Image by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels edited by author in Photoshop with Generative Fill
The truth of how the “rise & grind” trend impacts your daily energy.
If you’re a solopreneur, you might have heard the phrase,
“rise and grind, it’s coffee time!”
You know, that knock-out phrase that gets you up from bed & motivates you to go right to your coffee machine.
To be brutally honest… this motivation is stupid.
Now before you make any assumptions, here’s what I mean: Coffee is not the main force that gives you the energy to get through your day.
There, I said it — the unbelievable.
As a fellow solopreneur, “rise and grind, it’s coffee time” did give me the motivation to get up & drink that luscious blend, but it didn’t give me sustained energy throughout the day.
In fact, this well-known rhyme can do more harm than good because of this, and for reasons you might not have realized.
After reading my perspective with research-based evidence, I hope you’ll see why I’m not buying into this overrated advice.
Coffee Messes with Your Energy
Coffee messes with your natural energy cycle.
When we wake up, we get doses of energizing chemicals like cortisol — but they start kicking in around 30–45 minutes later, which is usually not what we want.
During this time of sleepiness in the first half hour of getting up, taking caffeine can mess up this balance by producing more chemicals into the system & promoting an energy crash later in the day — because you drank it at a time that it wouldn’t sustain you.
Instead, drinking coffee after you’ve eaten can help promote long-lasting energy. Especially when you coordinate it with times you have more and less energy. Like deep focus work times and light focus times.
Focus on Yourself First
Before introducing drinks like caffeine and energy drinks to your morning routine, focus on other ways to get you naturally going.
- Take a walk
- Read a book
- Jump a rope
You probably hear this again and again, but they really do work!
For me, it’s a must to do these things.
By getting my adrenaline pumping, I’m melting away all those sleepiness chemicals & starting my day without relying on “coffee time” grind.
What if you don’t have time?
Try rearranging your tasks to do either at night to get to bed earlier, or in the morning to set aside a few moments for these activities.
You’ll be surprised how a simple 5 minute jog can keep you going through the whole day!
What If?
If what I’m saying doesn’t resonate with you… just try it out.
Have a week where you’re able to experiment with your coffee intake, and see if consuming it at later times helps your energy.
If not, let me know! I’d be really surprised.
Whenever your “coffee time” is…
The key is not to “rise and grind” on the coffee beans, but to grind in other areas, like:
- Reading
- Exercising
- Anything else that gives you energy…
These are only examples, but the goal is to find what works for you!
Everyone’s routine is unique to them, after all.
So by focusing on ways to sustain your energy without relying on these drinks, you can keep yourself going!
Using Notion? (Or want to) and need a simple template to start tracking your deep and light work sessions, you can try out the Energy OS now for free!
If you need help managing your routine, I have a List to read for hacks to try at this link.