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Comment by nemasu | Hacker News Reader

Good read. Except I drink coffee in the morning so I can look at what I've programmed in the afternoon and not wonder what the heck I was doing. i.e. Not to avoid an 'uncomfortable' state of mind, just to increase performance. Maybe that's just the same thing though? idk.

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I agree, morning coffee doesn't seem to apply here. Smoking would be a better example.

Strangely enough I started to feel the same with morning tea, until I quit having any. Now I function "normally" even in the morning and can take a "boost"(hardly noticeable) if needed as long as it's not more than a few times per week or so.

It still sucks having nothing to sip on though. Taking a glass of water instead helps this somewhat.

There is conflicting evidence the enhancing powers of coffee, but it seems like it isn't a cognitive enhancer for the kind of activities we're talking about here, and might even be detrimental (tasks that depend on working memory), except maybe for 'suboptimal alertness conditions'. So you're probably better off overall getting a good night sleep and saving coffee for those times when you can't. -Hi, my name is cottonseed, and I'm a coffee addict.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182035 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_caffeine_on_memory

> So you're probably better off overall getting a good night sleep and saving coffee for those times when you can't.

Such as when you have a 5 week old baby sharing a bedroom with you. I've never been shy about drinking coffee, but the amount I've consumed in the last month is terrifying. I'm actually trying to be a bit more sensible about it after a horrible caffeine comedown recently, which could have competed with those in my past from far harder substances!

I'm so glad I quit drinking coffee before having kids. Being able to fall asleep easily at almost any time is a great benefit when you may be woken up easily at any time!

I highly recommend drinking a cup of hot water in the morning. Actually at least some of the benefit of a cup of coffee is the warming effect on the body. (Which is why showers are a great way to wake up in the morning) You also can't discount the placebo effect which is equally effective even if you know it's a placebo. Oh also hydration is important for wakefulness. It's also just damn comforting to have a warm drink, especially in the morning. I normally drink 2-3 cups of hot water each morning.

Everything applies, according to the article and the linked article too.

But as usual, there's no sense on just getting rid of everything that defines humans:

You might be in a small fishing boat, waiting for something to happen, it is cold, why not take some coffee out of the termo, why not have a cig, just to feel a bit like home, and wander on the surroundings?

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