When you go to Starbucks and order a latte, a mocha, a plain black coffee- anything with caffeine in it- you usually don't think about it as anything more than a tool to wake you up, or a seasonal drink that tastes like pumpkin spice or peppermint. For some, a Starbucks drink is something they order every now and then, and for others, it is something they need daily- something they can't live without. For the entirety of this semester up until around two weeks ago, I stood firmly in the latter category.
Caffeine is a drug. And I was quite literally addicted to it.
No, Starbucks drinks aren't that bad for you. Compared to other drugs, caffeine is relatively harmless, and the energy gives you can be beneficial- mental focus and productivity aren't negative byproducts.
However, once you realize that you can't do anything productive without it - that's when it becomes a problem.
During the month of November, I became accustomed to having 1-2 Starbucks drinks a day, and while I was getting my homework done and staying on top of everything, but I was depending on a five-dollar cup of coffee to do it.
So, I decided that I should try, for just one week, to go completely cold turkey. I made a deal with myself that if I could get through a week of not spending money on my addiction, I could have a Starbucks drink at the end of it. Two weeks went by, and I stopped craving coffee. When studying in Starbucks, I no longer even wanted to go stand in line and order a drink. I actually felt motivated to get my work done without any caffeine, and it was surprisingly freeing. I even went so far as to not want coffee. At all.
I was free from my addiction, but in order to keep myself from relapsing, I need to ensure that I only drink a few Starbucks drinks a week.
To anyone like me that couldn't go a day without coffee, I suggest a detox. My friends may have laughed when I told them I was trying to overcome my addiction to Starbucks- but in the end, I saved so much money and become productive without caffeine, and that was worth all the espresso and caramel cravings in the world.
