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Comment by uptownfunk | Hacker News Reader

I've been off Caffeine for a good two years now and have no plans of going back.

Life runs too fast for me on caffeine, yes I can blow through work faster, but when I was on caffeine it would feel like days, weeks, months would go by in the blink of an eye.

I wasn't enjoying the moment.. and then I stopped drinking caffeine.

Life became more present for me, not slower in the bad sense, but that I was able to relish every moment more, more aware... more conscious of what was going on around me. My fuse also got really short when I was consuming caffeine, I'd get into a lot of fights and arguments, since I've stopped, it's really helped.

I still get all my work done and have time to spare, I'm working, going to school and have an infant at home. So life after caffeine is definitely possible.

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Hm..reading this makes me wonder ... I noticed that life is running extremely fast lately and I am having a hard time being "in the moment" ... and I drink a lot of coffee. I really enjoy everything about coffee from roasting to brewing though, so it would probably be quite hard giving it up. Anyway, thanks for sharing this, I will take a long look at that.

> really enjoy everything about coffee from roasting to brewing

You roast your own beans at home ? How expensive of a setup does that require ?

It's possible to do this with just your home oven, green beans, a tray and a timer.

A cheap (<$100) step up from that is a hot air popcorn popper, and the sky is the limit. Check out http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/12/why-you-shouldnt-roast... for a quick overview of what you're getting into and some recommended further reading. TL;DR it's not really worth it but can be a fun hobby which can yield good results with practice.

Popcorn machine is another popular option.

You'd need some serious ventilation. I also recommend starting with a popcorn popper outside.

> You'd need some serious ventilation.

I think this part hasn't been written of enough. How much smoke does coffee roasting create? Is it almost like a barbecue?

Yeah, the smoke is considerable, and smells delicious. Definitely an outdoor activity (or be near an open window w/ a fan).

Yikes. I was quite close to purchasing and roasting some green beans in a not-very-well-ventilated cooking area. Thanks for the heads up!

Sorry I meant this more in terms of "learning about every aspect of coffee" .. I did roast my own beans in the past. More out of curiosity, though. All you need to try/start is a cast iron pan and green beans .. but I would recommend reading a book about the roasting process or doing a comprehensive barista course that includes roasting, first.

Making a drink doesn't sound like it would be something inherently enjoyable. Perhaps you believe it is because of the boost you get when you drink it. Would making it for others be enjoyable in the same way?

When you next make a cup, try to tease out exactly what it is that you enjoy about making it. What is it about that experience that makes it enjoyable?

Making a drink doesn't sound like it would be something inherently enjoyable

Why not? Lots of people enjoy making food, even food they're not going to eat. Why would making a drink be that different?

See: tea ceremony, Japanese.

Ritual itself can be very satisfying. I've taken apart also in Ethiopian coffee making, which is an awesome process. Beans get roasted on the spot and then brewed into coffee, and everyone gets there small cups of the brew, in decreasing concentration. It's a precise ritual, and at the same time very social. It's great!

The smell, the taste, the ceremony of habit. I enjoy these more than the caffeine. I would probably drink more, if the caffeine effect were less.

Brewing is a fun hobby, takes a long time for any result, but one can get geeky in the details.

I still drink decaf occasionally, but only around half a cup.. at most once a week. So you can have some of the ceremony of it if you want. You can also switch to an herbal tea. I do enjoy the smell of it and I miss brewing it in the morning, but the toll on my lifestyle just wasn't worth it for me.

I noticed that life is running extremely fast lately and I am having a hard time being "in the moment" ... and I drink a lot of coffee.

I drink a lot of coffee. I'm a very in the moment person, meditate regularly, enjoy and live in the moment, etc.

This is an approach to life thing that is quite orthogonal to whether you drink coffee or not.

I totally agree. The most "in the moment" person I've ever known ran a non-profit coffee shop and drank coffee every weekday. I drink one cup of coffee three or four times a week and I feel like it boosts my awareness rather than takes away from it.

