3 reasons why I quit drinking coffee, and you really should too (especially if you work in tech)

I love coffee. I think it’s absolutely, exquisitely delicious. There’s nothing quite like a sumptuous, properly fattening southern breakfast of biscuits and gravy, with eggs, bacon, and corn pancakes, accompanied by a perfectly brewed cup of the satisfying black elixir. Nor is there a sufficient substitute for the perfectly crafted cappuccino, with its delicate artwork and dusting of chocolate powder. High praise, this, from someone who also happens to love a fine cup of Earl Grey; or perhaps English Breakfast with toast and marmalade. Indeed, during my undergraduate years at UCLA and three years of law school immediately after, my friends used to joke that if ever I stopped drinking my three venti iced lattes per day, Starbucks’ stock would surely take a tumble.

And yet, while on holiday with one of my dearest friends, lying on a beach in Puerto Vallarta, during the almost surreally tranquil off-season of Thanksgiving 2011, I decided to quit coffee altogether, just like that. The tipping point was a comment that I had made about neededing to grab a coffee. My buddy stared at me, a bizarre look of confusion crossed with concern: “Marc. We’re on a beach in Mexico. Relaxing. Why do you need coffee?” I thought that was all there was to his stern admonition. I was wrong. He continued: “Dude, you’re a young, healthy guy. You shouldn’t need caffeine to remain awake and functional throughout the day.” The way he said it really startled me; insulted me, even. He might as well have been talking about Viagra instead of caffeine.

But his point was made. And thus began two weeks of excruciating headaches, far too much Advil, and all around misery. And it was the best, most positively life altering decision of my life.

These are the three reasons I quit my coffee addiction — in no particular order — and why you really — really — should quit too, especially if you work in tech.

1. No more post-lunch “food coma,” caffeine crash, or general lethargy and fatigue

A little fatigue after a meal — especially a heavy one — is perfectly normal. But it shouldn’t destroy you. Yes it’s true, once the body goes into digestion mode, the stomach takes priority of most of your body’s systems and metabolism. After all, it takes a lot of work to convert all those chunks of food into several hundred (thousand?) calories’ worth of energy.

Thing is though, it shouldn’t knock you out; you shouldn’t need some chemical stimulant to get you through the day. Absent some health problem, you should be more than capable of enjoying lunch without nodding off at your desk afterwards.

Moreover, it’s probably not the food that pushes you into a positively catatonic state, but rather that latte you gulped at 7am en route to your job: with a half-life of about six hours, the infamous “caffeine crash” occurs right around 1pm. To wit, it’s the coffee you had at breakfast, and not your lunch, that causes you to shut down in the afternoons.

This was the greatest relief I discovered after weening myself off caffeine. I remember friends, girlfriends, family, often complaining that I was tired all the time. My usual response was that I just needed a cup of coffee; and it’s such a socially acceptable thing, that nobody thinks anything of it.

Now, I no longer “need” anything, and can get through an entire day just fine. If you’re spending all day hunched over your computer, there is no greater sense of freedom than to cut your caffeine shackles.

2. Be more productive with less sleep

Make no mistake. Waking up at six or seven in the morning (let alone five) will always be difficult, even with adequate sleep. The issue is how quickly you come out of your stupor, and how severely your sleep deprivation affects you throughout your day.

When I used to drink coffee, not only was waking up in the morning an agonizing, frantic rush for Starbucks, but getting through the day was a genuine challenge, regardless how much caffeine I consumed. Thing is though, we seem to have evolved into a society that accepts constant fatigue as an ordinary personality. How often have you heard a colleague at work complain how tired she is; how often have you said, while yawning, how you need to get more sleep, in a thinly veiled attempt to suggest you’re working too many hours.

I still agonize waking up every morning, but as long as I get at least five or so hours of sleep, once I’ve showered and dressed, getting through the day is no longer a challenge, and I certainly don’t “need” anything anymore.

The nine-to-five workday has practically become the stuff fairy tales. Far too many offices now expect employees to be slaving away by 8am, and often as late as 7pm — if not later, especially in the tech and startup world. Suffice to say then, sleep is a valuable commodity, and we rarely get enough of it.Abandon caffeine, and you’ll find you need less sleep. Fascinatingly counterintuitive, but true.

3. No more frantic urgency to find coffee as soon as you wake up; no more caffeine-deprived headaches

This might seem a non-issue to most of you, but I actually found this to be genuinely annoying. I hated the urgency with which I needed to drink coffee within thirty minutes of waking up; the knowledge that if I didn’t get my morning caffeine fix within sixty minutes, my caffeine-deprived head would start pounding; I would get grumpy and agitated; and it would basically ruin my day.

I actually think my morning mood swings if I didn’t enjoy a hearty breakfast and coffee shortly after waking was a not insignificant factor contributing to the downfall of several of my early relationships. No joke. Have you ever seen those Snickers commercials? Yeah. I was like that. Coffee was my Snickers.

