The last time I drank a cup of coffee was one year ago. I was curious to see if I could lower my stress level by avoiding coffee, so I started a 30 days experiment where I was not allowed to drink it. And I was right.
It’s hard to believe, but now I never feel stressed, I sleep well, and I save a couple more bucks each week. Not bad for getting rid of an addiction.
But the real question remains: If you don’t get coffee, how do you get a boost of energy and motivation?
It turns out that there’s a very simple way to replace your coffee addiction. What I found is that by taking a quick nap (up to five minutes), I can get an immediate boost of both energy and motivation.
I use this technique when:
- I’m feeling tired but I can’t really take a long nap or sleep.
- I feel demotivated (when I know that I should get something done but instead I continue to check email and facebook).
You can take a 5 minute nap in your bed or even in the bathroom at work. Five minutes is not a magical number, and you can try with a bit less time or more. What’s important is that you let your mind completely relax for a couple of minutes. Think of it as a quick recharge for your brain.
Next time you want to take a coffee, try this technique instead. You might end up liking it as much as I do, and you’ll be improving both your productivity and health at the same time.
Is this really needed? I drink Indian tea with lots of milk, ginger and cardamom. It is very soothing. And its like a little Japanese tea party. You smell ginger and cardamom in the morning. You have to be patient while the tea is boiling. I have my tea two times a day and no later than 5 in evening. You get a 7 hour gap between 5-12 which is good enough to get good sleep.
For sure if i drink Mocha, there’s no chance i am gonna sleep.
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Well, a nap is just one technique, but you can use whatever you want ;)
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by oscardelben: New post: How to Get an Immediate Boost of Energy and Motivation http://bit.ly/byeerI
Hello Oscar,
I think that your life balance feelings (about stress, boost of productivity) are mainly caused by changing your habits and more widely opening to areas like meditation/visualization – which you wrote about some time ago.
Taking a nap is a good way to quickly “charge the body batteries” – but problems/fears are still remains in the head.
Second thing is about how to take a nap in today’s busy world…
Thank you for your blog – I’m comming back and reading it with pleasure.
Best regards,
Michal
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Hey Michal, thanks for your comment. I think that fear and problems are just emotions which you can deal with. If you are constantly worried about something (which is normal), taking a quick break helps a lot. At least it helps me a lot.
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Stop drinking coffee? Now you’ve gone too far and just when I was getting into your postings. sigh
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Lol, I’ve not said stop drinking it, I’ve just said try this technique if you want a boost of energy :D. Maybe you’ll like it.
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Or a cup of Oolong tea with raw honey! That’s my new ‘addiction’ but it’s so good for me that I hardly think of it as bad.I too gave up coffee now 3 years ago and only drink it on occasion when it must-drink-cafe-here countries (Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia)….otherwise, tea baby! (And the siesta is good too, esp. with the 4:30am routine I have going Oscar!)
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Hey Farnoosh, congratulations for your routine ;)
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Hey Oscar!
Unlike your other commenters, I think you’re quite right :P
If we’re getting rid of coffee to stop a caffeine addiction, I’d say tea isn’t good to supplant it because tea has caffeine in it too, albeit about half as much as coffee.
To those who have trouble knowing when they should take the nap: once you become more in-tune with your body’s natural rhythms, you should find out when you feel most tired and more awake. Then structure your day around getting a nap right before you feel most tired – if that’s at work, then you’ll have to try and fix your sleep schedule so you can feel your best when you’re at work.
Hope that made sense.
Ciao!
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Hey Brett, thanks for your comment and support.
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i started cutting down of coffee this week, is so hard!! i’d like to get down to 1 or 2 cups a day. is good to know how cutting out coffee help you.
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Hey Jenny, it might be hard the first days but then it becomes normal. Don’t give up ;)
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As I come from Ireland, we favor tea over coffee, and as Brett points out, theres caffeine there too. After abstaining for a few days I Found myself becoming less frustrated, less likely to slack off, less inclined to ‘boredom’.
One thing I did find though, is you really need to increase your water intake. The trick for me was to basically make a habit of drinking a glass of water every hour, whether I’m thirsty or not. I found this made a huge difference, especially for the ‘afternoon slump’ when you find it hard to crank out the last few hours.
Thanks for the tips by the way Oscar, finding them all very useful.
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Hey Robert, thanks for your comment. Drinking water is definitely important because it keeps you fresh and hydrated. I usually keep a small bottle of water for the afternoon.
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I like the idea of powernapping and I often combine it with a cup of coffee after the nap.
I think the idea of powernapping is that you try to enter to the non rem sleep and then wake up. This helps to drop your blood pressure and you feel more energetic aftewards. I usually powernap about 5-10 minutes. I have experienced, that if you sleep more than about 30 minutes, then you can feel more tired after the nap, so the powernap has to be short (5-15 min).
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Hey Karl, that’s right. After those 30-40 minutes you enter into a deep state where it’s very difficult to wake up. The interesting thing is that this cycle also happens in the morning, so if you wake up during that deep cycle you may feel more tired.
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That is a great technique, but I really do just like the taste of coffee, and I’m nervous about decaf since it uses formaldehyde.
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Hey Justin, actually I didn’t say stop drinking coffee (although I don’t drink it anymore), so I think you’re safe :D
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I love this article!! The fortunate thing for me is that I’m not a coffee drinker so I don’t experience that attachment every morning to needing coffee. But I think that taking naps is a great piece of advice. People will be surprised at how simply taking short 5 minute naps will will give that much needed boost of energy. Thanks for sharing!!
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Hey Jarrod, thanks for your kind words and comment. I personally don’t understand all this attachment to coffee (which I know is an addiction), but I’m fine with it.
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This sometimes happens to me. I say happens because I get sleepy, close my eyes and then wake up 5 minutes later. I feel really refreshed after it. I think it was Edison who used to go to sleep with a spoon in his hand and then when his hand dropped as he slept he’d wake up from the clanging on the floor and feel alert and refreshed. Great technique :)
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Never heard of that spoon technique, but it sounds interesting. I have to say I’ve learned this technique by coincidence.
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I’m good with such things… I don’t smoke, drink, drink caffeine.
I don’t mind others doing it but when all I hear is ‘stop by Dunkin’ Donuts, I gotta get some coffee’, all I want to do is let my fist meet your face.
I dislike putting up with other people’s habits. Good for you, Oscar!
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Hey Moon, I actually don’t mind what other people do either, maybe because I’ve tried most of those things in the past myself.
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Ciao Oscar!!
I never drink coffee: I don’t like it!! It can sounds strange, because I’m italian and lot of people cannot believe I don’t like coffee, but that’s the truth!!
When I feel tired I usually:
- make a little walk around my office :-),
- make some gym-exercises (when anybody else is in the office!),
- put my hands (and sometimes face) under cold water for a few minutes,
- think to something that I’d love to realize, and in a few seconds I feel extra-powered and I feel motivated to be active and find something that will make my dream come true!
Ciao!!
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Hey Laura, yes I know what you mean because I’m italian too :D. Thanks for your comment!
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