I’ve quit a lot of bad habits in my 44 years on this planet, from gambling to social media to alcohol, but I can honestly say that no addiction has challenged me as ruthlessly as caffeine.
X (or Twitter when I quit it) became so dark and hostile during the COVID-19 pandemic that it effectively forced me to quit (and this was after years of trying and failing to avoid wasting hours on the site every day). I haven’t had a single craving since.
Alcohol withdrawal wasn’t fun at all, but the symptoms of my detox there were purely psychological. After about 2 weeks, the anxiety and overwhelming cravings faded away almost completely.
It’s a different story with caffeine, however,
Every time I think I’ve escaped its clutches, it sneaks its was back into my life, and before I know it, I’m a full blown addict again.
The hardest part of quitting any bad habit or starting any good one is at the beginning as you work to get the snowball rolling down the hill.
But the good news is that I’ve found my caffeine withdrawals draw down much quicker than, say, my alcohol ones.
I recently tried quitting caffeine again and took notes about how I was feeling every step of the way.
For 5 days, it was utter hell.
But there was something magical waiting on the other side.
Let me tell you about that now.
Day 1
On my first day, I actually felt pretty decent. I think my body was still unaware of what I was going to put it through, so it didn’t even have time to react.
Plus, any time I start or stop something, I’m so jazzed up about it that I get a surge of excitement and energy.
The only sign of strain was toward the end of the day when the slightest headache started to kick in.
No problem though, I’m just cruising!
Day 2
… cruising straight into a bridge embankment.
To say Day 2 was brutal would be an insult to the concept of brutality.
The pounding withdrawal headache has set in.
It feels like my brain is trying to push my eyeballs out of my head.
Maybe it’s shock, but on Day 2 I don’t have any cravings. I just feel really sick.
At least the caffeine-free, deep sleep I got the night before has me feeling rested.
Sick, but rested.
This is what always keeps me coming back to quitting caffeine: the pure, blissful, undisturbed slumber.
More on that in a moment.
I go to bed on Day 2 feeling awful but hopeful.
Day 3
All the caffeine is now out of my system, which means a massive wave of lethargy has begun setting in.
I need to go lie down a couple times during my workday and once in the early evening just to be able to function.
There’s no avoiding this point in the journey … it just friggin’ sucks.
Bedtime mercifully arrives and I fall effortlessly into a deep sleep.
I drift off trouble-free after getting up to use the washroom, and my dreams are increasingly vivid and entertaining (one of my favorite benefits of quitting caffeine).
Day 4
The deep fatigue is still hanging over me, but the mental benefits of quitting caffeine are starting to reveal themselves.
As my dopamine motivation shifts from getting the drug in my system to actually accomplishing things, writing becomes effortless again.
My brain fog is also lifting, which allows me to tackle life and work tasks with more focus and clarity.
I’m also a more patient and engaged parent and less rattled by life’s little daily hurdles.
Day 5
At work, I’m assigned a lengthy, complex writing task, which I easily fire off in less than an hour. I also publish two posts online before I even start work, and again, this is easy.
The biggest challenge for me personally is always the same: drumming up the energy and motivation to get to the gym.
But eventually that comes back too, so for now, I decide to give myself some grace and pledge to start working out again in the coming days.
The post-caffeine life (benefits after 10 days after quitting)
Now I get why people would question my desire to quit drinking coffee, especially after hearing about how brutal the withdrawal process is.
“Coffee is the best!” people say. “It’s so delicious and inviting and warm! It’s so comforting! Plus it gives you tons of energy and it’s a lovely routine to start your day and it’s the best reason to get out of bed and it smells good too!”
Listen, I get it.
I was on team coffee for decades.
But the thing about it is, when you’re on caffeine for that long, you completely forget what life was like without it.
And I’m here now to tell you about the land you forgot: a perfect utopia where you’re happier, more energetic, more charming and funny, and you actually sleep through the night.
Here are the Top 4 benefits I noticed 10 days after quitting caffeine.
Incredible sleep with less waking
I would say the 1 thing I was chasing above all else with my decision to quit caffeine was a solid night’s sleep.
And I’ve never been disappointed after pushing through the withdrawal hell.
I never used to sleep that well, especially when I was drinking at least a bit of alcohol every night.
I’d wake up all the time to use the washroom, and then constantly waking up more through the night for seemingly no reason at all.
