How to Survive a PhD Without Caffeine

I’ve got a confession to make. In my thirty years on this planet I’ve never drunk a cup of coffee. In fact, I’m not even sure I’ve drunk an entire cup of tea!

Now it’s not so much that I actively avoided caffeine to begin with, it’s more that I just never got into it and haven’t seen much of a good reason to start.

Whether it be during undergrad, PhD or research jobs that I’ve had, it has perplexed some of the people around me that it’s possible to operate without caffeine. I’m here to say it is more than possible to survive a PhD, and life in general for that matter, without caffeine!

In this post I’ll be sharing with you why I think at least reducing your caffeine could be worth considering and my advice for how to function without caffeine.

Think there is something good about caffeine which I’m missing? Please let me know!

Caffeine and academia

For many, a caffeine dependency may simply be part of operating effectively as an adult. It would seem like the pressures of academia amplify this to the degree that vast caffeine intake is completely normalised.

You probably don’t need to look far to see this, but here is one example I stumbled upon:

“I´m 30 years old and PhD student, which means that I was drinking easily 4 cups of coffee a day and 3 energy drinks at night.”

Lasso S.V., One week without caffeine, Medium

I regularly see people saying things like this both in the labs I’ve worked in and on social media. This lifestyle doesn’t have to be normal, and in fact probably really shouldn’t be. Let’s cover why.

Is caffeine bad for you?

I want to start by saying that caffeine itself probably isn’t bad for you. In fact, perhaps the right amount of caffeine is good for you (see this study). Likewise, having a break from your work to enjoy a tea or coffee can bring many potential benefits such as:

• Socialising with colleagues (see here)
• Having a break from work
• Stretching your legs

These are all good reasons, though it could be argued that you could reap the same benefits simply by tagging along with a bottle of water. I imagine a large appeal of these drinks is also that they’re comforting and taste nice, I’ll give you that one!

Nevertheless, what I hope we can agree on is that a complete dependence on caffeine is unhealthy. Many of my colleagues in academia have complained about practically not being able to function if they’re not supplied with a regular dose of caffeine. There probably isn’t anything wrong with having one or two coffees a day, but to me it doesn’t sound sensible to be depending on a drug to be able to operate! In fact, not only is it unhealthy I think it’s wholly counterproductive as we’ll see next.

The caffeine-dependent brain

Now to be clear, my PhD isn’t in the effects of caffeine dependency on the brain (or anything remotely close!) so I’ll tread lightly here. But let’s say that someone who doesn’t drink caffeine has energy levels similar to this:

Please cut me some slack for the exact shape of the plot! Of course it will vary from person to person. Some people are morning larks with lots of energy as soon as they wake up, whilst others are night owls who are more productive in the evening. The point is that although energy levels vary, they’re not too erratic.

Someone who is in the habit of drinking a cup of so of coffee a day may have built up a bit of a dependency. This may result in a small slump until they have their morning coffee but they’re otherwise pretty productive. No real cause for concern.

Then there are the set of people who are desperate for a coffee and are constantly depending on caffeine to get them through the day.

The key point is that the caffeine isn’t actually boosting their energy above the level it would be at if they didn’t drink caffeinated drinks! Because of the energy deficits caused by crashes after a caffeine high, they’re far worse off than if they drank no caffeine at all. One such study which explored this effect was this one, where the authors concluded:

“With frequent consumption, substantial tolerance develops to the anxiogenic effect of caffeine, even in genetically susceptible individuals, but no net benefit for alertness is gained, as caffeine abstinence reduces alertness and consumption merely returns it to baseline.”

Rogers, P., Hohoff, C., Heatherley, S. et al. Association of the Anxiogenic and Alerting Effects of Caffeine with ADORA2A and ADORA1 Polymorphisms and Habitual Level of Caffeine Consumption. Neuropsychopharmacol 35, 1973–1983 (2010). Open access paper available here.

A little like the myths that it’s impossible to save money as a young person (spoiler, it’s not), or that PhD students have to be constantly working (again not true), I want to dispel the collectively-held myth that caffeine is a necessity. Especially in academia.

I’m here to tell you that there is another way to live! What follows are my suggestions for how to survive a PhD without caffeine.

Step 1: Get more sleep

For starters, if you’re drinking caffeine to overcome tiredness: get more sleep! And if you’re constantly relying on caffeine because you think you can’t get enough sleep, perhaps it’s worth addressing how you’re balancing your time.

PhD students shouldn’t need to be working such long hours all of the time that they can’t reliably get 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night. If you occasionally miss out on some sleep due a work deadline, or social event, that’s fine. But it shouldn’t be normal to need reviving with caffeine every day.

My top tips for making the most of sleep are:

• Aim to go to bed at a similar time every day. Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be exactly the same time but it’s good to keen an eye on the time. It’s so easy otherwise to lose track of time and suddenly it’s 2am before you know it! Not only does setting a regular bedtime help with your body clock but it will also will help your new sleeping habit to stick. Personally I go to bed around 11pm and get up at 7:30am.

• No electronics just before bed. Ha I sound like a parent! Perhaps you’ve read about the blue light emitted from screens as being bad for your bodyclock? This is probably true and a good reason to not use devices right before bed, but actually I don’t like using electronics because it usually means that my brain is very active. Either I’m working or getting riled up looking at something in the news.
  Instead, I like to read a book. But what’s different about books? I like reading fun books which are relaxing and easy to read. Not only is this a good transition from looking at an electronic screen but it chills my mind out, which is perfect for getting to sleep quickly.

Step 2: Drink water

My favourite (non-alcoholic*) drink is the one that is healthy, free, convenient and environmentally-friendly: water! If you’re somewhere that it’s safe to drink water out of the tap, please consider doing so!

There are lots of benefits to drinking water and one of the key ones is hydration. The jury is out on how much water you actually need to drink a day, but basically adequate hydration is key for maintaining mental performance. The key is to avoid getting dehydrated and if you notice you’re thirsty it means you’re likely already dehydrated. Drink water regularly and you’ll find you’re alert without any caffeine at all.

If you’re thinking of reducing your caffeine intake, I’d suggest trying to not transition across to high-sugar drinks which are likely just as bad (if not worse) for you! Instead, consider slowly switching out caffeinated drinks for a combination of decaf options and water.

*we’ll save discussion of alcohol for another day but in short, just like caffeine, needing alcohol to survive a PhD should also not be normalised!

Step 3: Take regular breaks from your work

If you find your productivity dropping and you start yearning for a coffee, try getting up from your desk and having a break. The idea that interrupting your work to have a break could help with productivity may sound counterproductive but in fact it can be a very productive use of your time.

It’s not great for either your mental or physical health to be sitting down in one place and starting at a screen for long periods of time and I find that getting up to go for a quick walk immediately revitalises me. Heeding the advice to drink more water? If nothing else this gives you a natural necessity to pop to the bathroom every so often!

Maybe it’s because I have a short attention span, but personally I like to get up and go for a quick walk at least once every hour or so. Even if it’s just a very quick walk around the department (or home), it’s amazing how effective a brief change of scenery and jolt of exercise can do for you.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times that I was stuck on something in my work and a solution came to me during one of these breaks. Once I’m back at my desk I find I’ve got renewed energy and enthusiasm to crack on with the work: what I’d imagine a lot of caffeine-drinkers are striving for!

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This post is a bit different to my usual content, what you think of it? Also please let me know if you think there something I’m missing out on by not drinking caffeine!