I love coffee. I could go on and on about different roasts, brewing methods, and what to put in your coffee. I'll spare you those details but trust me. I like to drink coffee. The problem is it becomes a vicious cycle when you drink too much coffee. It happened to me without realizing it. I was still tired after my regular coffee, so I would get more at work. I fell into this routine. Then I added afternoon coffee. Sometimes the afternoon coffee was late enough that I had trouble getting to sleep at night. Then I was even more tired the next day. More coffee! Over time, it started to bother my stomach. I realized I was drinking way more than a pot of coffee most days. Here’s a weird sidebar. The “cups” labeled on coffee makers are not normal cups. They’re 5 ½ ounce cups. I was putting down 12-14 “cups” every day and often more. I was also spending a lot of money on coffee because I don’t like to drink cheap store brand crap. I grind my own beans and was paying about $15 a pound for coffee. The money I was spending bothered me a little. The worst thing about my coffee addiction though was being dependent on it. If I was going to travel it became a source of anxiety. Where will I find coffee? Will it be decent coffee? Will I offend someone if I bring my own coffee to their house to make? It didn’t matter what time I was getting up, I still had to find some coffee first thing in the morning. That’s what I hated more than anything. Letting coffee run my schedule. I decided I needed to quit but realized I'm no quitter. I decided I needed to at least cut way back. When I made the announcement to my wife, she was rightfully skeptical. Then, being an engineer, I did what most engineers would do. I made a spreadsheet. I’ll spare you these details too, but in short I figured out the coffee-to-water ratio I was using. I wanted to keep roughly the same ratio as I decreased the amount of coffee. No one likes watered down coffee. I figured if I decreased the amount by two ounces every three days I wouldn’t notice too much. I started on February 10th and here’s what happened. I did fine for two weeks. Then when my dad was in the hospital far away and not doing well, I traveled to see him. I even did OK during that trip but it was impossible to accurately measure how much I was drinking. I did my best to enter an estimate in my spreadsheet. I came home and did well for a couple more weeks, only cheating once or twice with an extra cup of coffee at work. I had cut my intake of coffee in half. Then I stalled out when my dad passed away. I completely gave up after the Corona virus pandemic hit and I was working from home everyday. I maintained the reduced intake, but as Michigan’s stay-at-home order dragged on I crept right back to where I started. Ultimately, I’ve decided that drinking a few cups of coffee is not such a horrible thing. Besides I feel it’s my duty to support the two coffee shops here in my small town. In the end, not much has changed. But I don't feel like I failed. What has changed is my attitude toward coffee. Even though I’m back to drinking almost my full amount every day, I don’t feel enslaved toward it like I used to. Some days, I don’t grab my first cup until I’ve been up for a while. I would have a good headache if I went a day without it, but I would be OK. Besides, during the extended stay-at-home order, going out to grab a cup of coffee and pick up a bag of beans from the local coffee shop will be one of the few times I get away from home. I think we can apply this to our decluttering efforts. It can be about our attitude toward our clutter. Don't let your stuff own you and don't be a slave to it. It might seem like you're failing but maybe you're not. Maybe we just need to think about it differently? |
Details
Categories
All
Copyright Dave Lubke and www.davelubke.com, 2022
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of Cookies |