Did reducing my caffeine intake make me happier?

A few of my friends cut down on the amount of coffee they were drinking and told me that they experienced less anxiety, had more energy, and slept better. I wanted to see if it was really the caffeine intake change or something else, so I decided to take on this experiment this last week.

Before this, I only drank one 8 ounce cup of coffee every morning and never had caffeine after 11am. Instead of cutting out coffee completely, I decided to make my 8 ounce cup a split cup of 4 ounces regular and 4 ounces of decaf. At coffee shops, I had to do split shot americanos because it turns out the coffee shops here don’t have decaf drip. One day when I was working from home, I attempted to brew a 4 ounce pourover, which ended up tasting horrible, so I switched to tea.

Overall, I felt way less anxious than usual even though my life has been about the same or more stressful. I also slept better and had more energy, as promised. I was very surprised that just cutting my coffee intake in half had such a profound effect on me, but I’m convinced that at least for me, caffeine was doing more harm than good. Because I genuinely love coffee, I’m not planning on giving it up completely. I am going to try to limit my caffeine exposure and treat it like I do dessert – something I don’t have every day, but enjoy when I do.

Did reducing my caffeine intake make me happier? Absolutely! Out of all the things I’ve tried so far, this had the quickest and clearest effect on my mood, and I’m very happy I tried it.