Caffeine Free

No accidental consumption or weird topics this time. Coffee. That’s what I’ve had to dodge this week. Well, in addition to the previous challenges of course. No caffeine, that was the extra goal this week, and so far, that was a success. It’s been the challenge I expected. Rough until about noon, then I don’t really even think about it.

For a couple days last week, I had to sit in a room at work with a fresh pot every day. My work-roommate, is that a thing? So my work-roommate is a pot of coffee by day type of guy. He’s been out of the office traveling for work, so I haven’t had to torture my tired morning self with the smell of fresh coffee throughout this week. That has definitely made the past few days a lot easier, though I still get the occasional craving.

The biggest question and comment I think I’ve gotten about not drinking coffee anymore concerns headaches from withdrawal. I, fortunately, have not suffered this side effect. For a while, I only really drank tea, which has a fraction of the caffeine in coffee. When my aforementioned work-roommate moved in, I switched from a cup of tea in the morning to drinking three to four cups of coffee. Fortunately, when I stopped, no headaches.

A side effect that I think has crept up on me has been a weakness in other areas of self-control. Today alone, I’ve drunk probably about a pint of eggnog, and I doubt I’m calling it quits there. I do believe that willpower is an expendable resource we have. We can build up what we have, and we can train ourselves to decrease the willpower certain tasks take, but we do have a limited amount. Piling on limitations over the past few weeks has required tons of willpower, especially in the first few days of each. Resulting in letting things slide elsewhere.

One thing that has helped this past week and I feel is totally underrated is decaf coffee. I basically grew up on decaf, not by any intention really. It’s just what my grandpa had back in those days, and I enjoyed sharing a cup or two with him, still do. I was spending some time with a few friends this weekend, and (shoutout) my friend Ashley made a pot of decaf. It was absolutely fantastic.

It’s been a pretty tough few weeks, some parts tougher than others. I’ve been able to commit pretty well so far, save accidental cup drinking on Thanksgiving. After week one, I decided I would keep adding a new piece to this trial every post. This final week I’ll be forgoing video games, a frequent pastime. I hope this will open up some free time towards focusing on some bigger projects, including one I hope to release next week. Stay tuned for the stunning conclusion next week!