I gave up caffeine to trade better – Update 7 days
I gave up caffeine because I was curious why I drink it so much. I am 7 days in. A little bit of back story, Ever since my college days I was hooked because due to studying and partying. For those of you who went to college, you know the drill. Study for exams 2 days straight before then binge on more caffeine because you’re about to go out on a Tuesday night with 2hours sleep because tacos and beer is dirt cheap.
Last 15 years or so I have never knew what I was “sober” from caffeine/coffee. I been drinking well over 120mg to 200mg+ of caffeine to boost me up. That sounds like a lot but people easily drink it with 1 energy drink or possibly 2 strong cups of coffee.
Like a druggy, your body will need more and more of the substance to due to higher tolerance.
No one talks about caffeine addiction, WHY?
I didn’t dig in too much but end of the day it makes sense.
PROFITS. PROFITS. PROFITS.
It makes money. $5 a coffee. Yes there’s a cost to that but that mark up is huge. It’s a highly traded commodity. It runs the world.
Check this video below :
Now you’re wondering what does this have to do with trading? BUY $SBUX (J/K)
There’s a few things that I seen happen to me.
The good feelings:
We love caffeine because it makes you feel good. You get that rush of feeling great and suddenly you can actually do some work. Your head wakes up and all the fun and games is happening.
It’s good for social gatherings. Most people have at least once went to a cafe and talk to their friends /family . You buy your coffee and socialize right? This is completely normal and no one says anything. Again caffeine, is not all that bad but it’s not something your body “needs”.
Appetite suppressant. It really does work well for me and this is one thing I will miss. It removes your hunger in the morning. I skip breakfast just because I don’t feel like eating. It’s real easy to lose weight using coffee.
The Gym. Pre-workout has these chemicals but gives you a huge boost. It’s more mental because drinking caffeine doesn’t make you any stronger. But it damn sure helps!
The bad feelings:
*The following is what I personally felt
Anxiety. It has increased my anxiety and may have heightened it socially and making rational decisions during the day. I feel fear on certain triggers.
Increased heart rate. Caffeine does this to me and we all know it’s a stimulant so your body is racing. I always did ignore this feeling but on paper it looks bad right?
Nervousness. Not all the time but in certain situations I can feel myself feeling a bit more nervous. I never figured out why but this may have something to do with it.
Back pain?. This may be coincidence but we’ll find out later on. I been having back pain and it’s been gone ever since I quit. I’m only going to spec this out as I don’t have much data on it.
Insomnia.
I simply can’t sleep early because I would drink coffee or diet soda (with caffeine) too late in the day. Like dinner late. Now I can fall asleep pretty easily. No more counting sheep every night.
How it benefits me (so far) in trading:
My morning routine always needed a caffeine source. Specially since I’m in the west coast, we are up earlier because market open is 6:30AM. I can finally get away from the habit that I NEED caffeine to trade. I don’t crave this anymore
Calm. I feel very calm when I trade. I don’t have that heighted nervousness feeling or that anxiety. Everything just feels back to “normal”. It is like I can calm down and actually watch the candles without a feeling of extreme excitement.
Focus. The focus part was difficult at first but now my body accepts that I am awake at this hour and do not need coffee. My mind isn’t running on high gear until lunch time. Now it just runs at a normal pace. I don’t have the jittery feeling that I need to do something else.
Sleep. I’m usually up late because I don’t feel sleepy. I end up looking at charts then end up on youtube and get lost in the internet. Now even I try to go online, I just feel sleepy. In that case, I just fall asleep and wake up early the next day. Sleep is something I have always been lacking. I always used the excuse of me being “too busy” and my mind is always racing. Coffee may have been part of that issue but in the meant time, it’s gone.
Trading is emotions
The reasons I put may sound minor right? But when you’re trading and your money is on the line every little thing starts to count. Every small thing can make an impact when you’re trading. If you didn’t get enough sleep, you will miss things vs when you have had a full night sleep.
A lot of people try to fix their emotions, (I’m still a work in progress) BUT what is overlooked is
……..the stimulants you put in your system.
Does it really make you better to drink coffee or energy drinks?
Or is this all in people’s heads?
My best guess is, it depends on the person.
Will you become a GOOD trader if you stop coffee?
—->Not necessarily.
But it helps. Think of this as being another indicator. You have your EMA/SMAS and say you add another indicator say TTM squeeze. It won’t make you trade better but it may add a little bit more of confluence.
I’m not advocating I’m anti-caffeine. I want to give some people awareness that if you are a coffee addict or energy drink addict, you might want to see what happens when you stop.
