golly josh darn
30 days of not drinking fully caffeinated drinks - couple of decaf coffees here and there, but otherwise no non-trace amounts.
So far not worth it, and rather unsure if I'll be continuing this experiment. I have zero motivation and get absolutely nothing done, work or personal. If /r/decaf is to be believed, things tend to turn around for folks around the 4-6 month mark where productivity returns.
What I don't know is if I can wait that long.
Brighter side: anxiety is near-gone. Life is calm.
golly josh darn
@nuala cold showers TERRIFY me but they seem quite common among decaffers, I guess because it triggers fight or flight or gets the blood pumping or something? I'm one of those folks that, given a shower I'm not paying a quarter a minute for, will happily stand there for 30+ minutes melting my skin off (poor water heaters / environment...) because I just love hot showers
that + ramping up more spicy meals might be worth a try rather than just throwing in the towel, thanks for the idea.
Christmas display name
@klardotsh I reckon what you could do is get a massive list of every possible thing that might help in the moment to replace the function caffeine had and just work through it and see what works and what doesn't. Things like going for a walk, having a cold shower, drinking a pint of squash, quick head massage, eat a spicey meal, focus playlists etc.
golly josh darn
@nuala None diagnosed, though I've long assumed I probably have some variety of attention deficit issues, or something along that spectrum.
Interesting analogy with the smoker feeling thing, I hadn't entirely thought of it that way
Christmas display name
@klardotsh I'm not sure how to explain it. I think it's a bit like asking a smoker when the feeling of having a cigarette comes back. Caffiene is a quick fix or a workaround, and you'll probably have been using it to mask something else that's the problem. For me I get lots more done consistently but look more sluggish?
Do you have any neurology conditions? If you have something like ME, narcolepsy, or ADHD, you'll want to be careful about dropping a stimulant out of your diet.
golly josh darn
@nuala how long was it until you had enough motivation to actually sit down and do focus-based tasks? I'm half concerned I'll end up getting fired for my sluggish output before I see that side of me come back
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@klardotsh caffeine was one of the most difficult things I even quit, including sugar. Totally worth it though. It's one of those ones the benefits keep get better over super long periods of time. I did rely a lot of decaff to taper off though, mostly for the placebo effect
golly josh darn
Other nice trait: my physical energy levels are consistent all day now, and I fall asleep nearly immediately when I decide to. The negatives are all around productivity and mental ability to give a shit about this modern grindy way of life. All my brain wants to do lately is like... Go into nature or meet up with friends or play video games or sleep. But nothing work, nothing side code project, and nothing boat projects.
Christmas display name
@klardotsh ok so basically stimulants are sometimes used to medicate neurology issues, which is why I asked. While quitting caffeine is great, it might be the equivalent of not taking your medication, which is a completely different way of framing it. And you might get a lot of unhelpful advice of the "just use a planner ?" variety because people will hone in on the fact you're quitting caffeine and overlook the effect of ADD etc when doling out the well meaning advice
Fitheach
@klardotsh
I'm keto. Strictly no sugars, and absolute minimum carbs. That might also have an effect on my energy levels, and the propensity to sleep quickly.
Ones personality type, type of work and stress levels will all influence ability to sleep quickly.
BTW my dog can get to sleep within ten seconds at any point during the day or night. Admittedly, she drinks very little coffee.
golly josh darn
@fitheach The idea of giving up pastas and pizzas terrifies me away from keto diets, but then, I also never thought I'd try four months of no alcohol and a month of no caffeine, so I guess anything is theoretically possible.
golly josh darn
@fitheach @wim_v12e @yngmar @ccohanlon Yeah, while caffeinated, I could pound coffees and sodas pretty much all day non-stop (even well into the evening) and still reliably get 6-8 hours of sleep, it just sometimes took a while to actually fall asleep, and of course there's the ups and downs of riding the energy hills and valleys that come with that (though some of that effect is the sugars involved, I think, which I'm as of yet not quite brave enough to kick... I think?...)
Fitheach
@wim_v12e
Nice timing! Just sat down with a big mug of coffee (at 21:30). I never have any problems sleeping. This is my fourth mug of coffee to-day. I always have really busy days, including physical exercise. I'm usually asleep within a couple of minutes of my head hitting the pillow.
YMMV
@yngmar @ccohanlon @klardotsh
WimⓂ️
@yngmar @ccohanlon @klardotsh A year or two ago I reduced my caffeine intake to about 150mg/day (before it was double that) and that works well for me.
Y⃒̸̷̝̜̙ͥͥͥngmar
@ccohanlon @klardotsh I like my Orzo in the late evening. Better sleep that way (if I had a coffee that late, there'd be no sleep).
wrack
@klardotsh Have you tried Orzo, a barley-derived, non-caffeinated coffee substitute that's quite popular here in Italy? I think it's obtainable via Amazon.
Fitheach
@wim_v12e
Yes.
WimⓂ️
@fitheach Do you still roast your own coffee?
@yngmar @ccohanlon @klardotsh
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