Just as I’d be slipping into a dream, I’d wake up restless and roll around for a while before drifitng into the next hour or two of low-quality sleep before waking up again.
After quitting? I’d get up maybe once a night to use the washroom and sleep very soundly for the rest of the night.
Here’s a weird benefit too: I noticed that my dreams were way more memorable, vivid, and fun.
I also found that, not only was the sleep quality and consistency better, but it was actually easier to fall asleep initially.
Back in the day, going to bed was like spinning a roulette wheel.
What will the outcome be tonight? Ten minutes to drift off? Thirty minutes? Two hours?
After 10 days without caffeine, I’d put my head down on the pillow and be out within 10-15 minutes, easy-peasy.
I also don’t wake up super early for no reason.
In the past, I felt like the morning caffeine withdrawal would wake me up earlier than I wanted to be up and have me racing to the coffee machine.
After quitting, I’d sleep 7-8 hours and feel great.
Does it take a beat longer to get moving? Sure. But that’s just how your body is naturally supposed to work!
Consistent energy, all day long
I think my ADHD has something to do with this, but when I was on caffeine, I’d feel like I was on a neurological see-saw all day long.
Now I know some people can drink a pot of coffee at 8 p.m., not feel a thing, and fall asleep an hour later (my grandmother was like this), but that isn’t me.
Caffeine creates massive highs and lows for me all day long.
I’d get a big spike of joy and energy (both drug-induced and fake) lasting about 3-4 hours, and then I’d crash super hard.
At that point, my mental bandwidth would be focused on just one thing: when and how can I get my next cup of coffee.
Stay on caffeine long enough and this will just feel like a normal state of being. But I couldn’t help but feel like it was especially hard on my brain and body in particular.
Sure, it feels great when the drug hits your system and your dopamine spikes, but when it wears off I feel sad, a little mad, and straight-up exhausted.
I wanted desperately to just feel good throughout the day and not have this roller-coaster of emotion.
And that’s what I had after quitting.
I felt level-headed all day, my mental and physical energy didn’t go up and down very much, they were just solid and reliable.
In other words, I just felt good.
Whether I’m working, working out, or spending time with family, it’s nice to be able to just focus on that and not have my attention drawn toward “when I can get the next shot of my drug?”
Now I usually go to the gym at night because I’m just not good at sitting still (that’s the ADHD kicking in again).
And another thing I noticed after quitting caffeine was that, toward the end of those night gym sessions, I’d actually start yawning.
It wasn’t that I was too tired to work out though, again, I’ll admit here it was a lot easier to work out with caffeine than without it.
It was that my body was actually winding down according to normal circadian rhythms … you know, like it’s supposed to.
My baseline mood was so much better
So as I mentioned, caffeine hits me hard.
And that applies to my personality and mood as well.
Although I’d be happy and productive for a while thanks to the fake dopamine bump, the cortisol would quickly set in, making me one of:
- Wired
- Anxious
- Impatient/angry
Back when I was on Twitter, I came across the perfect post describing my state of mind on coffee. It went like this:
Me: Tired
Me on coffee: Tired, insane
That about sums up my experience.
The problem for me has always been that one cup of coffee is never enough. I feel OK after the first one (though the fatigue does come in later). But after another big mug, I’d shift to anxiety.
So what would an addict do in the face of that potential consequence? Well, have another cup, of course! And then I’d feel really anxious and immediately regret it.
After 10 days off coffee, I found a sense of calm that I didn’t think I was capable of.
In spite of what should have been a stressful week at work, I was serene and ready to solve problems rather than just lament them.
I don’t feel wired and then sad. I’m just leveled out and happy.
The anxiety pits in my stomach were gone.
My mental clarity returned
When I was loaded up on coffee, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on a single thing long enough to get through it.
Alternatively, sometimes I’d just go catatonic and do … nothing (well, other than waste time on social media or something).
Ten days after quitting, my brain fog lifted.
My concentration was better, my thoughts were organized, and, oddly enough, even my typing accuracy improved.
All of the benefits I’ve mentioned here stack on top of each other and deliver a much better quality of life.
And although those trips to the gym are still a bit harder without that caffeine hit, every other aspect of my life is a lot better.
Hey, let me know:
- Have you ever tried quitting caffeine?
- What were the top benefits for you?
Looking for more? Subscribe to the free Clean Productivity newsletter here!