[hintymad]

Very true. I've seen too many engineers lose focus easily due to poor sleep. What's even worse is that many of my fellow engineers lost curiosity over time. They thought it was due to age or burden from raising a family, but it's really about managing energy. Intense curiosity requires intensive mental energy, which one can't get from drinking coffee all day.

[baerrie]

+1 to stopping the coffee.

[jemmyw]

I enjoy a couple of cups of coffee a day for its own sake. My understanding is that you normalize to the caffeine so if you enjoy coffee just drink roughly the same amount every day. Giving it up is unlikely to change your sleep much unless you're consuming a silly amount (which some people do).

And, as I mentioned to my wife earlier this week, if I feel stressed or something has upset me then just the motions of making coffee or tea is relaxing.

[baerrie]

Yeah i still drink it on weekends. I found it made me generally more anxious even with the tolerance, in fact it almost seemed to have a cumulative effect over the years for me. I have shifted to tea and once your palate adjusts, there’s a ton of intrigue especially in Chinese and Taiwanese teas. The caffeine amount in tea doesn’t bother me nearly as much either

[vipermark7]

I hear there's chemicals in tea which balance out the caffeine, and make it less of a shock to the system. My go-to (heh) is Earl Grey, though I usually drink coffee

[contingencies]

Recently discovered cardamom tea, which consists of loose leaf western-style tea infused with cardamom oil. You can buy it from Iranian supermarkets. Great stuff. Also like and recommend both ginger tea and lemongrass tea.

[carlmr]

Great recommendations altogether. Also fresh mint leaves. Indian Chai (contains caffeine and is more work to make but definitely worth it, especially if you like Kardamom).

[baerrie]

Mint tea is so good. I just got back from Israel and their herbal tea (tisane) game was so strong

[jrootabega]

It's good to have some herbal teas that you like for when you really just want a hot cup of something to sip and think.