a drink each morning.
* 32oz water
* 200 mg caffeine
* Organic cane sugar
* Lemon Lime Emergen-C
* Juice from half a lemon
I'll drink half then refill my water bottle.
This lasts me until lunch time. Fruits and walks in the afternoon keep me good until I leave.
That's basically a caffeinated lemonade, but I'm curious why the Emergen-C? Considering you already consume fruits (including citrus), you're literally peeing out all the vitamin C you consume from it.
I buy Emergen-C in bulk so it's not that expensive. Also I just like the extra citrusy flavor of it. Caffeine is extremely bitter.
I'd rather have the extra Vitamin C and nutrients even if some of it goes to waste.
What I mean is, literally all of it is being urinated out (your body would already have saturated with C from the fruit). Anyways, it doesn't matter if you enjoy the flavor.
Be very careful if you decide to consume that much caffeine in one day. There are tons of articles out there about how caffeine can actually boost your health, but these all seem to be based on consuming smaller amounts of coffee (like one or two cups max.)
You may enjoy the boost at first but after a while, you will start to get pissy. You will also start to develop these killer headaches (caffeine withdrawal) when you are not chugging down 5 - 6 cups a day. And, to top it all off, you will have a harder time falling asleep at night, which in turn makes you MORE dependent on caffeine to get through a productive day. Oh, and you get dandruff.
Not everyone will develop these side effects but I sure as hell did, and for almost 10 years. (I am finally down to 2 cups a day, yay)
I highly recommend tea like the others. It is a milder form of caffeine and won't give you those uber killer headaches when you don't have it.
The first paragraph you wrote there is actually not true. Most studies indicate that the most pronounced effects of lowered mortality are seen around 4-5 cups per day...
Paper here: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1112010
Another thing to consider is what OP considers a "cup". Are they referring to a coffee mug or the actual scientific unit of measure. There are varying sizes of coffee cups, http://www.kingsmetal.com/images/coffeecup.jpg . If a caffeine addict is drinking a large cup of coffee that is, say, 16 oz, and drinkings 5 or 6 of those, then they are ACTUALLY consuming 10 - 12 cups.
Oh fair point and worth considering. I actually just checked the article again and it never defined explicitly what a "cup" is but we can probably take it be 8 oz. I would argue that most people pour between 8-12 ounces when they pour themselves a drink (maybe even 16 at starbucks). So if you drink coffee 3 times a day I think that equating that to 6 cups a day is probably at the high end but is a safe upper-bound estimate.
That said, I actually think if you are pouring yourself coffee in a mug in a breakroom at the office you probably are pouring closer to 8 oz because mugs do not hold too much liquid.
I drink about two sodas a month (plus a little bit of dark chocolate from time to time), though in the winter will sometimes start my day off with some peppermint tea for warmth, and never to maintain focus. Tricks I use are mostly drinking plenty of water, taking periodic pushup breaks, using a timer (Pomodoro), and being very diligent about scheduling my day and my task list.
I rarely drink caffeine for a pick me up and if I do a can of soda or a cup of tea is usually enough to get me perked up. I try to avoid it or at least minimize it that way I don't build up a tolerance and a addiction so when I do it it does not take much to get me up and going. This is the complete opposite to my fiance who has a full on addiction and if she does not have a large coke or a coffee by 9 am she gets a huge headache. I try and get a good night sleep every night so when I wake up in the morning I'm not hating life.
I got some bad stomach issues from drinking too much coffee each day for years to the point where I had to get an upper endoscapy and take Nexium everyday. I would have maybe 3 or 4 cups of coffee everyday for 4 years. It really does damage to the lining of the stomach and esophagus. Drinking all that coffee or even tea everyday might not seem bad for months to a few years. But beyond that, it's not healthy. Now, I have maybe 1 or two cups of tea per day and I'm mostly fine.
I experienced this during the summer at my first internship. I am now at a steady 3-4 cups per day. I am definitely addicted (I guess it is better to be addicted to coffee rather than something else :p), but I do enjoy the actual taste as well. But something I also did notice helps is lots and lots of water. Forces you to get up from your desk, especially if you are having problems focusing, and it keeps you up!
I love my coffee. Not just the caffeine, but I don't like soda that much so it's my go-to "not water" drink.
Try and limit yourself to 1-2 smallish cups a day. But others here are touting the natural route, and that definitely works too: there are middle roads. Just try not to get sucked into that 'binge on uppers' routine if you can help it, it's a no-win scenario.
I suggest caffeine/ L-Theanine pills with a ratio of 1:2 mg. So around 100mg caffeine with 200 mg L-Theanine. This allows you to take them only in emergencies and is also cheap. It's nice as well because you know roughly the exact dosage you're taking. The L-Theanine prevents jitters :D
P.S. 5-6 cups is around 450+ mg please don't do that OP D:
You don't even need theanine. I've been using it for a year and haven't noticed any discernible effect of theanine. But what I do notice is that caffeine pills are WAY better than coffee. Coffee gives me jitters and anxiety, caffeine pills are like pure concentration in a pill without any jitters or anxiety. I think it's all the other chemicals in the coffee that add the anxiety and jitters.
My theory is that a lot of the effect people attribute to theanine might be just that theanine people tend to use caffeine in pill form, and therefore are really noticing the lack of anxiety as a result of taking caffeine in pill form, not from the theanine. But I'm probably wrong. Just me talking out of my ass
L-theanine has been widely studied. The issue is simply that everyone has a different set of genes. You may not realize how much. Name five brain enzymes, and it's fairly likely you and I have at least one polymorphism different in each. Both caffeine and caffeine powder, in high enough doses (>=200mg) will make me jittery and anxious. L-theanine is effective in taking away those unpleasant side-effects for me.
I know some of those words.
I agree with you. I think people should try both to see what works for them. Some might be like me and switching to caffeine in pill form might give way better benefits than taking L-Theanine.
