Only option for me at my workplace is either coffee (undrinkably bitter) or expired tea (tastes like rot). Did not have enough time yesterday to make myself tea for the next day and the shop where I buy energy drinks is closed. I extremely drownsy and my head hurts.
EDIT: Coffee is undrinkable to me, quality or not. The bitterness will just overpower everything.
Short term?
-Keep hydrated. This one is key.
-Take an OTC painkiller for the headache.
-Splash your face with really cold water a few times and go for a brisk walk during a break/lunch period (when I was in office my lunches were pretty small/quick to eat to maximize doing-anything-else time, YMMV).
-Depends on your working environment, but if you have the ability to do at least some of your work standing, stand.
-If you’re crazy drowsy and just need some means to stay conscious until clock out, a rubber band on the wrist can help. If you start to space out/feel your eyes start to close, give it a snap. Not the greatest thing, but a little pain can release some useful endogenous chemicals.
-If anyone has little candies in the office, ask if you can take some. The sugar in well-timed doses can help a little.Medium term?
-When you get home, pack up some dried tea/tea bags of acceptable quality, and immediately place it in your ‘going to work’ kit (bag, car, whatever) so you have a stash in case you forget to make a thermos/whatever of tea the following (and subsequent) mornings.
-Go talk to whoever stocks the tea at work and let them know they’ve expired. They may not drink tea themselves, and if no one else has brought it up they may not know/haven’t checked in a while.Long term?
-Ween yourself off of caffeine. Slowly start swapping out your tea stash with herbal teas with no caffeine content (some are quite tasty), and reduce the amount of caffeine you’re inbibing bit by bit until it’s 0.
-Work on adjusting your sleep schedule.Bring your own stash and kettle!
Make your own coffee or try caffeine pills. I had to cut back on coffee for a bit due to some stomach issues and the pills work just fine.
I don’t take caffeine so that I survive the workday.
I take it so that my coworkers survive.
😜
(I only answered with a joke because you’ve already gotten several high-quality responses, otherwise I never would have done that).
Two options.
Chocolate covered espresso beans. Taste like M&M’s
Manhattan Special Espresso Soda. Diet option is available.
Manhattan Special Espresso Soda. Diet option is available.
They want my name and email, and someone will get back to me to find a retailer? Hard pass.
Try calling some local beverage distributors.
Cocaine?
When the day is long and you wanna ride on
I doubt a workplace too cheap to provide decent coffee would want to invest in cocaine as a job perk
Meth on the other hand is much more economical, it’s just good business.
Tell that to your dentist.
Green tea has as much caffeine as coffee. Could you have sleep apnea ?
Others have given some simple suggestions that you should try first, but if this is a recurring issue, you could consider seeking an opinion from a doctor. If you have some untreated, underlying condition holding you back, no amount of healthy living or caffeine is going to improve things in the long run.
For example, it’s possible to develop allergies late in life, which could lead to grogginess and headaches.
I’m backing this one, but if you can rule out a medical angle then I want to mention yerba mate. Brew with a little honey, add ice, and it’s basically coffee-strength Arizona Ice Tea for less than half the price
Caffeine pills also exist. Just be careful to not use too much of it
Buy some tea bags?
Heroin
Sorry boss, I’m sick today I won’t make it in
Have you put sugar in coffee? I’m very sensitive to bitter, and always had to put quite a bit of sugar in to cancel out the bitterness.
Or some flavored creamer like coffeemate. They have those little cups that dont need to be refrigerated so you can bring them to work and drink the work coffee.
Yup. Put some sugar in that OfficeCoffee along with the alleged creamer and power through. Everyone else here seems to be trying to get you off the caffeine but you need it now, today.
Headaches and extreme drowsiness suggests caffeine addiction. You may want to consider decreasing your caffeine intake slowly over time. As for working without caffeine, unfortunately, that’s a bit more complicated. I assume that you have difficulties with getting up in the morning, hence the need for caffeine. That might then imply that you are simply a night owl. These things are biologically hardwired into your DNA, and while night-owl-ness is known to change as you age, there’s genuinely nothing that you can do to make yourself into a morning bird.
You can try dimming the lights after sunset, that might help at least a bit with going to sleep/waking up earlier, which might help lower your need for caffeine
Hot chocolate if they got it. If you are used to hot coffee you may miss the warm feeling you get drinking it.
