Many Americans start their day off with a regiment that includes a good cup of joe, but can that cup of joe actually be hurting them professionally? Understanding the impacts of caffeine when it comes to communication, employee engagement, and customer interaction is a topic worth discussing.
As a college professor, I take pride in connecting with my students, and utilizing coffee as a means of connecting with them has been very successful. Coffee is conversational and my students love to discuss the benefits they receive from consuming caffeinated beverages. In a TCU study in 2009, they found that 98% of students consume caffeinated beverages, with coffee accounting for 88.2% of this consumption. Studies show caffeine can increase cognitive functions of the brain, especially in areas of mental performance, alertness, and concentration – all behaviors I appreciate in the classroom. To go even further with coffee, in a recent study by the Journal of Nutrition, there are signs caffeine may play a protective role in reducing the neurodegenerative disorders associated with aging. All of this lends support to the coffee lovers who have come to rely on the benefits of their caffeine boost.
Does caffeine truly inhibit one’s ability to utilize their emotional intelligence? On one hand, I noticed that my business students demonstrated higher cognitive functions and an increased attentiveness to study business acumen, but on the other hand, they struggled with managing their emotions. Yes, they were alert in class, but they struggled responding to peers who did not share their opinions. Recognizing this drove me to revisit the topic of emotional intelligence that Daniel Goleman first wrote about in 1995. As my knowledge grew, I pondered, could the element of providing coffee to my students actually be counterproductive to the emotional intelligence component that I know they would need to be successful in their careers?
Doctors Salovey and Mayer defined Emotional Intelligence as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.” The key portion of that definition is “to discriminate among them”, which is the ability to see beyond the persona and understand what is important. Social awareness is that ability to see our own emotions as well as others in order to understand what is really going on. Caffeine inhibits this ability because of the adrenaline released when consumed, which produces the side effect of the 
“fight or flight” mechanism. In essence, caffeine prefers a faster response instead of the calmer more logical approach. Irritability and anxiousness are regularly seen side effects, not to mention increased blood pressure and heart rate, all depriving the brain of the oxygen needed to remain calm and rational. The other concern of caffeine is how the dependency of it affects quality of sleep. Caffeine has a six-hour half-life and takes twenty-four hours to exit the body, which means that your brain is attempting to enter its deep sleep and yet has a stimulant attempting to keep you engaged. The result is you wake up partially rested and in need of another shot of caffeine, just to function. Caffeine may enhance your cognitive ability to engage those around you, but it is only short term at a long-term expense.
For the record, I absolutely love coffee and do not intend to throw away my French Press or any other coffee gadgets that I have. What has changed is my being open to alternatives, such as eating apples or fruit, which can provide an energy boost. Apples provide the same adenosine for the brain as caffeine but without the withdrawals, because unlike caffeine, an apple actually provides sustainable fuel that gives that much-desired energy without the adrenaline spikes. The solution with anything we consume is always moderation. Having more than 2 cups of coffee a day alone without balanced nutrition may not be the best choice, but having a cup of coffee is not the kiss of death to your emotions. A proper diet with exercise will provide balance to your caffeine consumption. Should you be aware of your caffeine intake and how it directly affects you, absolutely, but maybe the answer is to savor that cup of joe instead of relying on it.
“Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical.” – Jonathan Swift
Buz Jacobson 