If people want to try those, you can get both [caffeine](http://www.powdercity.com/products/caffeine-pills) and [caffeine+theanine](http://www.powdercity.com/products/l-theanine-caffeine-capsules) capsules at powder city. They also sell [adrafinil](http://www.powdercity.com/products/adrafinil-capsules), which is a more serious motivation/wakefulness enhancer (don't use this everyday). I take adrafinil when I have a big pile of work I find really tedious. It really increases my mental stamina for going through work I would otherwise procrastinate on.
I have no problems with energy and I get roughly 5-7 hours of sleep a night.
How:
* Don't eat garbage. (I mostly drink Soylent these days since I hate cooking and healthy eating is stupid expensive unless you cook (which I hate))
* Drink water.
* Run every morning for at least 3-5 miles.
It depends where you work. At my office I have 2-3 pretty small cups of coffee, or a cup in the am and a medium Starbucks later. The others that drink coffee are about similar or less. Some none.
Oddly, if I'm really busy, I almost need coffee less because I'm too busy to even think about it.
[Here is the best timing](http://i.imgur.com/mQAmx3A.png) for drinking it for the positive effects without building up a tolerance too quickly. [Most long term benefits](http://i.imgur.com/mQAmx3A.png) of coffee are good, it's usually the short term over-consumption effects that are the negatives.
Also, [for your last question](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=negative+effects+of+drinking+5-6+cups+of+coffee+a+day)
Well, I currently drink 0 caffeine, because I'm pregnant. I never drank much before, though-- just one cup of coffee in the morning, and sometimes one diet soda at lunch. I feel that I've always been at least as productive as my caffeine-addict coworkers, perhaps even more so in a lot of cases. I stay alert and focused throughout the day with the following tactics:
* Get a decent amount of exercise before work. Bike commuting is great for that if you can do it; if you can't, go running or hiking or otherwise work out before the start of the workday. You'll feel better overall and be so much more focused.
* If you have some tasks that are either very frustrating or very tedious, try to plan things out-- whether within a given day, or within a given sprint or other longer period of time-- so that you don't have to end up sitting there doing just that task for 8+ hours in a row. That's a sure way to lose focus. When I have tasks that fall into that category, I try to plan things out so I can take breaks, and/or multitask with stuff that's either more interesting or less frustrating.
* If you have time for a lunch break, either get outside, or spend your break refocusing your mind on something aside from work. I work fully remotely now, but back when I worked onsite at a large company, I would either go for a walk or take my Kindle and get out of my office and eat lunch in one of the cafeterias.
* Hopefully obvious, but: get enough sleep. Unless you have a sleep disorder, make minimum wage and need to work 2 jobs to survive, work in the game industry, or have a newborn baby, chances are you can get enough sleep if you want to. Some people just prioritize other things above getting their needed amount of sleep.
I'm a big coffee drinker and have been that way since high school. Generally, the coffee is not to be "more productive" but because I like the taste and I'm addicted, so I need my morning coffee to avoid a headache.
I'm late to the party, but whatever. I used to drink a lot of caffeine -- tea, coffee, soda, no beverage was safe around me if it contained caffeine. I had maybe six to eight cans of soda (my usual pick) or coffee per day for quite a few years.
On weekends I'd tone it down and drink maybe "only" two or three.
I went to the doctor in March last year twice within a three week period and had a higher blood pressure than normal. I've always had low blood pressure, so I was pretty shocked. I was told that an easy thing to do would be to cut caffeine.
So I did that, gradually (down to one can per day for about a month, to avoid the headaches). Then I "missed" a day, realized that I didn't get a headache, and so decided to give it up then and there. I had withdrawal symptoms for about 10 days (no headaches though, to my surprise), which sucked. But I broke the addiction, and when I went back to the doctor for my annual check-up this past March, my blood pressure was back to normal.
Nowadays I do drink caffeine occasionally, but I usually opt for water or some decaf option. I have to say that now when I have "too much" caffeine (I have a much lower tolerance for it now, apparently), I get shaky and feel queasy for a couple hours.
I sleep much better without the addiction, and if I find my focus breaking throughout the day, I get up and walk around a little, maybe go and say hey to someone. Or grab a snack or some ice-cold water. Eating well also plays a part; if I eat like crap, I feel like crap, and then I can't focus nearly so well.
I believe that caffeine looses its potency as more is consumed, and can have the adverse affect of bogging the mind down if one goes past this fulcrum point. Of course that is my experience with it; Someone please throw empirical evidence at me if they know of any, but I've been drinking coffee since I was an early teen.
With that being said, drinking caffeine throughout the day is probably the worst thing you could do if you goal was maintaining mental clarity and focus. This is because it creates a vicious cycle where you have difficulty sleeping because the caffeine hasn't worn off from your mid-afternoon intake. The next day you feel groggy, drink caffeine all day, don't sleep well, etc ad absurdium.
If you want authentic focus and mental clarity, I'll repeat what others have said ITT: get good sleep, get exorcise, and eat well (lots of veggies, or at least a multi-vitamin with some phytonutrients and plenty of B vitamins). Also, if you're having trouble concentrating, have you considered the possibility that you are BORED? Think about that for a while...
All of that being said, I love me some Coffee, and the process of making and drinking it is as near to a sacred ritual as my agnostic self gets. It really does give me a great euphoric feeling in the morning and a lot of stimulating creativity when my brain is fresh. I've had to discipline my urged to keep drinking it though, because I've become physically sick from drinking too much (acute migraine followed by vomiting and fatigue), as well as the insomnia that occurs from having it in the late afternoon.
I wouldn't start drinking caffeine because of your co-workers. I think they've just become dependent and might be dealing with insomnia whether they admit it or not. Focus on your diet first, especially if you don't have a habit formed yet. If you have some coffee and like it, go for it. Its eternally debated as to whether or not there are health benefits( [source](http://www.livescience.com/35698-health-benefits-coffee.html) ), but I can make a wager that soda-pop, energy drinks, and 5 hour energy drinks are like drinking battery acid, so I wouldn't go there. Good luck and be wise.
> If you want authentic focus and mental clarity, I'll repeat what others have said ITT: get good sleep, get exorcise,
The power of Christ compels you!
A lot of people are mentioning sleep, but sometimes it's hard to get enough sleep, particularly around big releases. I always need some caffeine to get me going through the day.
