I started drinking coffee about 14 years ago. It was a great help at the time-- it helped me focus, wake up, and move. The routine in the morning was the perfec

I started drinking coffee about 14 years ago. It was a great help at the time-- it helped me focus, wake up, and move. The routine in the morning was the perfect way to start my day. I also over relied on caffeine to get me going. I started drinking so much that my stomach would hurt and, after a while, it felt like caffeine was putting me on edge all the time. It stopped being able to help me cope with the stress or enable me to do better work. I quit 6 months ago or so. I tried switching to teas, to supplements, none of it really helped. I moved over to drinking coffee replacements like chicory and dandelion blends because I miss having that taste in the mornings. They really, at best, taste like the cheapest instant coffee you could get, but it's a nice routine to put something in its place. I'm calmer without it, I feel like I can sleep better, and I feel like I'm better at managing stress without it. But, that's really specific to me, I know some incredible developers who drink plenty of caffeine. It's definitely not a deciding factor and it's not something that I think speaks to anyone's character in any particular way.