Cut down on caffeine.

Two levers

Each one has a strength, so a switch to a lighter one is a step down on its own. Curb plans with count times strength, and when the count gets low, the plan moves to a lighter strength and gives some of the count back.

The app offers coffee (95 mg), espresso (65 mg), and tea (30 mg).

What a plan looks like

One plan, from 3 cups a day to zero at the steady pace, week by week.

What it costs

At those numbers and a typical price:

3 cups a day · 95 mg · $0.37 each

a month

$33

a day

285 mg

a year

$405

Try your own numbers in the cost calculator. What it costs a year, at every level.

What tends to help

1. Cut about one drink a week. Going to zero overnight usually costs you a couple of days of headache.
2. Set a cut-off time. Caffeine has a half-life of roughly five hours, so a 4pm coffee is still working at bedtime.
3. Half-caf the first cup instead of skipping it. You keep the ritual and lose half the dose.
4. Count what else carries it: energy drinks, cola, strong tea, pre-workout.
5. The FDA puts 400mg a day, around four cups of coffee, as the ceiling for most healthy adults.

Instead of it

• Green tea. Roughly a third of the caffeine of a coffee.
• Decaf or herbal. Keeps the warm-cup part of the habit intact.
• Water first. A good share of the 3pm slump is dehydration.
• Ten minutes outside. Daylight does more for afternoon alertness than a fourth cup.

Free support

• FDA: how much caffeine is too much: Plain-language limits and what carries caffeine

Worth knowing about

• Half-caf beans, or decaf you actually like. Blending your own bag half and half is the least noticeable cut there is. Decaf has got a great deal better, and the bad reputation is a decade out of date.
• A caffeine content chart. Espresso, drip, cola, energy drinks and pre-workout differ by a factor of ten. Worth knowing before you set a limit.
• A 2pm cut-off alarm. One repeating alarm on your phone. Protects sleep, which is what most of the afternoon craving is really about.
• Something to drink at 3pm. Green tea, rooibos, or sparkling water in the same mug. The break is half the habit and it costs you nothing to keep it.

Curb takes no money for anything listed here, and none of these are affiliate links. General guidance, not medical advice. A doctor or pharmacist can tell you what fits your situation.