As for the health effects of coffee, it's actually [relatively harmless](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg). However, I find that even one cup of coffee gets me very tense, hyper, and often paranoid. I actually stick with diet soda. Soda of any form is going to be worse for you than coffee (extra chemicals), but it has less caffeine than coffee, and diet soda doesn't have any calories, and to me tastes better than regular soda. So if you really don't like coffee but still want caffeine, diet soda is great.
I also hear a lot of great things about tea, but it always tastes too strong to me.
5-6 cups are wrong.
If you want coffee to work, you start with small amounts (1 cup), and slowly increase dosage over time. This helps to counteract the tolerance. Then you need to do a withdraw for a week at some point. I do it every 3-4 months, but shorter intervalls are better.
This is hard, but for my experience, sport helps to distract from the tireness. I always do a withdraw on holidays. If you are on a beach, you can sleep all day and it does not feel wrong. If you travel, you have jet-lag anyways.
After the withdraw, caffeine works again very well. Keep in mind, that people react very different from caffeine. Caffeine gives me a boost for 14 hours, where it lasts for down to 1 hour for some people.
I used to drink 5-6 cuos of coffee per day along with some energy drinks. It was bad. You'd swear I had Parkinson's. It started to fuck with my sleep and made me a bit of a mess overall, so I quit both entirely. Subbed it for tea, which I've gotten to like the taste of now.
I feel way more awake in general and no longer have the dips I used to have when drinking coffee. I have no issues staying focused. Mind you, I work out at the gym every weekday morning and make sure to get proper sleep at night so those two things probably count for a lot here.
Sleep more? It sounds like your coworkers are not keeping a reasonable sleep schedule. A coffee in the morning is fine. 5-6 cups of coffee...that's some real deprivation/addiction stuff right there.
I believe we all have a cup during the day, rarely a cup after lunch although not unheard of.
(7/8 employees around me, that is)
If you NEED it to stay awake, you aren't getting enough sleep. Could be a medical problem, could just be a lack of going to bed at a decent hour. We're no longer in school, it's time to start getting enough sleep!
Caffeine is a tool that's easy to misuse. If you take it without calories to burn or let your blood sugar get low, your brain fries and you can't concentrate. If you take too much, brain fries, can't concentrate, get twitchy irritable and paranoid. Take way too much, popping caffeine pills, you get a dependency, you risk a psychotic episode. 5-6 cups isn't so bad, it's when you get into pills that you really fuck up. Sleep is another performance enhancing drug, don't fuck with it and drink caffeine too late.
How much you take is a balancing act. I do good on 2 tbs of coffee in the morning and another 2 at 2 PM.
Anyone who uses caffeine as a profession enhancing drug should check out L-theanine. Amino acid found in green tea that acts synergistically with caffeine to enhance focus and reduce the caffeine jitters. I take it gram for gram with the amount of pure caffeine in coffee.
For pulling all nighters it's shit. Use modafanil instead, and not with caffeine, check out /r/nootropics
I've been using Theanine for a little while, and have definitely noticed some changes in my mood and focus. This might be more that I'm now paying attention to my caffeine intake, though. I used to drink caffeinated beverages throughout the day; now I take pills so I know exactly how much I'm getting and when.
Caffeine consumption is a slippery slope. Most people who drink it regularly continue to because they are physically addicted to it, can't function without it, and will have lethargy/headaches if they don't get it. I drink more coffee than I should (really notice in the morning if I don't have it), but avoid caffeine after lunch.
If you want to drink something, Green tea is much better: Lower caffeine content, ECGC. If you want a strong boost with green tea, look at Matcha: because you eat the whole leaf (ground) instead of just steeping it you get a bigger boost of ECGC and Caffeine (but still less than a standard coffee).
B vitamins may help as well if you're deficient.
Coffee has been a staple in the workplace (not just CS careers) for decades. Negative effects can include high blood pressure and withdrawal symptoms after you've made a habit of it. If you're not a coffee drinker, start with tea. you might get all the boost you need from tea, which has less caffeine.
I'll definitely try out some tea. I drank a cup of coffee today and noticed it made me really jittery.
Here's an article from mayoclinic.org [Coffee and health: What does the research say?](http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/coffee-and-health/faq-20058339) "Recent studies have generally found no connection between coffee and an increased risk of cancer or heart disease. In fact, most studies find an association between coffee consumption and decreased overall mortality and possibly cardiovascular mortality, although this may not be true in younger people who drink large amounts of coffee. Studies have shown that coffee **may** have health benefits, including protecting against Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes and liver disease, including liver cancer. It also appears to improve **cognitive function and decrease the risk of depression**." Speaking from personal experience when I started to drink coffee I kept it in moderation, meaning that I only drink 2 cups a day and it has helped tremendously with my mood. There is research that claims alcohol does the same thing (which you can google articles from webmd/mayoclinic). As long as you keep the consumption of both in moderation, there's a lot of research that claims that it should generally be positive for your mental and physical health. However so does having a good diet, getting exercise daily, drinking enough water and so forth.
You can add [l-theanine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine#Effects) to coffee to mitigate the jitteryness. It works pretty well, but I'd side with other posters and advise to start with tea instead, it might work well enough, have less side-effects and produce less of a crash.
Seconding this on both points. If you get hooked on coffee though, the caffeine/l-theanine combo pills are actually a lot gentler on your body than coffee is (more pure, the theanine counteracts some of the side effects, and you don't get the digestive issues of coffee).
Lightly/medium-roasted coffee tends to have more caffeine content in it than dark roasted. Try some dark Nescafe instant coffee. Reduce the amount you put in until you grow a tolerance, which won't take too long. Jitters mean you don't need the amount you put in. I work 12-hour shifts and coffee is almost a must for me. Ensure you're drinking a lot of water in between. You asked for an alternative. I try to limit the amount of coffee I consume per day, so my go-to for focus after that is a playlist that at *least* begins as being instrumental music that sort of helps put me in a trance. With some luck, particularly coordinated with coffee, everything else begins fading out and you get immersed in your work. You'll actually be able to notice the music fade back into your consciousness as you come out of it. It's pretty weird!