Regardless of your anecdotal evidence, caffeine as a drug does cause people to focus. This comes at the expense of noticing what happens in the background

Mindfulness is actually selective focus, so if caffeine helped it then it supports my "anecdote". Caffeine doesn't make life move quicker, it doesn't stop you from enjoying the moment, etc.

In conversations like these too often people promote a quick fix type of thing. "I stopped {X} and gained {Y}!", when really there was no causative relationship, and {X} was just a one of many lifestyle changes.

> too often people promote a quick fix type of thing

Though, to be fair, caffeine is a very strong stimulant. So likely, when you stop using it, things will change for you.

I do a coffee fast (for months) every so often. I suggest you try it, we can share more anecdotes when you're on the other side.

I think self-awareness plays a very strong role here. If you're addicted to caffeine, as many are, you know how it makes you feel. Some choose to ignore the effects, others also choose to ignore them...

Likely addiction to anything, if broken for a time, will yield results that one can measure against.

And yes, stopping addiction is a quick fix.

Being in the moment has a lot to do with getting enough sleep. Caffeine is generally bad for peoples sleep quality and quantity, but there is also a lot of variability in this.

I was saying that it worked for me to stop. Not that you should all stop drinking coffee. If it helps you then why stop. I was just sharing how stopping helped me and that if you want to you can. Nor was I promoting a quick fix. It's not a quick fix and was initially quite a difficult experience for me.

And I disagree that they're orthogonal. There's definitely some correlation between what you consume and your state of mind and awareness. (Don't believe me? Eat a handful of chillies) It is why the Buddhist monks live such a moderate lifestyle, would recommend chefs table episode 1 of the latest season.

"I was saying that it worked for me to stop."

Great. I was replying to someone else who took your statement to mean that stopping coffee == enlightenment.

I'm not looking for an argument, but far too often on here people look for, or push, an easy fix for larger problems. "I started working at a standing desk and now I'm a 10x programmer", "I stopped watching TV and now I'm a great artist", etc. But in reality the causation was "I realized I needed to make change, and for now at least things are different but here's some proxy symbolic thing". I realized that I needed to live healthier, and in doing so wore gym shorts more often, so gym shorts make you healthier.

Regarding the Buddhist monks, be wary clutching onto something they did given the mysticism, but it's notable that monks drink tea (and, in many cases, coffee), and their precepts are against intoxicants like alcohol. And some of the things they avoided were things like onions and garlic, which were believed to make them aroused.

Did you quit caffeine by chance or did you start making a conscious effort to live more in the moment and quitting caffeine was part of that?

Honestly I was getting into a lot of fights with my wife (then girlfriend) and I was trying to figure out the cause. I was taking 20 units of upper div math at Berkeley and coffee is just part of the culture (see Erdos). I was more of a green tea or Yerba guy, but I eventually pinpointed it to the caffeine. It saved our relationship, and lucky for me too.. she's one of the good ones.

Caffeine urges me to jump on my impulse and react fast which is not good for a relationship (especially a young relationship) where a little tolerance goes a long way..

So you didn't start meditation or something at the same moment?

I was doing a little yoga and pranayama, but that's about it. But I had been doing that for about a year before I quit. So nothing really changed in that regard..

I also started and stopped coffee a couple times before really quitting and the anger/irritability came right back like clockwork every time I started drinking again..

Yeah, for me caffeine is now a "special occasion" thing, and my life is much better for it. If I'm very low on sleep, or running a long race, I might have small amount, but never more than two days in a row, and I'll go weeks without it. Everybody's different, but I'm unlikely to go back.

I would love to see a study on coffee consumption's effect on time perception. Maybe it's a widespread phenomenon.

......how many cups a day were you drinking?

Just one in the morning.

Out of interest, did you only stop drinking caffeine or was it potentially part of a larger set of changes (mindset/dietary/behavioural/etc) made at a similar time?

Nothing changed for me but the caffeine. I did go through about a weeklong withdrawal where I could barely get out of my bed though.. it was tough I did feel I was half dead for a good week, but after that your body adjusts, and dare I say I'm more productive and focused now than when I was on caffeine.

I don't see myself ever quitting... I only go to work for the coffee.

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