On Friday the 22nd I finished a 3 month stint of not consuming caffeine.
No coffee.
No teas.
I’ve always found enjoyment in setting myself a challenge, and I decided to start this one after reading this article from Michael Pollan (<– Click there!)
A “quarter-life” of 12 hours? “Wrecking my deep sleep”? Those sound like good reasons to give it a go and see what happens! I’ve been able to stay away from coffee for a week, two weeks and even a month before, so three months would be the longest ‘detoxifying’ stretch I’ve committed to so far.
And? What happened!?
Rather unceremoniously, nothing major it felt like.
As usual, I had few or no observable withdrawal symptoms; I wasn’t a grumpy jittery mess (others might disagree).
I didn’t really feel like my sleep was ‘deeper’ or better quality but that’s hard to measure without a little bit of tech. I didn’t feel like the passage of time changed, and my level of focus was pretty much the usual. Put it this way – I didn’t feel negatively affected by not consuming caffeine. And ‘too-much-information’ warning, I was toileting about the same amount and regularity as before.
About the biggest things for me were feeling steadier through the day, and also seeing and smelling coffee and thinking, “Man, that’s going to be nice to experience that again.” Also a fatter wallet; not spending money on buying coffees out!
But all of that is besides the point, as the “three months” were really a vessel for some other things.
A vessel for what?
“Not drinking coffee? Has it been hard?”
I’ve been asked a few times. A fine question, but how hard is it for us to not do something? Logically to me, it requires more effort and energy to think about drinking coffee, making and acquiring the drink, putting the cup to my mouth and experiencing and drinking the liquid, than it does to simply say, “no thanks”!
How easily can we, do we not do most things? Go to the gym, sit down for 5 minutes just to breathe, go to sleep at a regular sensible time, drink alcohol…
Part of this journey was to see for myself, “How much of a difference will not consuming caffeine have on my sleep, my focus and my daily energy?”, but also another part was to ask, “Am I able to exert the self-control to stick to my self-set challenge?” Those were my ‘whys’ and that’s what took the decisions out of the scene for me.
This exercise was about recognising choice, doing experiments and making measurements, and ultimately, developing identity. Not an identity of “I am someone who doesn’t drink coffee/tea/fill-in-the-blank”, but instead, “I am someone who tests his self, his body, his mind. I am someone who tries things out for a while, sets a time frame, to see what effects it has, and to remember that he can”
What is the point?
Sometimes, it’s just “because you can”. Just doing a thing to remember that it’s possible for you to set and stick to something.
Self-set challenges remind you that you have choice. That you have willpower. That you have the capacity and ability to change. They teach you to trust your self.
Challenges send you on a journey; “I have a quest for you, young adventurer! But it’s dangerous to go alone, take this!”
And sometimes, challenges remind you to appreciate what you have, and to let go of what you have-not. As Greg McKeown once said:
If you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack. If you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have.
How to do it yourself:
There are loads of tricks you can use. Here are 6:
Make it a part of your identity.
“I am a person who….(doesn’t drink alcohol/sleeps at 10PM every night/reads my book for 10 minutes a day)”
Have an accountability partner.
Some one, or a group, who you check in with, who you have told explicitly what you are doing and why. So that they can keep you on track, and so that you have someone/people not to disappoint.
.Have a reason
Your why. Oh so important, because your inner ‘why’ keeps you on track. It’s coupled with your ‘What’, remember.
Set a specific deadline.
A time every day, or a date you’ll be done by.
Set defined parameters
What’s in, what’s out, what you can do, what you can’t do. Nothing left to chance, no decisions to make. ‘Decision fatigue’ is a thing and if you haven’t got to make a decision, you’ll be more likely to do/not do something.
Set an intrinsic reward
Come on, we all love a bit of good-feeling feedback! However, external rewards are fleeting and temporary. The “things” which are outside of us. Stuff, possessions, credit, fame, fortune. Intrinsic or internal rewards are longer lasting and way more reinforcing of our behaviours. Pats-on-the-back, fist pumps, trusting in ourselves, believing in ourselves, boosting our confidence and belief in our abilities.
I’d love to hear what challenge you’re setting yourself and how you get on with it, and what you learn along the way.
Evolve well!
-Frank
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