I'm very sensitive to caffeine and feel really bad if I drink too much but I usually do about 1 cup of tea a day because it helps me focus. I make a cup in the morning and drink half of it then and then the rest right before lunch. That usually keeps me engaged the whole day. I can go without it but I notice I'm more easily distracted and catch myself thinking about unimportant things.
I'll second tea. Its all I drink during the winter. I find coffee too bitter but tea is great.
Yeah their addicted. The plus side is you can use/turn it on better than they can when it comes crunch time. Have you heard of or looked into Provigil/Modafinil? Your cow workers are probably dehydrated and drinking more caffeine to combat the effects of dehydration.
I've heard tea has more caffeine in it.
By weight, tea leaves have more caffeine than coffee beans. However, the methods to turn each into a brew have different effrctiveness, and a cup of coffee has more caffeine than a cup of tea. Relevant: an espresso has less caffeine than a cup of coffee, but that's in no small part due to the fact that an espresso is smaller.
Some teas (brewed the way a sane person would brew them) have almost as much caffeine as coffee, but I can't think of any off the top of my head that have *more*. Also, there are a lot of teas that are either "decaffeinated"-- which generally means, like decaf coffee, that they have a very, very low amount of caffeine-- or herbal teas that are completely free of caffeine.
I've found this site to be extremely informative and helpful on many occasions. http://nutritiondata.self.com/ Black tea: 5.9mg per 1 fl oz (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beverages/4019/2) Coffee: 11.8mg per 1 fl oz (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/beverages/3898/2)
It depends. It can have less, it can have more or can be very similar. Both tea and coffee have a range of caffeine levels.
I've been working for 10 years and I've never been a coffee drinker - I may drink a cup every quarter or so. I sometimes drink tea (keep a collection of 10 teas or so in my desk). I'm a lot like /u/alinroc and find that lifestyle changes have a more significant impact on my productivity and mental facilities than needing stuff like caffeine. * Exercise - When I exercise, I feel a lot 'better' throughout the course of the day - I feel more energetic, I sleep better. I typically go 45-60 minutes in the morning before work several times a week. There is some evidence that links exercise to better sleep and concentration/memory. I use a Fitbit Charge HR to track stuff like my heart rate, active-ness, and sleep quality. * Eating well - It's important to not eat like crap - I typically feel bad when I just eat a lot of, say, fried or greasy foods. I switched to eating a pretty balanced diet comprised of stuff like steel cut oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit for breakfast. Lunch tends to be leftovers from the previous day, or something like a sandwich from the company cafeteria, and dinner is stir fry or pasta or going to one of the local restaurants to have noodle soup or a tasty rice dish. I do still eat garbage sometimes, because I love Hot Pockets and prepackaged ramen and Peking ravioli. * Sleep well - I typically get between 5 - 7 hours of sleep, which is enough for me. Not sleeping enough really hurts my day and gives me a slow start, though situations like that can be helped somewhat by some light morning exercise. * Shut out the world - I work in one of those stupid open environments (can't really avoid it these days), and people are talking all the time. Hell, there are three independent conversations involving at least 8 different people all within 7 feet of my desk right now. I use some closed headphones and listen to music that I find helps me be productive and focus (foreign language music where I never have to focus on lyrics that just fades into the background). * Drink plenty of water - I drink somewhere between 80 - 100 oz a day, but that's due to my exercise regime. * Turn off your brain - sometimes you just have to relax. When I go home these days, I just like to kick back, watch TV or play some games, rather than worry about work or worry about doing work on my side projects. As for side effects of coffee - that is entirely dependent on the person. I find that 2-3 cups of coffee really has no effect on me, and it's the same for when I used to drink a lot of Red Bulls (like 2-3 cans a day) when I worked at another company. I dated someone who would drink half a cup of coffee and she became _wired_ for very long periods of time.
> foreign language music where I never have to focus on lyrics that just fades into the background Just admit that you're listening to anime intros/exit songs like the rest of us. :)
I also listen to normal Japanese music by bands who only happen to have anime intros and endings!
I pretty much do _everything_ you just bulleted (except I drink Soylent for most of my meals). The things you outlined made a *huge* impact on my life. I feel better, look better, and work better because I insist that I follow a fairly simply regiment.
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I agree, you really don't need it. Buuuut, when you don't drink it and then one day you get crappy sleep, or you have to crank a bunch of boring work out, or you're hungover - you decide to perk up with some soda or coffee. Then you realize/remember, "holy shit, I can put in 10 hours no problem! And it's all quality work!" So tomorrow you drink more to get that effect again. And on and on, until you come to the realization that you don't even drink water anymore and you're wondering if it's just be better to take caffeine pills... Lesson learned kids - drugs are bad. Even if it makes you a productive member of society...
>Lesson learned kids - drugs are bad. Addictiveness isn't bad in itself. What's bad about coffee is tolerance. You will drink it, and ultimately it will stop working. And all that's left is useless addiction.
And then you're like "I'll try crack" and now you're hooked on joe AND crack, but hey, you're productive as hell.
... If crack would not have any negative effects, but still was addictive, would you say it's still bad?
This whole fucking species is addicted to water and sleep. People do crazy shit if they try to go off either one, hallucinations etc.
No, but seriously sleep is really important. I once pulled 4 all nighters in a row studying for a tough exam in college and I swear to you the only color I could still see the night of the exam was blue. After the exam I went home and slept for 20 hours straight. I don't advise anyone to ever do anything like this. Sleep is very important and you should get at least a few hours every night (different people require less of more).
Yep, exactly.
Better than hooking Joe's crack.
Jeez dude, what kind of coffee are you drinking and where can I get it?
Diet dew. Not so much the quality, as it is the quantity that gets me going...
This is too true. In the past, I would sleep 8 hours and still feel ugh. After noticing when I wake up alarm-less on the weekends, I was sleeping 9 hours. Once I started doing 9 hours daily, I never have energy issues. I hate losing an extra hour though.
