ExpanDrive

Jon found a great post on over at randomwalker’s Live Journal which takes an interesting analytical look at caffeine intake strategies to help maximize your mental productivity.

He starts by looking at the mechanism by which caffeine makes you sharper:

Caffeine has a number of effects on the body, but the one that is relevant here is that it blocks adenosine receptors in the brain (by tricking your brain into thinking it is adenosine.) A decrease in the activity of adenosine (which is a sleep chemical) increases neuron firing rate and increases focus and concentration.

Then proceeds with a rudimentary, yet interesting, analysis to produce this lesson:

Over the long term, consistent caffeine consumption is as good as nonconsumption, because of (you guessed it) tolerance. Is there a better strategy? Of course there is. Periodic abstinence lets adenosine levels return to normal. With complete abstinence, it takes 5 days to reach adenosine normality; conservatively, and with imperfect abstinence, a week or 10 days may be required. (Quitting is hard!) For most people, work involves a natural cyclic pattern of crunches and lean periods, and moderated coffee consumption to reflect this pattern will let you enjoy its cognition-enhancing effects more-or-less permanently.