delayed caffeine enjoyment for prolonged productivity

Some rights reserved by Pete Barr-Watson

Here’s a little trick I came up with when I was working long days in

the city. This little hack made sure I was productive and happy all day

long.

The Secret
If you drink coffee or tea in the morning to get your engine humming consider putting it off till later.

For reasons I won’t go into here, after getting off the bus in the morning I would walk 2 miles everyday to

work. By the time I got in to the office I didn’t need anything else to get me going. I was feeling good and

ready for work. Since the fancy bank I worked at had a nice coffee machine with a wide variety of tasty flavors

available, I always wanted to take advantage of it. What I would do is wait till after lunch to have a cup of

coffee. That way I had something to look forward to and I knew that extra burst of caffeine in the afternoon

would keep me from crashing. Plus I didn’t have to worry about caffeine withdrawal midday because I didn’t

have my first cup till then!

Nowadays, instead of huffing 2 miles to work, I get up early and take the dog for a walk. This serves the

same purpose as getting my body moving without any artificial stimulants. When I get home from the walk, I jump in a nice hot shower (always followed by a blast of cold water) and I’m wide awake ready to start the day.

Around noon, after I’ve eaten a small lunch I’ll indulge in some coffee or tea. This way I have a nice little treat as

reward for getting through the morning and it keeps me going strong the rest of the day.

Another minor benefit of this technique is that some folks claim starting the day off with coffee or tea is too

acidic for your stomach and overall system. Since you’ve been asleep all night that’s when the acid in your

body builds up. You want to have a good breakfast to soak some of it up instead of contributing to it with your

beverage. By the time lunch comes around and you hit the coffee your body should have regulated itself.

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