Quick Tips: Hacking Motivation with Caffeine

July 13, 2020August 24, 2020greeneyedguide

Welcome to the GreenEyedGuide Quick Tips to Start Your Week series!

Today’s topic is Hacking Motivation with Caffeine.

Have you ever thought about why you drink the drinks you do? What guides your hand when you open that glass door at the 7-11 and reach for something caffeinated?

You can use that motivation for caffeine to hack your motivation elsewhere. By “hacking”, I mean tricks to make it easier, like a cheat code.

I’ve been working on a research paper with a group from Cal State Long Beach where we’re looking at why people choose the energy drinks they do. Instead of regurgitating that research, let me just ask you:

It’s fascinating to get into the psychology of consumer behavior, but let’s talk about the 3 most common reasons that motivate people to pick the energy drinks they do, and how you can hack those 3 reasons to make your life easier.

Let’s get the boring one out of the way first…

Don’t wanna read this whole thing?

Watch it instead on Instagram TV (IGTV)!

Reason #1 - To Get Energy

What a concept! Drinking an energy drink…to get energy. Mind-blowing, really. If this is your primary reason for picking the drink you do, go ahead and get your drink.

But THEN go ahead and get my new book. It has several more tips for ways you can wake yourself up without caffeine. And even when you’re NOT feeling awake and energized, you’ll know how to “Get Sh*t Done”. Which is really the goal, right? The point of feeling awake and energized is to get things done. Boom – motivation.

Reason #2 - Cost

If your hand gravitates towards whatever drink is on sale, you want the most bang for your buck.

Ugh – bad pun.

I mean you want the most oompf for your dollars, right? Why buy one energy drink for $5 when you can get 2-for-$4 or even 3-for-$5, right?

Here’s the hack: nurse your caffeine, always. Imagine how much money you can save if you make that one energy drink with 300 mg caffeine last the whole day. I promise, the caffeine won’t disappear overnight, and most energy drinks don’t taste THAT different when they’re flat. Especially when you pour them over ice.

Reason #3 - Taste

This is the most delicious (pun) in terms of hacking motivation.

If you pick your drink based on the desire to try something you expect to be yummy, you can use that to your advantage!

I don’t know if there’s a term for this in psychology, but tying something unpleasant to something you enjoy boosts your motivation to do that unpleasant thing.

For example, I really don’t want to work out. It’s not that I don’t enjoy working out, it’s just that there are so many things I feel are higher on my priority list right now. But, if I use that brand-new energy drink I’ve been dying to try as my reward for working out – boom- there’s my motivation, and the thing I’ve been avoiding gets done.

That’s it for today!

Stay tuned next Monday for more tips about caffeine, energy drinks, beating fatigue. If you have a question you want me to answer in the next Quick Tips session, you can message me on Instagram or email me at Info@greeneyedguide.com

Have a great week. You’ve got this!

Grab your copy of the best-seller

How to Get Sht Done When You Feel Like Sht

The Secret to Caffeine, Motivation, and Productivity for the Sleep-Deprived and Overwhelmed

Who drinks more caffeine in your household?

March 28, 2019September 5, 2019greeneyedguide

When our son was brand-new, my husband and I agreed I would take the night shift because A) I did not have to work the next day, B) I’m a lighter sleeper and C) [most importantly] I can handle my caffeine. The poor guy (husband, not baby) can hardly function on lack of sleep but also runs around like a crazy person on acid when he has an amount of caffeine I’d consider “weak sauce”. Do not give this man a Red Bull – it’s only 80 mg caffeine (half the caffeine in a Grande PSL) but he will be as hyper as a puppy golden retriever.

Consumption of Energy Drinks Among College Students in Quebec – Energy Drinks in the News (SPIN ALERT)

August 12, 2017September 7, 2019greeneyedguide

Turns out not a lot of college students in Quebec drink energy drinks, but watch out for how the news will spin concern about those who do.

Here’s the journal article (via capture because there’s no link to read the full thing):

source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28252368 — Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28252368

This study involves over TEN THOUSAND college students across THIRTY-SIX different public colleges in Quebec.

