You Can Misplace Caffeine the Same Way You Misplace Water

Do we have a problem with caffeine in this country? Absolutely.

I'm Christopher Schuman, a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner serving patients in Texas, Washington, and New Mexico. Caffeine comes up constantly when I talk with people about burnout and sleep, and I think it deserves a straight conversation.

The Twenty-Year Supply

I saw something recently that made me laugh and wince at the same time. A warehouse store was selling a full pallet of energy drinks, advertised as a 20-year supply.

My first thought was that there are people who would get through it in five.

Buying a pallet of energy drinks is a little like saying the quiet part out loud. Yes, I might be dependent on this stuff.

Misplacing Caffeine

Here's how I think about it. You can misplace caffeine in your daily schedule the same way you can misplace water.

If you drank three gallons of water right before bed, you wouldn't be surprised to be up all night going to the bathroom. Caffeine works on the same principle. Take it at the wrong time and it follows you into the night.

"But I Can Fall Asleep Fine"

Plenty of people tell me they can drink a cup of coffee and go right to bed. Me too. I have five kids. I'm tired all the time, and it doesn't matter what I drink.

But falling asleep isn't the whole story. Caffeine can still affect your sleep architecture, which means you may not sleep as deeply even if you fall asleep easily. Caffeine is also a diuretic, so it affects hydration too.

Those effects add up. Poorer sleep feeds burnout. Burnout makes you reach for more caffeine. It's easy to end up in a loop where the thing you're using to get through the day is part of why the day is so hard.

Putting It in the Right Place

The point isn't to give caffeine up. It's to put it in the right place in your day, so it's working for you when you need to be alert and out of the way by the time you need to rest.

If you're tired all the time and drinking more to keep up, look at when you're having it, not just how much. And if you've already adjusted that and you're still exhausted, it's worth talking to a professional, because something else may be going on.