There are many ways to quit caffeine: gradually like a glacier, on a steady schedule, or all at once, totally cold-turkey.
Ready to learn how to stop caffeine addiction from spoiling your productivity and giving you more headaches than you need? To experience the potential benefits of quitting caffeine yourself, try these effective habit-tracking apps.
1. Habitica
Habitica turns your entire world into a video game. It lets you create a character and incentivizes success in a number of areas by rewarding you with experience, gold, power-ups, and avatar classes.
It may be the fastest way to go from caffeine addict to mage, all while building as many additional good habits as you want. You can even customize your avatar for a fully immersive habit-changing experience.
This app categorizes every habit as either a good habit or a bad habit. With every win, you document your commitment and earn new items, HP, and the chance to level up. You can buy gear for your avatar or “purchase” customizable rewards—an hour of television in exchange for a morning without your daily mug, for example.
Other goals that you might try include completing your taxes for the year, joining a local gym, or finally solving some home improvement problem that’s been plaguing you since time immemorial. We love this app because it’s fun, and the concept works. Now, you’ll get a healthy sense of instant gratification with every cup of coffee you manage to eliminate from your life.
Download: Habitica for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)
2. StickK
The StickK app’s claim to fame is that you write a virtual “contract” with yourself, pledging a real change, and put your money where your mouth is. Vow to skip that next energy drink with no room for excuses.
The app even gives you the option of adding a referee to verify your reports for those who are really struggling with the transition.
StickK lets you choose from a small selection of premade goals but you can also create your own. Choose between daily goals, weekly challenges, and self-improvement tasks that give you just one chance.
The app even has a journal that you can use to document each triumph and misstep, and it’s all based on a research-driven system of accountability.
Finally, one of the most interesting aspects of this habit app—your ability to set the stakes in terms of cold, hard cash. Fail, and it’ll send your funds automatically to the charity or anti-charity of your choice (or simply to StickK itself).
You can even choose to send the money to your most-despised arch-nemesis. That’s not a joke. Talk about a little extra motivation!
Download: StickK for iOS | Android (Free)
3. I Am Sober
I Am Sober is technically a sobriety app, but you’ll find that many categories of addiction are represented here aside from drugs and alcohol—junk food, nail-biting, social media, and even bread.
You will also find caffeine among these options. What’s especially great about the I Am Sober app, though, has to be the giant, commemorative progress indicator that updates itself in real-time.
With every milestone, you’ve got a portal into what other app users are saying about their own experiences. Watching others chart their own courses is definitely encouraging, and helps motivate you to pledge your commitment anew every single day.
There are plenty of other features designed to keep you on track, including the ability to loop a sponsor or counselor into your daily report, as well as inspirational quotes, affirmations, and more. The app has everything you’ll need to keep yourself spiritually whole as you detox from caffeine. Serenity now.
Download: I Am Sober for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
4. WaterMinder
WaterMinder is a water-tracking app that uses your physical characteristics to prescribe the perfect daily water intake goal. One really handy feature is that it lets you track your fluids by beverage—soda, booze, smoothies, broth, and, yes, even coffee.
This app is the way to go if you’re interested in staying hydrated while you’re cutting back on caffeine. You can document your water intake, taking coffee into account while keeping the two separate.
With WaterMinder, you’ll be able to stay mindful and informed, cutting out coffee, tea, and energy drinks the right way while maintaining your daily hydration levels.
Download: WaterMinder for iOS ($4.99) | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)
5. HabitShare
HabitShare is a simple social media network that you can invite friends to participate in as you build positive habits. You can loop others in via QR code, email, or even through the app’s contact-scanning capability.
Documenting every day is as simple as marking up a calendar with one of three symbols—a positive green checkmark, a negative red X, or a neutral gray ambiguity placeholder.
It’s up to you to decide whether you’ve had a successful day or not and whether or not that matcha latte counts.
HabitShare is the way to go if you’re trying to make a change alongside your crew. Every bit of progress that you make is shared to your circle’s feed. It’s like a group chat dedicated to the self-improvement of every member aboard.
Download: HabitShare for iOS | Android (Free)
6. HabitBull
HabitBull shines as a caffeine limiting app because of its granularity. You’re able to set extremely specific goals, accomplishing exactly what you need to accomplish.
This includes a generous list of stock goals that you can commit to alongside your quest to give up caffeine for good.
You can choose to track your caffeine habit by full abstinence or by the number of cups you consume daily. Get ready to kiss your sweet coffee addiction goodbye.
Download: HabitBull for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
It’s Time to Quit Caffeine and Feel Better
What might happen when you limit caffeine? Wonderful things, including feeling less antsy, experiencing less restlessness at your desk, and falling asleep more easily at night.
When it comes to easing the pain of a caffeine detox, these habit-trackers really do take the cake. The journey might even become a fun one, something that you dread doing just a little bit less.