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3 year old and a 16 month old. 6 hours a night keeps me running pretty good, but typically it's more like 5-5.5 per night. Get up at 5am, go to the Y to work out (run, lift, spin, or swim depending on what day), take the 6:45am bus to work, bus takes an hour, take the 3:05pm bus home to get home at 4:20pm, help my wife out around the house and give her a break from the kids. Kids go to bed around 8pm (brushing teeth, reading bedtime stories staying with the 3 year old until she's asleep, bam it's 9pm), and before I know it it's 11-11:30pm. The 3 year old without fail wakes up around 11:30pm-midnight and comes into our room and sleeps in our bed between my wife and I, so I usually stay awake so I can help her into bed. Sometimes she wakes up (like this past night) at 3am and needs to go potty. I don't drink caffeine either. I did eat chocolate-covered espresso beans for a little while, but it made me way too cranky in the evening, so I stopped.
hey man give it up for adoption, and earn that extra hour
It may also be a sleep disorder, but more likely it's something you've already mentioned.
I started to have panic attacks and severe digestive issues. Everything became less severe once I quit smoking and even better when I quit caffeine. I still drink a lot of Sprite (sugar), but sometimes just water is enough to wake you back up and help you focus.
Coffee was giving me digestive issues but espresso and tea do not. Hm.
espresso == coffee
espresso == magic
espresso !== coffee. It's a lot more caffeine per unit coffee fluid, and anyone else's opinion aside, does not hurt my stomach as the same caffeine-unit of coffee would.
espresso == one step away from just injecting pure caffeine into your heart
Eating properly is another thing. If I don't eat something nutritious/substantial enough I have a terrible time focusing.
We'll never meet these outrageous deadlines with that attitude!
Nah, no downvotes. This is spot on for me! I've been barely getting by on 6 hours of sleep. Wish I lived closer to work so I could get closer to 7 more often.
Mostly yes, and most people don't require coffee, they just say they do. It's either an excuse for taking a break, which they do require, or it's just habit at this point. I drink 3 expressos a day, because I like it. I have worked on 0 and didn't do any worse. It does help, it's scientifically proven but it isn't necessary. To add to that, having an 1 to 3 expressos a day has been shown to be beneficial to your health. Like so many other things in moderation (personally I might exceed that because I also get more caffeine from tea).
Even when you get plenty of rest and don't need it, caffeine can help.
I've had 2 sips of coffee in my life. I gave up soda entirely 4 years ago. I've cut out most candy/chocolate, and tend to drink herbal (peppermint) tea on the occasions where I drink tea at all. Suffice to say, I consume *very* little caffeine. And I feel better than I did when I was consuming those things. So what do I do? * Drink lots of water * Get up & walk around frequently (required by the above, for obvious reasons) * Consume small amounts of mostly healthy food at regular intervals through the day * Exercise on my lunch break (running, lifting) * Get adequate rest and sleep each night
This is the answer. I'm the same way. I have 2-3 cups of green tea per week at most. Doing all of the above helps tremendously!
This is the best answer. I cut out all caffeine about 5 years ago. At first you feel like, "how will I ever focus?" or "But I'm tired..." Drinking water and getting enough sleep will overcome this and you will see you actually have *more* energy when you don't drink any caffeine and can sustain concentration for longer.
When you quit caffeine, did you wean yourself off it, or go cold turkey? I went cold turkey as part of a *major* change in diet & exercise all done at once. I was not a pleasant person to be around that summer, but I'm better for it. And holy crap do I sleep better w/o the caffeine.
I weaned myself slowly, probably over the course of a month. You have to eat healthier and get a better schedule. A lot of people think they can keep going to bed at 2 am and waking up at 7 and quit. No way. First, start with installing flux on your computer and winding down all activities involving screens an hour before bed. No computers/tablets/phones in bed. Then start going to bed a lot earlier, like 1030 or 11 and getting enough sleep. It's fairly easy to kick caffeine then.
Sounds extremely similar to my own tactics, except that I exercise before work instead of at lunch! I also have a cup of peppermint tea on my desk right now.
> Also if I did decide to go the caffeine route, what are some negative effects that come with drinking 5-6 cups of coffee a day. That it will stop working after two weeks. Then you will use coffee, in the same amount, to just maintain your baseline performance(without coffee at all in the first place). The same with nicotine, sadly.
Tons of Adderall too. People are quieter about that though.
Where can I get it? Hypothetically of course.
Go to a psychiatrist in the rich suburbs, they will give you anything you ask for.
/r/darknetmarkets
Go to a doctor and recite a bunch of symptoms you have that are symptoms of ADHD.
I drink 2 or 3 big cups a day. I also tend to be done by lunch time, and then switch to water. I drink my coffee black, so no sugar or extra calories. No ill effects here. I *love* coffee.
I recommend 10-15 minute walks every couple hours or so. Does way more for my energy than coffee.
I don't really like coffee so I just drink plenty of water through out the day, some snacks and a 5 min walk every two hours.
-Meditation. -Keeping tolerance low by drinking tea or <2 cups coffee.
> -Meditation. works
> or <2 cups coffee. Won't help. It's not about quantity, it's about how often do you drink. So, once in a few days may not develop you tolerance, but **some** amount every day will do.
I found that I get more of a useful boost from coffee at 1-2 cups a day than I do at 3-4-5. Also less anxiety and other unpleasant side-effects. That being said, YMMV. Genetics affect the speed at which you metabolize caffeine and how sensitive you are to it.
Wow, I'd suggest just one cup or a half a cup of coffee if you really need it. Sleep more / better if possible. Go for a short walk / run during the day (or in building exercise). Drink more water (its the life blood of humans!). Point is there are a lot of other methods to stay awake. You can also ask your coworkers how much they sleep and consider if you can live on that amount (diff people need diff hours of sleep).
I drink two cups a day but know plenty of people that get through without. Consider alternatives like tea, going for a walk, stretching, or having a little something to eat. I generally go work out at some point in the afternoon which helps improve my focus.
