A Month Without Coffee

By Leo Babauta For my first month of The Year of Living Without, I gave up coffee. That was something I thought would be very difficult, given my love for coffee and miserable past attempts. But I loved it. That was a huge surprise to me. I had absolutely no difficulty in giving up coffee, not the first day, not the first week, not at all. They key was having a great replacement habit that I really enjoyed. Instead of focusing on sacrificing the coffee, I focused on drinking a lovely cup of tea each morning. I was grateful to be able to drink such good tea, and so the coffee wasn’t even a concern. So my first month of Living Without wasn’t that difficult, though I did learn a few things. I’ll share my lessons below, then share my Living Without challenge for August: no sitting for longer than 30 minutes. Going Without Coffee Some notes on going without coffee: I fully expected to have withdrawal symptoms, like grogginess and headaches and such. Perhaps it’s because there’s a bit of caffeine in the tea (not high amounts as I brew lightly), but I experienced zero withdrawal signs. I was alert and focused even in the early morning. I really thought I’d have a harder time watching others drink coffee, but it wasn’t difficult at all. The only time I had urges was from the smell of coffee, which is really an amazingly enticing aroma. There aren’t many other smells like it. So Eva would brew some coffee, and of course it’...
Source: Zen Habits - Category: Life Coaches Authors: Tags: Habits Simplicity Source Type: blogs