alt Hacker NewsThose people were addicts, and not by a bit but deep into it. They should first realize their condition and then apply measures to get out of the hole. I bet they also had very poor sleep quality (regardless of length).
Like crack addicts longing for their dose, I've also seen people not able to work as functional adults until they get their precious morning coffee shot, and when on holidays their company ends up becoming a burden, not able to improvise, not able to stay in uncommon situations without a coffee brewer nearby for a couple days.
I'm a coffee drinker, and I take it around 2 to 3 times a week. To be honest, it takes effort to reach those addiction levels; I don't think it can happen without taking coffee every. single. day., which seems way too much honestly. Like "needing to drink hard alcohol every day seems odd"-levels of wrong.
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> when on holidays their company ends up becoming a burden, not able to improvise, not able to stay in uncommon situations without a coffee brewer nearby for a couple days.
Exactly. This is why it was so memorable. They made their coffee problem my problem as well. Suddenly the entire morning was a frantic search for coffee. It’s not exactly the vibe I’m going for in the morning.
Coffee addict here. Like any addiction, the ritual is the scaffolding on which the whole thing is built. Sure, I'd get a headache or be groggy without it at first, but having an excuse to sit and sip a warm beverage for 15-30 minutes has become a peace-creating space for myself to think and prepare. When I go on vacation, it's much less important or pressing, because that ritual is broken. There are seldom adverse effects in those situations when avoiding coffee.
There's nothing about this that requires coffee, but habits require primers and repetition, and starting coffee is that primer, and the socially accepted aspect of it maintains those boundaries so it can be repeated. When we go on vacation, it all goes away.
I used to smoke cigarettes as a young kid, and 90% of the reinforcement of that was the ritualistic work smoke break where you sat and bullshitted with coworkers or friends outside for 15 minutes. Without that, the habit broke easily because smoking didn't actually reinforce or be reinforced by anything joyful.
It is easy to look down ones nose at coffee drinking, but the core tie is rarely some crippling physical addiction so much as a ritual that is itself enjoyable, and we all have those. Any guidance on breaking addiction usually centers on the rituals you've created around your substance.