I’m looking at the clock impatiently. 10 more minutes. I tap my finger on the table, thinking. Stare outside the window. 10 more minutes. My mind is active and I’m distracted now. The writing has stopped. Thought pattern interrupted. All because I was going to make a coffee for myself and decided to do the math about how long I’d been awake.
I enjoy my Wednesday mornings. With my current rhythm and schedule, it’s my rest morning. I wake up, have breakfast, write for a while, have a coffee. Today, when I really wanted that coffee, I’d been up for 50 minutes.
After Andrew Huberman entered the podcast scene, it became gospel that you have to wait 90 to 120 minutes after waking to have your morning coffee. And so here I was, tapping my finger on the table, trying to figure out if it was okay to have a cup of coffee early. Not only that, but I was spending a lot of time and energy thinking about this.
The answer, of course, is obvious. ‘Have the coffee, duh!’ Sure, delaying has scientific benefits. It’s better to allow your body to wake naturally. Yet I do this naturally six out of seven days of the week. But on Wednesday’s, I enjoy writing, and like to sip on a coffee. And here’s the kicker. I love the process of making the coffee and the taste. The warmth of the drink. Picking the Nespresso flavour. It’s not to get the caffeine hit (which you don’t experience if you have a coffee early). So, who cares? Much better to have the coffee.
Which brings us to an interesting question. Why was I so fixated on if I should start making my coffee a bit earlier?
My sense is that we attach real risk to our choices. At times, these can be completely overblown. Like 10 minutes deciding if I should make a coffee. Are we doing the right thing? How important is that, to do the right thing? For me, it turns out, very. Which means that we can become fixated and distracted on doing something right. Even when the thing isn’t important and doesn’t actually matter.
Life isn’t about optimisation. Or about doing everything right. Or following very specific routines to the letter. Not that I’m suggesting that this is where I’m at. But it’s a good reminder. We can get sucked in. Sometimes, it’s the small things that draw our attention. And then it proceeds to take all of our time, attention, and energy.
The ‘risk’ of having a coffee early is non existent. Yet the idea is there, in the background, lurking behind the choices we make. What risk is here? Is not getting the full scientific benefit really the end of the world or a bad thing? Of course not.
So what can we do? We can properly examine the impressions that we receive. Stop and catch ourselves. And yes, this is much easier written than done. But it’s a work in progress. We will receive our initial impression. Then it’s up to us if we choose to accept it or not. Life is not about optimisation or the extra little benefit. It’s about duty and responsibilities, enjoyment, connection, and service. So have a coffee early if you want. Enjoy the odd dessert. A few nights here and there with less sleep is okay.
So we can put the timings to the side and enjoy our early morning brew, because it connects to something greater. We can tell a different story. In this case, an enjoyable Wednesday morning of writing whilst enjoying a pumpkin spice flavoured cuppa. ☕️
When do you like to enjoy your morning cuppa? What’s your go to flavour or style? Let me know.