I just received a new “badge” from the Health App:
I’ll take that! I must have been “trucking” this morning. 
I recently changed my routine so that I’m up at 4:30 a.m. for my workout. I’m finding I’m getting 6 out of 7 days in (I take Sunday off) with fewer unavoidable interruptions due to travel, meetings, and the like.
What time do you sleep at!?! I am curious about your schedule when you are up at 4:30am. Is coffee before or after the run?
As someone who has never drunk coffee in my life, I find it fascinating observing others’ dependence on this substance.
Fair play to @Bmosbacker for “getting into the zone” whether or not coffee was involved, but I would make a guess it was not.
My day is from 4:30 am to 8:30pm. I take my coffee after the run. 
I take my coffee after the run. I thoroughly enjoy my coffee.
How do you stay awake during the day? Or start the day 
what time do you sleep?
I read a story some years ago, quoting a study on the effects of caffeine. It said that alertness levels in people who never drank coffee were about the same as in those who did drink coffee and had had their usual intake. However, those who usually drink coffee who had not had their usual intake were less alert than the others.
In other words, it’s not an aid, but a dependence.
I’ve also read that caffeine works by “combating the desire to sleep” which tells me the root cause is lack of sleep, not lack of caffeine.
I average over 8 hours of sleep a night. Usually 7 hours or so before commute days and 8+ on other days. It wasn’t always this way and I have generally been a lot better off since I realised that the number one health “trick” is to get enough sleep. If you don’t, then everything else is so much harder.
I don’t drink, cuss, smoke or chew, and I don’t go with girls who do, but coffee I “brewlustly” pursue! 
I can’t speak for others, but I’m an avid coffee drinker because I like it. As to sleep, I get my 8 hours every night (up at 4:30am, to bed at 8:30pm). Because I drink my coffee at ~5:30am, after my morning run, it does not affect my sleep.
How many calories was it?
After reading “This Is Your Mind on Plants” by Michael Pollan, particularly the section on caffeine which includes information from sleep researchers, I slowly cut my coffee intake by 75%. Now I only drink ~140 ml each morning after breakfast and my sleep has improved dramatically.
Keeping the same sleep / wake schedule of 9pm to 5am every day also contributes to waking up refreshed & well rested.
YMMV
these schedules of sleep are crazy, not sure how you all can do that…
If I am able to sleep between 12am-1am… I am usually up between 6am-7am.
When extremely busy…I am sleeping between 2am-3am, and waking anywhere from 7am-8am.
Not enough hours in the day. Coffee keeps the lights on and the body moving.
Side note for clarity, there have been weeks of my life where I went the no-caffeine route, and the above schedule was still my schedule without caffeine.
Also, the effects of caffeine on my sleep are not as ‘intrusive?’ (not sure how to describe it, but here’s the example)…I am someone who can have a cup of black tea or turkish coffee, while sitting in bed, finish the cup, and knock out instantly. Whereas I have family members if they drink anything caffeinated after 2pm will toss and turn in the night to go to sleep.
That’s the secret. Realise that sleep is not the activity which should give way to the (perceived) lack of time.
You say you can drink caffeine late in the day and not disturb your sleep, but the original problem statement you made is how people can exist without coffee.
People do “dry July”, why not try a month of no coffee and see what happens.
All things in moderation.
That is sound advice for almost everything, with some exceptions, e.g., one cannot love too much (provided one rightly defines love and its behavior concerning oneself, others, and too many to mention moral and ethical obligations).
“If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.” (NIV)
I went out about 2 months without coffee (for medical reasons), there wasn’t a significant difference for me. I still had the odd sleep schedules because of the things that needed to get done. There was no feeling of refreshment, extra energy, etc.
Caveat: whether I am drinking coffee or not drinking coffee, I also generally drink lots of water. 2 tall glasses before my first cup of coffee in the morning. Before and after each meal is another full glass of water.
I’m like you here; a cup of coffee right before bed is no problem. I can’t survive on the amount of sleep you get, though. When I’ve had 8.5+ hours sleep for a few days, I just fly through my work. Sleep time pays for itself.
It’s a drug that I am more than happy to be addicted to.
