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12 May 2013, 6:01 am

My problem is that for a significant amount of my awake-time, I'm in such a state that I'm too tired to do any real intellectual work but still too awake to sleep.

Up to now, I don't drink anything that contains significant amounts of caffeine. I tried maté tee, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Now I wonder if I should finally start drinking coffee. I don't actually like the smell or the taste, but if it actually solved my problem, I'd do it.

So my question is: Is coffee an effective way to increase one's intellectual productivity?



AdamAutistic
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12 May 2013, 9:54 am

i used to drink caffeine. i do believe it made me more productive but it also made me very moody.


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12 May 2013, 10:07 am

coffee is an acquired taste which is easier to acquire with creamer, sugar and especially COCO*! and if delivered in bed by someone sexy, that's how I got hooked
*(that's chocolate for you forn people)

yes it can help, that's why so many people drink it, rather than dirt.

sleep issues seem to plague people who are AS.


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12 May 2013, 10:32 am

Coffee is a stimulant, so yes, it would work in the short-term.
In moderation it's probably fine. *begin rant*

I just wouldn't overdo it as you can eventually burn-out your adrenals. (Look up "Adrenal Fatigue")
I know there will be differing opinions, but don't think it's ever good to rely on a substance just to function.
Especially one with addictive potential.

It's a good pick-me-up, but if you use it every time you want to get something done, then I think you'll eventually start craving it, physically and psychologically. Caffeine has its ups, but it also has its downs. They call this "crashing". It happens when the caffeine wears off. Plus it stains your teeth and gives you "coffee-breath". You develop a tolerance and will eventually need more. And if you stop, there will be withdrawal symptoms.

I'm speaking from experience. I personally find it hard to drink coffee in moderation, so I quit.

Luckily, it's socially acceptable to be addicted to coffee in the US and other countries that place an emphasis on productivity as a measure of self-worth.

Do you have sleep troubles or are you tired despite having the amount of quality sleep you need?
It would be more effective to seek a solution that addresses the root cause of your mental haze.

Unfortunately it's not always easy to figure out why your brain/body is doing what it does. I've found exercise to be a great help in boosting energy levels overall. It's hard at first when you start because you'll probably be tired, but your body and mind will thank you. (also helps in the sleep department)

But to answer your question, yes it is effective, but just pay attention to your body and how it feels. For some people coffee is a non-issue. Others can't live without it.



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12 May 2013, 11:21 am

AdamAutistic wrote:
i used to drink caffeine. i do believe it made me more productive but it also made me very moody.

Moody in what way?

vixx wrote:
Do you have sleep troubles or are you tired despite having the amount of quality sleep you need?
It would be more effective to seek a solution that addresses the root cause of your mental haze.

In fact, neither.

I'm not actually tired during the day. When I have an intellectually easy job, I can work almost all day without any problem. But I'm a math student, and math really requires a lot of concentration. And the amount of time per day during which I can maintain maximum concentration is much shorter. When that energy is over, I start procrastinating and doing useless stuff.

As a result, the total amount of work that I get done during one day is in fact quite low. While I don't have any trouble sleeping, I have some trouble falling asleep. The best fix for this is exhaustion. That either happens when I didn't sleep enough the night before (which isn't good because I'm not productive during the day, either), or when I actually did a lot of exhausting work (which doesn't happen because my concentration span is short).

So my problem is probably quite student-specific, and apparently, most other math students (or mathematicians in general) do drink coffee.
Before my studies, I spent almost a year washing dishes (which was exhausting but didn't require much thinking), and during that time, I had none of the above issues.

I'm just wondering if it's possible to achieve a long-term improvement by caffeine, or if the body will just get used to it.
Switching back to dishwashing is not an option. :)

What I'd like caffeine to do: enable me to do more work during the day, so when I stop drinking coffee in the evening, I will be tired and fall sleep.



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12 May 2013, 12:04 pm

So it's less of a tiredness issue than it is an issue of maintaining concentration. That's tough...

Well, I think the only way to know if it will work for you is to try and experiment with it.
I should say that caffeine consumption has been known to disrupt sleep patterns though, so if you didn't already have trouble sleeping, coffee might change that if you drink more than a cup or two per day. I'd recommended not drinking any caffeine after noon.

The mood swings were probably a reference to the caffeine crashes I mentioned. I experienced them, too. A quick google search will pull up all kinds of links between caffeine and irritability. Also, If you have any sort of ADD/ADHD/OCD, coffee will exacerbate those. So I don't want to say it will work, but it may work for you.



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12 May 2013, 12:44 pm

vixx wrote:
Well, I think the only way to know if it will work for you is to try and experiment with it.

Thanks, I'll do that.

vixx wrote:
I should say that caffeine consumption has been known to disrupt sleep patterns though, so if you didn't already have trouble sleeping, coffee might change that if you drink more than a cup or two per day. I'd recommended not drinking any caffeine after noon.

According to Wikipedia, the biological half-life is 5 hours, so that makes sense.
I know that many people purposely use coffee to suppress their sleep pattern. But I rather want to use it to support mine.

