Coffee truth, productivity lies, excuse amnesty

🌱 HEALTHY

Is Coffee Actually Good For You?

This question comes up constantly, and the answer seems to change depending on which headline you read last.

One week coffee prevents heart disease. The next week it's wrecking your sleep and cortisol levels. No wonder everyone's confused.

Here's what the research actually shows: coffee is mostly good for most people when you're not overdoing it.

Personally, I drink 1-2 cups of black coffee every morning. Use my Aeropress at home, hit cafés when I'm out. Stop by noon, maybe 2pm at the latest. I'm not chasing a caffeine boost. I just like the taste and the ritual.

The data on moderate consumption is pretty consistent. Around 2-4 cups a day is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, liver disease, even some neurodegenerative conditions. The polyphenols and antioxidants in coffee do legitimate work.

But there's a massive caveat that nobody wants to hear: black coffee.

The second you start loading it with sugar and cream, you're negating a lot of those benefits. Spiking calories, jacking up blood sugar, adding unnecessary fat. That's you turning coffee into dessert.

If you prefer yours with milk and sugar because that's how you enjoy it, go for it. Just understand that when you hear about the health benefits, they're not referring to the cup you're drinking.

I make an exception for my yearly pumpkin spice latte and anywhere selling Lotus Biscoff themed coffee because who can resist that. But those are treats, not my daily routine.

Where most people screw up is timing and amount. Caffeine has a 5-6 hour half-life. Drinking it at 4pm and wondering why you can't sleep isn't a coffee problem. And six cups a day is going to make anyone feel anxious and jittery.

The general guideline is around 400mg caffeine daily, which is roughly 3-4 standard coffees. At 1-2 cups, most people are well below that.

I used to do caffeine resets - four days to a week without coffee each month to prevent tolerance buildup. Haven't done one in a while and honestly? Nothing's changed. Turns out if you're only drinking 1-2 cups and not white-knuckling through your morning without it, tolerance isn't the boogeyman everyone makes it out to be.

And if you're using coffee as a pre-workout like I do sometimes, keep doing that. Actual pre-workout supplements are mostly overpriced garbage. Proprietary blends with a bunch of useless ingredients wrapped around caffeine and sold at a 400% markup. Just drink coffee and save your money.

Takeaway: If you're drinking 1-2 cups of black coffee before early afternoon and sleeping fine, you're probably in good shape. Coffee isn't a superfood and it's not poison.

🪙 WEALTHY

The Notion Trap

Notion is incredible. I also kind of hate it. Both things are true.

I've built four different Notion workspaces from scratch. Each time convinced this was the system that would finally make me organized and efficient.

Six hours later I've got gorgeous databases linking to other databases, aesthetic templates, the whole thing. And I haven't done a single item of actual work I was supposed to do.

This is the trap with productivity tools. We mistake building the system for doing the work. The tool becomes the project instead of supporting the project.

I've cycled through every productivity app that exists. Notion, Obsidian, TickTick, paper notebooks, whiteboards. Here's what I've learned: the tool matters way less than you think.

If you don't have clarity on what you're actually trying to accomplish, no system will save you. You'll just build elaborate structures around confusion.

The times Notion actually worked for me were stupid simple. Weekly dashboard. Today's tasks. Project tracker with three columns: Not Started, In Progress, Done. That's it.

No complex databases. No aesthetic Pinterest vibes. Just what needs doing.

If you love building systems, great. Build your cathedral. But if you keep constructing elaborate productivity frameworks instead of working, maybe just open a Google Doc and write down three things to do today.

Takeaway: Pick one tool. Use it for one thing only. Track your most important task each day. Nothing else. See if simplicity works better than sophistication.

📚 AND WISE

The Excuse We're All Looking For

You can find a reason not to do anything if you look hard enough.

Too tired. Not enough time. Wrong season. Market's bad. Timing's off. Don't have the right skills yet. Need to learn more first. Waiting for things to settle down.

All of these might be true. That's what makes them so effective as excuses.

The difference between a reason and an excuse isn't whether it's valid. It's whether you let it stop you.

I've watched people overcome genuinely difficult circumstances. Health issues. Financial problems. Family obligations. Geographic limitations. Things that would absolutely qualify as legitimate reasons to quit or delay or wait for better conditions.

And I've also watched people with every advantage in the world explain why now isn't the right time.

The gap between those two groups isn't luck or privilege or circumstances. It's whether they decided the obstacle was a full stop or just a factor to work around.

Acknowledging a limitation is smart. Using it as the reason you can't move forward is different.

You can say "I don't have much time because of my job" and then figure out what you can do with one hour twice a week. Or you can say the same thing and let it be the end of the conversation.

Same limitation. Completely different outcome.

A setback means you have to adjust. It doesn't mean game over unless you decide it does.

Most excuses aren't lies. They're just convenient places to stop thinking.

Takeaway: Look at one thing you've been putting off. Write down the reason you haven't done it. Now write down one action you could take despite that reason. See if the obstacle is actually immovable or just comfortable to hide behind.