Once you’ve gotten to the point where you need caffeine to transform into a semblance of a normal person each day, it’s probably a good idea to try to distance yourself from the drug.

Fast Company offers ways to slowly decrease your reliance on caffeinated beverages. Among the tips:

*Use caffeine as a spare tire, not a steering wheel. Coffee, soda and tea will be more effective if you save them for critical times rather than use them in daily rituals that build up your tolerance to caffeine.

*Be patient. It can take as many as 10 days for your body to drop its tolerance. You can try to quit cold turkey, or scale back the amount you drink each day. After that point, strategically drinking caffeine will provide more of a boost when you need it most.

*Keep away from caffeine in social situations. If you don’t need a boost and are sitting down with a group that’s about to caffeinate, opt for a non-caffeinated drink.

If you’ve been addicted to caffeine and tried to scale back, what worked for you?

How To Break Your Daily Caffeine Habit And Use Coffee Strategically [Fast Company]

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