I've already considered asking the doctor for some light sleeping pills (sometimes, I just don't get tired all night), but I'd rather avoid that. Tackling the problem from a different direction seems more sensible.

vixx wrote:
Also, If you have any sort of ADD/ADHD/OCD, coffee will exacerbate those.

I haven't been tested, but I don't think so. For example, if I know what to do, I can do programming for 12 hours straight, and I've never had any attention problems in class. But when trying to find a solution of a math problem, my energy is often used up after 2 hours.
External pressure (on the evening before the deadline, for example) does improve things, but I don't exactly want to rely on that.



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12 May 2013, 2:02 pm

I'm bad at math and would probably give up on an equation well before the two-hour mark lol. I'd find it hard to concentrate on math for that long myself, but it sounds like you're focusing on math a lot.

Have you tried taking breaks? Like try focusing on work for 15-20 min and then take a 2-3 minute break to stretch or drink some water, just relax for a bit before you get back to work. I do that for studying in general. The breaks really help me feel like I haven't been slaving away. I know it sounds unproductive but if I try too hard to hammer something out, it backfires. I'm not thinking as clearly as I could and I'll forget what I just read or things like that. I noticed I'm a lot more productive when I start working and it steadily goes down until I'm fried, but if I take breaks, it's like I get a bunch of fresh starts and I last a lot longer and get more done.

Well, you should post an update about how the coffee goes for you. Maybe try taking breaks too if you don't already, just to see if it helps..



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12 May 2013, 4:13 pm

vixx wrote:
I'm bad at math and would probably give up on an equation well before the two-hour mark lol. I'd find it hard to concentrate on math for that long myself, but it sounds like you're focusing on math a lot.

A friend of mine is a really good math student and he doesn't drink any coffee, but he says:
"To become a mathematician, you must be a bit of a masochist."

About one of the most famous mathematicians of the past century...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erd%C5%91s wrote:
His colleague Alfréd Rényi said, "a mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems", and Erdős drank copious quantities. (This quotation is often attributed incorrectly to Erdős, but Erdős himself ascribed it to Rényi.) After 1971 he also took amphetamines, despite the concern of his friends, one of whom (Ron Graham) bet him $500 that he could not stop taking the drug for a month. Erdős won the bet, but complained that during his abstinence mathematics had been set back by a month: "Before, when I looked at a piece of blank paper my mind was filled with ideas. Now all I see is a blank piece of paper." After he won the bet, he promptly resumed his amphetamine use.

Note that I don't intend to do the latter.

vixx wrote:
Well, you should post an update about how the coffee goes for you. Maybe try taking breaks too if you don't already, just to see if it helps..

It might take a while. I think I'll start slow.

When I first tried maté tee, my concentration was really good afterwards. Unfortunately, it was all placebo (I couldn't reproduce the effect). But at least it showed me that it's possible.
In Germany, "Club Mate" is very popular among computer scientists.
Image
It's basically maté tea with extra sugar and extra caffeine.

Sugar does sometimes have a positive effect on me, but too much makes me dizzy.



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12 May 2013, 4:51 pm

Haha! Now that I think about it, I can definitely see how math and coffee go hand in hand.. 8)

I like yerba mate for the flavor. Club mate looks interesting.. not a huge fan of sugar myself.



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12 May 2013, 5:45 pm

Remember everyone, Everything in Moderation. even exercise. I was reading online that a study says jogging too much can actually damage your heart muscle. I believe it, I love coffee. it is soley responsible for my good looks but I never overdue it. I have about One pot per day, (Usually in the morning) although sometimes I drink it in the evening. even so I can sleep on it, It doesn't keep me up for some reason. Just remember as someone has said above. Everything in Moderation, Don't overdue any one thing.

Be happy, Be healthy. :wink:


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15 May 2013, 7:25 am

For every study that says coffee is bad there is another that says it's good. There is a plethora of research showing it even helps prevent cancer. Some people say coffee is a laxative, for me it has absolutely no laxative effect. I could talk all day about coffee research but before I bore you, I'll leave you with this. I read another article some time ago about persuasion. Researchers found people were not only more likely to be sociable when they had a hot beverage (no specifically coffee, just a hot drink) in their hand but also more easily persuaded.

Tea may be another option for you.



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22 May 2013, 6:26 am

So I just drank the first cup of coffee in my life about half an hour ago.

I do find the taste absolutely horrible. Effects so far: increased stimming (which is usually "air piano playing" for me), slight dizziness/headache, but I still feel just as tired as before.



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22 May 2013, 7:08 am

Still nothing. I'm really sleepy now. :)
(If it actually helps me falling asleep, that sounds like an interesting option, too.)



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22 May 2013, 9:34 am

i'm not sure if this helps but i know for myself that i need it to function in the morning so as to not get a migraine and headache. i'm probably addicted.


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23 May 2013, 9:20 pm

Coffee does really give us good benefits especially if we consume it in a responsible way, shall we say we should not drink too much of it, moderation is still important though there are some individual who don't have any problem in drinking too much coffee. The aroma alone of coffee can give me soothing and relaxing effect.