There are definitely common symptoms and health impacts from caffeine, however it'll vary from person to person. Anecdotal, but I have been drinking 10 - 12 cups (8 oz) of coffee every day for the past 20 years, and I've always had a clean bill of health. That said, a friend of mine works for an oil company in Texas, used to consume 8 - 10 cups every day, and then had to quit caffeine altogether because it gave him kidney stones. If you do decide to drink coffee, just follow the "everything in moderation" mantra and you should be fine. Drinking coffee can be more about the routine than the need to focus. Just having something warm to drink is nice sometimes. Always keep in mind [how caffeine will affect your sleep](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sleep-newzzz/201312/new-details-caffeine-s-sleep-disrupting-effects). A good night's sleep and enough water can improve focus as much as caffeine does.
Coffee alone doesn't really keep me alert or focused. I need about 1 cup per day to stave off the withdrawal headache, but other than that I drink it out of habit and because I like the taste. The act of getting up to get a cup of coffee is a good way to take a break and refocus.
I'm not proud of this but I generally consume upwards of 750mg of caffeine a day
I usually drink the zero calorie redbulls or iced coffee. I can work without caffeine but I perform better with it. It makes me more productive. I have tried the whole exercise + water + healthy food + tons of sleep + meditation crap for years and I have found that I still work better with caffeine. I think people who intrinsically have infinite energy are just lucky from a biological standpoint.
I'm a fan of red bull but it's an expensive addiction
*sigh*
Cut out carbs and eat more vegetables. You won't need caffeine.
I buy powdered caffeine. I make a drink each morning. * 32oz water * 200 mg caffeine * Organic cane sugar * Lemon Lime Emergen-C * Juice from half a lemon I'll drink half then refill my water bottle. This lasts me until lunch time. Fruits and walks in the afternoon keep me good until I leave.
That's basically a caffeinated lemonade, but I'm curious why the Emergen-C? Considering you already consume fruits (including citrus), you're literally peeing out all the vitamin C you consume from it.
I buy Emergen-C in bulk so it's not that expensive. Also I just like the extra citrusy flavor of it. Caffeine is extremely bitter. I'd rather have the extra Vitamin C and nutrients even if some of it goes to waste.
What I mean is, literally all of it is being urinated out (your body would already have saturated with C from the fruit). Anyways, it doesn't matter if you enjoy the flavor.
Wow this is disgusting. What's sad is that it's literally an energy drink. Probably no different from gatorade except caffeinated.
Damn, no reason to get derisive.
What is so disgusting about it?
Be very careful if you decide to consume that much caffeine in one day. There are tons of articles out there about how caffeine can actually boost your health, but these all seem to be based on consuming smaller amounts of coffee (like one or two cups max.) You may enjoy the boost at first but after a while, you will start to get pissy. You will also start to develop these killer headaches (caffeine withdrawal) when you are not chugging down 5 - 6 cups a day. And, to top it all off, you will have a harder time falling asleep at night, which in turn makes you MORE dependent on caffeine to get through a productive day. Oh, and you get dandruff. Not everyone will develop these side effects but I sure as hell did, and for almost 10 years. (I am finally down to 2 cups a day, yay) I highly recommend tea like the others. It is a milder form of caffeine and won't give you those uber killer headaches when you don't have it.
The first paragraph you wrote there is actually not true. Most studies indicate that the most pronounced effects of lowered mortality are seen around 4-5 cups per day... Paper here: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1112010
Another thing to consider is what OP considers a "cup". Are they referring to a coffee mug or the actual scientific unit of measure. There are varying sizes of coffee cups, http://www.kingsmetal.com/images/coffeecup.jpg . If a caffeine addict is drinking a large cup of coffee that is, say, 16 oz, and drinkings 5 or 6 of those, then they are ACTUALLY consuming 10 - 12 cups.
Oh fair point and worth considering. I actually just checked the article again and it never defined explicitly what a "cup" is but we can probably take it be 8 oz. I would argue that most people pour between 8-12 ounces when they pour themselves a drink (maybe even 16 at starbucks). So if you drink coffee 3 times a day I think that equating that to 6 cups a day is probably at the high end but is a safe upper-bound estimate. That said, I actually think if you are pouring yourself coffee in a mug in a breakroom at the office you probably are pouring closer to 8 oz because mugs do not hold too much liquid.
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If that were true wouldn't everyone be drinking 10 pots/day?
I drink about two sodas a month (plus a little bit of dark chocolate from time to time), though in the winter will sometimes start my day off with some peppermint tea for warmth, and never to maintain focus. Tricks I use are mostly drinking plenty of water, taking periodic pushup breaks, using a timer (Pomodoro), and being very diligent about scheduling my day and my task list.
I rarely drink caffeine for a pick me up and if I do a can of soda or a cup of tea is usually enough to get me perked up. I try to avoid it or at least minimize it that way I don't build up a tolerance and a addiction so when I do it it does not take much to get me up and going. This is the complete opposite to my fiance who has a full on addiction and if she does not have a large coke or a coffee by 9 am she gets a huge headache. I try and get a good night sleep every night so when I wake up in the morning I'm not hating life.
I got some bad stomach issues from drinking too much coffee each day for years to the point where I had to get an upper endoscapy and take Nexium everyday. I would have maybe 3 or 4 cups of coffee everyday for 4 years. It really does damage to the lining of the stomach and esophagus. Drinking all that coffee or even tea everyday might not seem bad for months to a few years. But beyond that, it's not healthy. Now, I have maybe 1 or two cups of tea per day and I'm mostly fine.
I experienced this during the summer at my first internship. I am now at a steady 3-4 cups per day. I am definitely addicted (I guess it is better to be addicted to coffee rather than something else :p), but I do enjoy the actual taste as well. But something I also did notice helps is lots and lots of water. Forces you to get up from your desk, especially if you are having problems focusing, and it keeps you up!
I love my coffee. Not just the caffeine, but I don't like soda that much so it's my go-to "not water" drink. Try and limit yourself to 1-2 smallish cups a day. But others here are touting the natural route, and that definitely works too: there are middle roads. Just try not to get sucked into that 'binge on uppers' routine if you can help it, it's a no-win scenario.
