The Hard Truth About Coffee And Productivity5 min read

The hard truth about coffee and productivity may surprise you. It might be the missing link to maximizing your efficiency.

I don’t know about you, but I love coffee!

If it tastes like coffee, I’m in! Whether it’s a praline or ice cream, mocha or coffee are always my picks.

I don’t remember when it started.

Born and raised in Brazil, coffee has always been part of my life. And I’m not talking about any coffee, but good and strong one.

While many drink for its taste, there are those who incorporated coffee, or caffeine in general, to their intake to “wake up.”

Since one finds it hard to focus and be productivity when sleepy, why not drinking a cup or two to get things done?

The question makes sense, doesn’t it? However, the answer isn’t exactly as straightforward as you may think.

Coffee, to love or not to love?

Who has never had a lovely chat over a delicious cup of coffee?

Whether it was a cappuccino, an Americano or a ristretto, sitting down for a coffee break is a tradition worldwide.

It’s also the favorite work break for many.

Black or with milk, coffee is a popular drink that fits all situations. 

While I’m not here to deny its social aspect, there’s the other side of it.

There’s the hard truth about coffee and productivity.

Whether you like it or not, coffee is a drug.

Well, not coffee itself, but the caffeine it contains is.

Caffeine is very addicting. And since it’s not forbidden by any law, we tend to overindulge ourselves without realizing it.

While it’s true that caffeine improves blood flow, for example, it also has side-effects.

Since each person is different, you may not necessarily feel the effects I’m sharing here. Yet, if drinking coffee is part of your daily rituals to “wake up,” but you’re seeing little results, this post must be the missing link to improving your efficiency.

The hard truth about coffee

First of all, let’s clarify one thing: the effects of any substance vary from person to person. Caffeine is no exception!

While one may feel little to no effect after a couple of cups, another may find it hard to function after just one.

Unless I want to spend the night awake, for instance, I better stay away from it after 4 PM.

Those who are caffeine sensitive experience adverse effects.

They suffer from symptoms like:

• jittering
• migraines
• sleeping issues

Another truth is that caffeine stays long in your system.

25% of your 8 AM cup will still be in your body 12 hours later.

At what time do you generally drink your last cup of the day?

Besides hurting your health, there is also efficiency-related damage.

Too frequent coffee breaks are easy to spot productivity killers.

Even though stretching your legs and changing the pace boost your productivity.

Too much of a good thing is still too much.

And if your coffee breaks tend to last more than they should, it’s only normal that you leave the office feeling unaccomplished.

When it comes to caffeine intake, despite its short-term improvement of cognitive task performance, it doesn’t come without a withdrawal.

In other words, the same caffeine that gives you the feeling of being more productive also takes it away.

To makes things worse, caffeine has also been associated with stress. Yeah, stress again!

And the list goes on…

The maybe not-so-hard truth about coffee and productivity

Note that I’m not going to be the one to tell you to quit drinking coffee cold turkey.

In fact, I tried it myself without success.

What worked for me was lowering my daily caffeine intake.

I went down from 8 cups a day to no more than 2 throughout the years. And that has been enough to maintain my productivity and health.

If you, however, think that caffeine may be impairing not only your efficiency and well-being, don’t wait until it’s too late.

Your health must always come first!

If you’d like some help to brainstorm about the effects of too much coffee in your productivity, I want to invite you to join the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You.

52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You

I’m hosting a 52-week productivity challenge on my Facebook Group #PlanWithDebbie.

You can read everything about the challenge here.

How the 52-week productivity challenge works

First of all, grab a copy of the list 52 Things That Are Killing Your Productivity .

After signing up, you’ll be invited to join the Facebook group #PlanWithDebbie.

On the group, I’ll share daily prompts during the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You.

I’ll guide you through a brand-new topic each week. 

From Monday through Friday, you’ll learn how you can use Mindful Planning™ to:

• Become more efficient
• Save time
• Manage stress
• Achieve your goals

You can start the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You at any moment of the year.

And you choose whether to follow every single week or to focus on your personal pain points.

If you miss anything, you can always refer to older posts for catch-up or review.

All that FOR FREE!

See you at the challenge

The method I apply to the challenge is exactly the same one I use with my clients: Mindful Planning™.

It’s a 5-step method you can use to all aspects of your life become more productive one day at a time without added stress.

Come and join the 52-Week Challenge For A More Productive You today.

I’m looking forward guiding you towards a successful year and beyond!

Debbie Rodrigues

Productivity Life Coach

Debbie Rodrigues is a Productivity Life Coach. She helps overwhelmed active women define realistic priorities to overcome procrastination and develop a fulfilling lifestyle. She does this through coaching, online courses and through the blog debbieinshape.com.