In the morning, I look forward to making coffee, since it helps wake me up, and during the winter months, it keeps me warm. But the more I drink of it throughout the day, the less I want to drink it, since it starts to lose its flavor and begins to taste bitter.
During the late morning and afternoon hours, I usually drink water, or something sweet and refreshing like iced tea or maybe a smoothie (if I’m in the mood for it). But during the evening hours, my taste buds crave coffee again. I hold off on making it since I like to drink water or iced tea with dinner.
I’ve drank coffee at night before, which has given me some trouble with going to sleep at my scheduled hour. I’ve tried drinking hot tea as a substitute, although that has given me trouble going to sleep as well. On a successful night, I’ll occupy my mind with a game of chess or write a post or watch a movie so that I don’t think about coffee. Sometimes I’ll just force myself to drink a cup of water if I’m craving coffee. But the one rule I always have to remind myself is: if I drink coffee at night, I won’t be able to sleep.
Often in life, I find that I have to make rules for myself to keep myself disciplined, focused, and consistent. It’s not enough that I just make something a habit, but I have to have a rule in my mind that says: “Don’t do it, or else . . .,” which functions as a reinforcement to the deterrent.
I remind myself that coffee time is in the morning, that if I drink it at night, I won’t be able to go to sleep. The same could be said with many other things, such as watching a movie past a certain hour, reading a book late at night, or completing work in the evening when I should save it for tomorrow (all of which keep me up until the wee hours). There’s a time and place for everything, but sometimes our want of something (such as the things listed above) try to supersede our rules by generating rationalizations that trick our minds into giving in.
For me, the rules, in conjunction with good habits, is a way to stay unperturbed and disciplined. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. For each person, it takes figuring out what the rules are (not to mention refining them), and what habits we can practice consistently that will make us successful.
Fallton Havenstonne 