Cutting Out Caffeine

It’s been a while since I had caffeine yesterday afternoon, and it disrupted my sleep, so I’m writing this down to remember it.

I used to have caffeine out of habit. At work, coffee brewed by a barista was even available unlimited, and personally, among the drinks I could enjoy without much burden, iced Americano was the easiest choice. When work wasn’t going well, taking a sip of iced Americano would boost my motivation to try again.

Since I drank so much coffee, it seems I developed something like a caffeine dependency. I realized this when I traveled to Egypt at the beginning of the year. Right after getting off the plane at the airport after a long flight, I found myself wanting to buy and drink an iced Americano. Even during the trip, if I didn’t have coffee every morning, I would get stressed.

I thought it was strange that I drink coffee to relieve stress, yet not drinking coffee causes stress. So I quit coffee starting at the beginning of the year.

For a month or two in between, I fell back into drinking coffee out of habit… but for most months this year, I think I’ve gone without caffeinated coffee almost entirely.

Doing so has several advantages. Above all, I can honestly look at the state of my body. Before, no matter how bad I felt, I would immediately reach for coffee since a cup would bring me back to normal, but now I understand much more clearly when my body needs rest. My sleep quality has also improved a lot, and I sleep much more soundly than before.

Having gotten used to living without caffeine like that, when I had coffee at a café I stopped by yesterday afternoon, I immediately had trouble sleeping, which makes me think my sensitivity to caffeine has increased… I should only drink decaf coffee after lunch from now on.