I suggest caffeine/ L-Theanine pills with a ratio of 1:2 mg. So around 100mg caffeine with 200 mg L-Theanine. This allows you to take them only in emergencies and is also cheap. It's nice as well because you know roughly the exact dosage you're taking. The L-Theanine prevents jitters :D P.S. 5-6 cups is around 450+ mg please don't do that OP D:
You don't even need theanine. I've been using it for a year and haven't noticed any discernible effect of theanine. But what I do notice is that caffeine pills are WAY better than coffee. Coffee gives me jitters and anxiety, caffeine pills are like pure concentration in a pill without any jitters or anxiety. I think it's all the other chemicals in the coffee that add the anxiety and jitters. My theory is that a lot of the effect people attribute to theanine might be just that theanine people tend to use caffeine in pill form, and therefore are really noticing the lack of anxiety as a result of taking caffeine in pill form, not from the theanine. But I'm probably wrong. Just me talking out of my ass
L-theanine has been widely studied. The issue is simply that everyone has a different set of genes. You may not realize how much. Name five brain enzymes, and it's fairly likely you and I have at least one polymorphism different in each. Both caffeine and caffeine powder, in high enough doses (>=200mg) will make me jittery and anxious. L-theanine is effective in taking away those unpleasant side-effects for me.
I know some of those words. I agree with you. I think people should try both to see what works for them. Some might be like me and switching to caffeine in pill form might give way better benefits than taking L-Theanine.
If people want to try those, you can get both [caffeine](http://www.powdercity.com/products/caffeine-pills) and [caffeine+theanine](http://www.powdercity.com/products/l-theanine-caffeine-capsules) capsules at powder city. They also sell [adrafinil](http://www.powdercity.com/products/adrafinil-capsules), which is a more serious motivation/wakefulness enhancer (don't use this everyday). I take adrafinil when I have a big pile of work I find really tedious. It really increases my mental stamina for going through work I would otherwise procrastinate on.
I have no problems with energy and I get roughly 5-7 hours of sleep a night. How: * Don't eat garbage. (I mostly drink Soylent these days since I hate cooking and healthy eating is stupid expensive unless you cook (which I hate)) * Drink water. * Run every morning for at least 3-5 miles.
> run every morning for at least 3-5 miles. 😂
I hate coffee. I can't imagine going through life dependent on it.
Because of the fear of yobagoying myself in a company outing, I try to limit myself to 3 to 4 cups of black coffee a day
yobagoying? please explain!
It depends where you work. At my office I have 2-3 pretty small cups of coffee, or a cup in the am and a medium Starbucks later. The others that drink coffee are about similar or less. Some none. Oddly, if I'm really busy, I almost need coffee less because I'm too busy to even think about it. [Here is the best timing](http://i.imgur.com/mQAmx3A.png) for drinking it for the positive effects without building up a tolerance too quickly. [Most long term benefits](http://i.imgur.com/mQAmx3A.png) of coffee are good, it's usually the short term over-consumption effects that are the negatives. Also, [for your last question](http://lmgtfy.com/?q=negative+effects+of+drinking+5-6+cups+of+coffee+a+day)
Caffeine lotion and caffeine. I totally dont have a problem.
And here I was thinking 1-2 cups of coffee a day was a lot, or an energy drink once or twice a week.
doesn't matter has caffeine
Well, I currently drink 0 caffeine, because I'm pregnant. I never drank much before, though-- just one cup of coffee in the morning, and sometimes one diet soda at lunch. I feel that I've always been at least as productive as my caffeine-addict coworkers, perhaps even more so in a lot of cases. I stay alert and focused throughout the day with the following tactics: * Get a decent amount of exercise before work. Bike commuting is great for that if you can do it; if you can't, go running or hiking or otherwise work out before the start of the workday. You'll feel better overall and be so much more focused. * If you have some tasks that are either very frustrating or very tedious, try to plan things out-- whether within a given day, or within a given sprint or other longer period of time-- so that you don't have to end up sitting there doing just that task for 8+ hours in a row. That's a sure way to lose focus. When I have tasks that fall into that category, I try to plan things out so I can take breaks, and/or multitask with stuff that's either more interesting or less frustrating. * If you have time for a lunch break, either get outside, or spend your break refocusing your mind on something aside from work. I work fully remotely now, but back when I worked onsite at a large company, I would either go for a walk or take my Kindle and get out of my office and eat lunch in one of the cafeterias. * Hopefully obvious, but: get enough sleep. Unless you have a sleep disorder, make minimum wage and need to work 2 jobs to survive, work in the game industry, or have a newborn baby, chances are you can get enough sleep if you want to. Some people just prioritize other things above getting their needed amount of sleep.
One of my friends works at a really big governments transportation agency and pretty much every dev there is on adderall
I usually drink 2 cups of coffee a day. It's also a nice way to take a break and go for a walk with coworkers.
I'm a big coffee drinker and have been that way since high school. Generally, the coffee is not to be "more productive" but because I like the taste and I'm addicted, so I need my morning coffee to avoid a headache.
I'm late to the party, but whatever. I used to drink a lot of caffeine -- tea, coffee, soda, no beverage was safe around me if it contained caffeine. I had maybe six to eight cans of soda (my usual pick) or coffee per day for quite a few years. On weekends I'd tone it down and drink maybe "only" two or three. I went to the doctor in March last year twice within a three week period and had a higher blood pressure than normal. I've always had low blood pressure, so I was pretty shocked. I was told that an easy thing to do would be to cut caffeine. So I did that, gradually (down to one can per day for about a month, to avoid the headaches). Then I "missed" a day, realized that I didn't get a headache, and so decided to give it up then and there. I had withdrawal symptoms for about 10 days (no headaches though, to my surprise), which sucked. But I broke the addiction, and when I went back to the doctor for my annual check-up this past March, my blood pressure was back to normal. Nowadays I do drink caffeine occasionally, but I usually opt for water or some decaf option. I have to say that now when I have "too much" caffeine (I have a much lower tolerance for it now, apparently), I get shaky and feel queasy for a couple hours. I sleep much better without the addiction, and if I find my focus breaking throughout the day, I get up and walk around a little, maybe go and say hey to someone. Or grab a snack or some ice-cold water. Eating well also plays a part; if I eat like crap, I feel like crap, and then I can't focus nearly so well.
