The second coffeeHabits

unbry

The second coffee

A short book about relying on caffeine to get through the day and paying for it at night

24 chapters11,707 wordsAbout 53 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit. You drink coffee, or tea, or something with caffeine in it, to…2 min
1Tuesday, ten past threeIt's ten past three on a Tuesday afternoon. You've been looking at the same paragraph for a few minutes without reading it. Your eyes feel dry. There's a…3 min
2Why the second coffee seems sensibleI don't want to start by telling you that caffeine is a drug. You know that, and it doesn't help, because so is paracetamol, and the word doesn't tell you…2 min
3"I can't function without my morning coffee"Start with the morning, because that's where the habit feels most like a fact. At half past six you're foggy, slow and slightly low. At ten past seven…2 min
4"It gives me energy"The word most people use for the pick-up is energy. You're flagging and the coffee tops you up, as if you'd been running low on something and it was fuel.…2 min
5"It helps me think"Beyond feeling awake, you may feel that coffee makes you sharper. The meeting at four goes better with a cup at three. Ideas come. You're quicker. There's…2 min
6"The three o'clock slump is just how afternoons are"You may accept all this about the morning and still feel that the afternoon is different. Everyone flags after lunch. It's biology. The coffee at three is…2 min
7"It doesn't affect my sleep, I drop off fine"This is the belief that lets the afternoon and evening cups happen, and it's held with real confidence. You put your head down at eleven and you're asleep…2 min
8"A coffee after dinner is just civilised"There's a cup that hasn't come up yet, and for many people it's the one that costs most. The coffee after dinner. The espresso at the end of a meal out.…2 min
9"I'd get terrible headaches if I stopped"You may have tried cutting down before, and you remember what happened. Within a day you had a headache like a band round your skull, you were foggy and…2 min
10"Coffee's good for you anyway"You may have read that coffee is good for you, and you're right to bring it up, because a book that ignored it would be dishonest. Robin Poole and…2 min
11"I only have three or four"Ask a regular drinker how much caffeine they have and they'll count coffees and stop there. The number is usually two or three. The truth is usually…2 min
12"It's only tea"There's a reader who's been feeling exempt for eleven chapters, because they don't drink coffee. They drink tea. Five or six mugs a day, from the first…2 min
13"I just love the taste"This deserves a straight answer, because it's the most honest thing anyone says about coffee and it's often true. Coffee is one of the great flavours. The…2 min
14"I need it because I sleep so badly"Some readers will say the order is wrong. The coffee isn't what's spoiling your sleep. You've always slept badly, and the coffee is how you cope with the…2 min
15"It's my break"Here's the last defence and I think it's the most human. The three o'clock coffee is a break. You stand up, go to the kitchen, boil the kettle, look out…2 min
16What the reliance costsYou may think of the habit as costing a few pounds a week and a slightly dry mouth. I think it costs more, and most of this chapter is my own reckoning.…2 min
17Counting, and the cut-offThe first practical step is to know the number and to set the time. Everything in this chapter is my own method, built on the research earlier in the…2 min
18Bringing it downOnce the cut-off is in place and has held for a week, the second step is to bring the total down. This is where people expect suffering, and most of it is…2 min
19The afternoon without itYou've moved the cut-off, and the afternoon now has no dose in it. Ten past three arrives, and there's a natural dip, and possibly a leftover shortfall…2 min
20The decisionThis chapter asks you to decide something. It comes late because at the start it would have sounded like the advice you've always been given, which is to…3 min
21Shifts, energy drinks, pregnancy and the cup you're offeredWhen you work nights or rotating shifts. The cut-off still applies, but it's six hours before whenever you sleep, not before eleven. Caffeine early in a…3 min
22Tuesday againIt's ten past three on a Tuesday afternoon, some weeks on. The paragraph in front of you is a bit dull, and there's the beginning of the dip, a slight…2 min
·NotesThis book gives general information about an everyday habit. It isn't medical advice, and it's no substitute for a doctor or pharmacist who knows your…5 min