Now, I no longer “need” anything when I wake up: just wake up, shower, get dressed, enjoy a healthy — or not — breakfast, and I’m good to go. Freeing yourself of caffeine means no more getting to the office drained, lethargic, miserable, grumpy, and utterly useless if you didn’t have chance to stop by Starbucks.

But guess what: I still enjoy a coffee now and then…

The problem with coffee — caffeine generally — is that it’s abused. Like it or not, caffeine is a very real, habit-forming drug; a weak, easily tempered one, to be sure, but habit-forming nonetheless, and with all the headaches of withdrawal to prove it.

Granted, numerous studies have shown coffee — though not necessarily caffeine — to be genuinely healthy stuff, and may even help reduce the risk of heart disease if you consume five to six 8-ounce cups per day; but for me, that possible benefit of coffee is simply outweighed by its aforementioned costs.

As I said however, I do love coffee. It’s delicious. But then, Coca-Cola is delicious too. In fact, it may just be the most delicious drink ever created by man. And biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs, and corn pancakes is, without doubt, the greatest breakfast, in the world.

But there is little point to life if we abandon all simple joys and pleasures. Not only would it be foolish, it’s hardly sustainable, and in any event, life would be rather dull. Thus the practical point and benefit of so-called “treats,” a category to which I have enthusiastically added coffee and all its derivatives.

To wit, having long since abandoned my need for coffee, I am now able to enjoy a perfect Lavazza (and yes, Lavazza wins over Illy, every time) cappuccino from time to time; or a succulently satisfying ceramic mug of Peerless Coffee to accompany my aforementioned southern breakfast.

The point is, coffee for me, like Coke or a hearty southern breakfast, is a wonderful treat that I enjoy once in a while. And you should too. The point is, just because you eliminate your need for coffee doesn’t mean you need to completely deprive yourself of the wants and joys of coffee.

The problem with caffeine — and, to be sure, sugar, and other habit-forming substances — is that we humans use it not to elevate ourselves from some sub-optimal state to optimal, but rather from optimal to super-optimal. It’s this never-ending step cycle, inexorably raising our tolerance — and thus threshold — for what enables us to perform and feel at our optimal level. Indeed, by the time I started law school, my three lattes a day were supplemented by one to two Red Bulls, including and especially if I ever wanted to enjoy a late night.

Wanting something is perfectly fine; needing it, isn’t.

So what’s my warm drink of choice to accompany breakfast on a cold morning?

Tea! Granted, switching to tea was not much of a challenge for me: while my father always enjoyed — and still enjoys — his coffee, my mother was raised in London and so it was tea, milk, and sugar for me, ever since I was just a little one. That said, the already lesser amounts of caffeine in tea are somewhat muted by tea’s other chemical properties. Its absorption into your body is slower and more plateau-like rather than volcanic, thus avoiding the extreme peaks and troughsassociated with the comparatively rapid effects of coffee, and its dreaded caffeine crash.

Because of this, despite enjoying numerous cups of Earl Grey or English Breakfast per day — not to mention sumptiously delicious blends of Persian tea, with its exquisite floral bouquet of bergamot and cardamom — I have suffered absolutely zero dependence, and can easily abandon tea with no dire consequences at all. To wit: there have been several mornings where I forgot — or didn’t have time — to grab a cup of tea. Had such an omission occurred during my coffee days, I’d have suffered a headache within 60 minutes, tops. Tea? No problem.

Final thoughts

Aside from occasionally missing the beautiful art and occasion of sitting down to enjoy a cappuccino with good friends or a book — not to mention the European lifestyle essentially built around the café culture — I really don’t miss coffee anymore; and when I pause to remember how deeply dependent upon it I once was, I’m relieved, and even a bit scared to remember how I once was.

On the flip side, I love acknowledging that I love the taste of coffee. I love that I’ve disciplined myself to enjoy it as an occasional treat, much like the aforementioned glass of Coke; or biscuits and gravy. Not only does such sporadic indulging make it immensely more pleasurable, it doesn’t come with any of its miserable side effects. In fact, a Christmas gift I bought for my fiancée in 2013 was aBreville Espresso machine, with which I’m still struggling to perfect the perfect latte art, and from which I too enjoy a homemade latte now and then.

Having started work on our first internet startup back in late 2010, and having since transitioned to our newest, Twibble, I can’t even imagine how difficult my life as a startup entrepreneur would be if I were still slave to that sinister caffeine molecule. Not only can I work more hours during the day and with less fatigue now, but I’m saving about $300 per month too!

So give it a shot: it should only take you about two weeks to fully ween yourself off coffee and for the headaches to go away; and about another two weeks before you stop craving coffee altogether. Then, notice how your quality of life improves in the coming months, how you can make it through an entire day without feeling tired. It’s an incredibly liberating feeling.

Now, if only they could figure out a way to make beautiful tea artwork, I wouldn’t feel so envious of that gorgeously crafted cappuccino!