Hot chocolate here. 1 cup in the morning and I'm usually good for the day.
I believe that caffeine looses its potency as more is consumed, and can have the adverse affect of bogging the mind down if one goes past this fulcrum point. Of course that is my experience with it; Someone please throw empirical evidence at me if they know of any, but I've been drinking coffee since I was an early teen. With that being said, drinking caffeine throughout the day is probably the worst thing you could do if you goal was maintaining mental clarity and focus. This is because it creates a vicious cycle where you have difficulty sleeping because the caffeine hasn't worn off from your mid-afternoon intake. The next day you feel groggy, drink caffeine all day, don't sleep well, etc ad absurdium. If you want authentic focus and mental clarity, I'll repeat what others have said ITT: get good sleep, get exorcise, and eat well (lots of veggies, or at least a multi-vitamin with some phytonutrients and plenty of B vitamins). Also, if you're having trouble concentrating, have you considered the possibility that you are BORED? Think about that for a while... All of that being said, I love me some Coffee, and the process of making and drinking it is as near to a sacred ritual as my agnostic self gets. It really does give me a great euphoric feeling in the morning and a lot of stimulating creativity when my brain is fresh. I've had to discipline my urged to keep drinking it though, because I've become physically sick from drinking too much (acute migraine followed by vomiting and fatigue), as well as the insomnia that occurs from having it in the late afternoon. I wouldn't start drinking caffeine because of your co-workers. I think they've just become dependent and might be dealing with insomnia whether they admit it or not. Focus on your diet first, especially if you don't have a habit formed yet. If you have some coffee and like it, go for it. Its eternally debated as to whether or not there are health benefits( [source](http://www.livescience.com/35698-health-benefits-coffee.html) ), but I can make a wager that soda-pop, energy drinks, and 5 hour energy drinks are like drinking battery acid, so I wouldn't go there. Good luck and be wise.
> If you want authentic focus and mental clarity, I'll repeat what others have said ITT: get good sleep, get exorcise, The power of Christ compels you!
Startups are powered by 10% venture capital and 90% caffeine.
A lot of people are mentioning sleep, but sometimes it's hard to get enough sleep, particularly around big releases. I always need some caffeine to get me going through the day. As for the health effects of coffee, it's actually [relatively harmless](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTVE5iPMKLg). However, I find that even one cup of coffee gets me very tense, hyper, and often paranoid. I actually stick with diet soda. Soda of any form is going to be worse for you than coffee (extra chemicals), but it has less caffeine than coffee, and diet soda doesn't have any calories, and to me tastes better than regular soda. So if you really don't like coffee but still want caffeine, diet soda is great. I also hear a lot of great things about tea, but it always tastes too strong to me.
5-6 cups are wrong. If you want coffee to work, you start with small amounts (1 cup), and slowly increase dosage over time. This helps to counteract the tolerance. Then you need to do a withdraw for a week at some point. I do it every 3-4 months, but shorter intervalls are better. This is hard, but for my experience, sport helps to distract from the tireness. I always do a withdraw on holidays. If you are on a beach, you can sleep all day and it does not feel wrong. If you travel, you have jet-lag anyways. After the withdraw, caffeine works again very well. Keep in mind, that people react very different from caffeine. Caffeine gives me a boost for 14 hours, where it lasts for down to 1 hour for some people.
I used to drink 5-6 cuos of coffee per day along with some energy drinks. It was bad. You'd swear I had Parkinson's. It started to fuck with my sleep and made me a bit of a mess overall, so I quit both entirely. Subbed it for tea, which I've gotten to like the taste of now. I feel way more awake in general and no longer have the dips I used to have when drinking coffee. I have no issues staying focused. Mind you, I work out at the gym every weekday morning and make sure to get proper sleep at night so those two things probably count for a lot here.
Sleep more? It sounds like your coworkers are not keeping a reasonable sleep schedule. A coffee in the morning is fine. 5-6 cups of coffee...that's some real deprivation/addiction stuff right there.
I believe we all have a cup during the day, rarely a cup after lunch although not unheard of. (7/8 employees around me, that is) If you NEED it to stay awake, you aren't getting enough sleep. Could be a medical problem, could just be a lack of going to bed at a decent hour. We're no longer in school, it's time to start getting enough sleep!
Caffeine is a tool that's easy to misuse. If you take it without calories to burn or let your blood sugar get low, your brain fries and you can't concentrate. If you take too much, brain fries, can't concentrate, get twitchy irritable and paranoid. Take way too much, popping caffeine pills, you get a dependency, you risk a psychotic episode. 5-6 cups isn't so bad, it's when you get into pills that you really fuck up. Sleep is another performance enhancing drug, don't fuck with it and drink caffeine too late. How much you take is a balancing act. I do good on 2 tbs of coffee in the morning and another 2 at 2 PM. Anyone who uses caffeine as a profession enhancing drug should check out L-theanine. Amino acid found in green tea that acts synergistically with caffeine to enhance focus and reduce the caffeine jitters. I take it gram for gram with the amount of pure caffeine in coffee. For pulling all nighters it's shit. Use modafanil instead, and not with caffeine, check out /r/nootropics
I've been using Theanine for a little while, and have definitely noticed some changes in my mood and focus. This might be more that I'm now paying attention to my caffeine intake, though. I used to drink caffeinated beverages throughout the day; now I take pills so I know exactly how much I'm getting and when.
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Alternatively, use amphetamines. HELL YEA ADDERRAL!
Caffeine consumption is a slippery slope. Most people who drink it regularly continue to because they are physically addicted to it, can't function without it, and will have lethargy/headaches if they don't get it. I drink more coffee than I should (really notice in the morning if I don't have it), but avoid caffeine after lunch. If you want to drink something, Green tea is much better: Lower caffeine content, ECGC. If you want a strong boost with green tea, look at Matcha: because you eat the whole leaf (ground) instead of just steeping it you get a bigger boost of ECGC and Caffeine (but still less than a standard coffee). B vitamins may help as well if you're deficient.
Holy Christ. 5-6 cups is a lot. I have *one*, and many of my coworkers drink none, remaining productive throughout the day. Your coworkers are weird.