How Not to Quit Drinking Coffee

Photo by Emre Gencer on Unsplash.com

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?

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