Out of the 10,283 people who participated in the survey, only ~9.1% reported consuming an energy drink at least once a week in the previous month.

This means 9,348 out of 10,283 college students surveyed do not have an energy drink every week (like, zero energy drinks at all? For the whole week? In college?)

SPIN – ALERT

Because this is college, the study also looked at alcohol consumption and use of cannabis, glues/solvents, and amphetamines.

FACT – Mixing energy drinks and alcohol is a baaaaaaaaadddd idea. This study properly suggests that combination of alcohol and energy drinks poses a risk for serious adverse effects.

FALSE – Any statements like “college students who use energy drinks are more likely to abuse psychoactive substances…more likely to demonstrate excessive use of alcohol”

Approximately 1-in-4 people (247 out of 935, ~26%) who said they drink at least one energy drink said they also use psychoactive substances. This finding is not proof that energy drinks were a gateway to psychoactive substances for these people. How many people use psychoactive substances but not energy drinks?

There were even fewer people who reported consuming alcohol-energy drink combos (109 out of 935 people. 1.1%).

That means I have at least 109 more people to convince that this combo is a waste of booze (because you won’t feel it/can’t enjoy it) and a dangerous idea (because you won’t feel drunk, but you ARE in fact impaired).

The journal article conclusion reads

“A majority of respondents are not heavy users of ED (energy drinks), AED (alcohol+energy drinks), or ED with drugs.”

Can we just stop there and celebrate that for a minute before we give fodder to the “Energy Drinks are Poison” camp?

“Yet, the profiles of ED consumption potentially harmful to health that characterize some participants indicate that the potential health consequences of such behaviour are of concern.”

I am worried this last line will get translated as, “some participants who consume energy drinks exhibit behavior that is potentially harmful to health, so we should probably be worried about all energy drink consumers.”

WATCH OUT FOR SPINS!!!

Let’s connect!

Science of Energy Drinks: Facebook.com/energydrinkguide
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Energy Drinks + Fitness/Bodybuilding: Instagram
10 Second Label Reviews (and a few nerdy food scientist rants): Twitter

Mr. Swift and Mr. Thrift: Book Excerpt of the Week

January 23, 2017September 7, 2019greeneyedguide

HOW QUICKLY you consume caffeine is JUST AS IMPORTANT as HOW MUCH caffeine you consume.

❎This is why I don’t like energy shots! If it’s more caffeine than you can handle, it’s too late because you’ve consumed the whole thing in one gulp.❎

Sipping your caffeine and even breaking the 1 can = 1 serving suggestion (treating 1 can = 4 servings) you can decrease the total amount of caffeine you consume in one day and ultimately teach your body to work just as well with slightly smaller doses.

Consider the Book Excerpt of the Week from PART TWO: Do They Work Energy – Synergy and the WHO, HOW, and WHEN

Mr. Thrift sips his caffeine throughout the day to make it last. Mr. Swift makes sure to drink every last drop of a 16 ounce can containing 160 mg caffeine on his way to work. By the end of his shift, he feels like he needs another can. With caffeine’s half-life of ~4 hours, there is still ~80 mg in Mr. Swift’s system. However, with his consumption habits, this won’t feel like enough.

Story Time

When I was in grad school I would drink a full bottle of water, then pour half my energy drink in that empty bottle and save it for the next day. The carbonated energy drinks would lose all the carbonation overnight, but I didn’t care. The caffeine still worked. To this day, I rarely finish a whole energy drink in one day. Those days that I do, it’s a long drawn out consumption, to ensure I don’t consume more caffeine than I absolutely need.

Get your copy of my book, “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star-A Guide to Energy Drinks: How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely” on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

Do you struggle with controlling caffeine intake? 1 Big Tip

April 5, 2016August 29, 2019greeneyedguide

Here at GreenEyedGuide one of the top three overarching themes to almost every post is “Matching your choice of caffeinated beverage with your Level of Fatigue is essential to mitigating caffeine dependence and tolerance.” But what if you struggle with caffeine intake?