Coffee Makes You Productive And Focused But.... Is It Really Good For You?
Research shows coffee can help increase energy and focus, but only if you mix in a periodic caffeine reset.
Today at a glance:
Drinking coffee comes with a lot of benefits. But, having too much, or too consistently can be harmful for long-term productivity.
Caffeine leverages your current energy level at the cost of your future energy reserves.
Caffeine affects your body’s natural circadian rhythms, affecting sleep quality, further straining your body’s ability to recover from stress.
Most negative effects reverse after a seven-day caffeine break. Think of it as a caffeine reset. One way to reset is to take a week off from coffee every month.
Finally, avoid drinking coffee or any type of caffeine after 2 P.M.
A Research
You just woke up and you're struggling to start your workday. Laying in bed and scrolling through social media. Or, it's 3 p.m. and your body feels tired, your eyes are drooping, and so is your energy.
What do you do? If you're like almost every working person… you reach for a cup of coffee.
A number of studies have shown the health benefits of coffee, and yeah, there is a generous list of them. A few examples are:
Increases attention, recall and memory.
It improves our mood.
Increases your performance during exercise.
Helps to recover from an exercise routine.
Reduces risk of diabetes. 29%.
Reduces risk of cardio vascular diseases and having a stroke.
Reduces risk of liver cancer.
So, yeah… drinking coffee comes with a lot of benefits. But, having too much, or too consistently can be harmful for long-term productivity.
In short, caffeine leverages your current energy level at the cost of your future energy reserves. And there is a simple way to explain everything behind this.
Firstly, the neurotransmitter adenosine builds up in your body throughout the day; that's one reason you get sleepy at night. And that's where caffeine comes in. Caffeine prevents adenosine from binding to receptors in your brain. When adenosine can't bind, you feel alert and awake.
But there is no prize without a price. When your body recognizes that adenosine isn't binding, it responds by creating more receptors. More receptors means more coffee is needed to boost your energy.
In second place, "Caffeine stays in the bloodstream for absolutely ages, and however we might think that we are immune to the effects of caffeine, we are not," according to Ali Abdaal. Doctor and Productivity YouTuber. "It does operate on the neurotransmitters in the brain in various different ways, and it basically stops us from sleeping, or if we do fall asleep, it stops us from sleeping well. So, I do not drink caffeine after 2pm…”
The third, and final reason that caffeine is bad for healthy energy expenditure is that it affects your body’s natural circadian rhythms, affecting sleep quality and your body’s ability to recover from stress.
But, hey! There are ways to prevent this negative effects!
The changes in adenosine receptor levels typically reverse after a seven-day caffeine break. Think of it as a caffeine reset.
One way to reset is to take a week off from coffee every month. That's what Ashley Richmond, the founder of Momentum Habits, does. She recommends taking the first week of the month off so it's easy to remember.
A Poll
Last week poll finished with Bento Method as the most voted idea. As a result, I am currently building a Bento Template in Notion.
I want to keep building a tailored solution for you, so please help me with this one-question poll:
Do you have a feature request or a Notion Template idea? You can start earning money with me!
Feel free to reply this email with any request! If I contact you, and I use it in the final version of the product I will give you a commission of 10-20%, depending on the idea complexity and received votes.
For example, the reader who suggested the Bento Method as an idea will earn the 10% of all the sales generated by the Bento Template to be launched this month!
If you liked this post from Productivity Snippets, why not share it?
Did someone forward this to you? Join the +1500 weekly readers of Productivity Snippets. I´ll break down productivity systems and build ready-to-use tools for busy entrepreneurs! No spam, ever. Just great stuff.
If you want to get these tips and tools in even shorter snippets. Follow me on Twitter. I post daily, the best productivity and growth tips I find out there.