I’m Running a Small Experiment With Caffeine (and It’s Not About Quitting Coffee)

For a long time, I thought I was “low energy” most afternoons.

But recently I started questioning whether that tiredness was real — or relative.

Every morning, after delaying caffeine for 90 minutes, I’d have a double-shot espresso. And for a while, I’d feel incredible: wired, alert, motivated, ready to go.

Then the rest of the day would feel… flat.

Not terrible. Just lower. Slower. Less sharp.

And it made me wonder:
What if my baseline isn’t actually low — what if my morning spike is just too high?

So I’m running a simple experiment.

I’m not quitting coffee. I enjoy it too much for that.

Instead, I’m changing one variable:

Double shot → single shot espresso.

Same ritual.
Same timing.
Same enjoyment.

Just a smaller dose.

The goal isn’t to feel more energised — it’s to feel more steady.

With a double shot, I noticed a very specific state emerge:

That state can be useful occasionally. It’s great for short bursts of execution.

But as a daily default, it doesn’t align with how I want to live or work.

Lately, I’ve been prioritising:

And I’ve realised something important:

Caffeine doesn’t just give you energy — it sets your reference point.

Here’s the insight that changed how I think about caffeine.

If you spike your energy high early in the day, everything that follows feels low by comparison — even if your actual energy is perfectly fine.

It’s not that you crash.
It’s that your brain recalibrates “normal” to an artificially elevated state.

So when that stimulation fades, you interpret the contrast as fatigue.

This isn’t unique to caffeine. The same thing happens with:

Raise the bar too high, and normal starts to feel like lack.

Caffeine works primarily by blocking adenosine, a chemical that builds up in the brain and creates sleep pressure.

When adenosine is blocked:

At moderate doses, this improves performance.

At higher doses, especially in people who are already sensitive or calm by default, it can tip into:

Research consistently shows an inverted-U relationship between stimulation and performance:

Too little → sluggish
Too much → wired and inefficient
Just enough → calm, focused flow

My suspicion is simple:
I’ve been slightly over the peak.

This experiment isn’t about productivity metrics.

I’m watching subtler signals:

If a single shot keeps me in a steadier state all day, that’s a win — even if I never feel that early-morning “buzz.”

I’m no longer asking:

I’m asking:

Energy doesn’t need to shout to be effective.
Sometimes the best kind just quietly stays with you.

This experiment mirrors a bigger theme in my life right now.

I’m learning that less intensity can create more satisfaction.

Less urgency.
Less forcing.
Less chasing peaks.

And more:

If lowering the spike restores contrast and steadiness, then this tiny change will be more than worth it.

I’ll share how it unfolds.

— Jack