Coffee is great in the morning, of course, and it’s ideal for you to drink when you want to wake up and energize yourself, whether after a good night’s sleep, or in preparation for a big work day of a wide variety. But what about drinking coffee throughout the day? After all, is it healthy to have all that caffeine in you in, say, the afternoon? Or does that do more damage than it’s worth when it comes to hurting your focus, your health, and your overall quality of life?
Let’s start out this discussion by making it clear – there really is no “best” time of the day to drink coffee. After all, it really comes down to what is the best time of day to drink for you and you, specifically, rather than a catchall for everybody. If a midnight coffee run works for you, hey, who are we to argue?
That being said, though, here are a few things to think about when it comes to coffee consumption throughout the day and what you can do to taper and adjust it over time:
Drink it in the morning, silly!
Sounds obvious, right? Coffee is ideal in the morning since you need it and can use it as a pick-me-up to get you ready and moving through the day. No surprise there, and no questions about it, since that morning coffee run in the office is one of the more popular events of the day no matter where you work!
Need an afternoon pick-me-up?
Coffee can be used as a crucial afternoon pick-me-up, too, and is often much, much healthier than sodas, energy drinks, and a few other high calorie options for beverages that just don’t get the job done when it comes to giving you what you need in regards to energy and focus. As an afternoon energizer, then, look to coffee at 2 or 3 pm, after you’ve had lunch and you feel like you might just be ready to take a nap, as a way to get the most out of your afternoon meetings and work requirements.
Evening use is a personal decision
Evening use with coffee can get tricky. For some people, it’s an ideal way to wind down the day and end up with a perfect evening drink to relax and recharge before or after dinner. For other people, not surprisingly, coffee drinking in the evening can leave you wound up and completely wired, making sleep difficult. For that reason, it’s likely best that evening coffee consumption is a personal decision, and not one recommended for all as a savior – if it works for you, run with it! If it doesn’t, stick to water or other more benign beverages as a way to cool down and wind yourself down before going to sleep.
No matter the time of day, though, coffee is good and tasty – and it always tastes better at work when you know you can come into the office in the morning without worrying about whether or not it’ll be on the menu in the break room that day!
