Forward thinkers, philosophers, artists and scientists have been taking research into their own hands and employing themselves as potential guinea pigs since the very beginnings of time. Even many YouTube users have done weird, fascinating and risky things just so that their kind viewership never have to put foil in a microwave or an iPhone in a blender just to know what happens next.

I thought it might be useful to – at least once in this lifetime – employ the same tactics and apply it to bridge.

Here’s what happened when I switched to chronic, daily caffeine use for two weeks straight.

Don’t try this at home, don’t try this at work and don’t try this at a friend’s house.

Step 1: The Dosage and Control

I didn’t want to end the experiment with two feet in the air or any amount of feet underground. Thus, the whole process had to start with setting the dosage and sticking to it until the finish line.

Dosage: 150mg caffeine tablets, taken as four tablets in the morning, two in the afternoon and one directly before bed. That’s a 1050mg total per day, and I stuck to the same dosage exactly (with exact times).

Control: For the duration of the experiment, no added energy drinks, and an increase in overall water intake to balance out the dehydration factor of having taken caffeine.

Now what?

Step 2: The First Impressions

Under normal circumstances, the process of waking up and getting out of bed takes a good 30 minutes – and even after this, I don’t consider myself fully awake and stretched out until about 10AM.

The first thing that changed when entering into the day with a dosage of caffeine pills? Waking up considerably faster. Instead of mumbling around the house until the fog lifted away, I could get up and get straight to work – and for the record,  didn’t feel like a tightened up Ken doll while doing it.

For the subsequent two week period, I also noticed that I was now waking up an hour earlier than usual.

Step 3: The Two Weeks

On the third day, I felt like the effects were starting to resemble the main character from Limitless on the wonder drug NZT.

I had energy for a lot more than usual. (But I also resembled the Energizer Bunny a little more every day.)

Caffeine does improve faster,  clearer thought. It might not do the same for everyone, but it helped me to get back on track over a two week period.

At least a few extra hours were spent on bridge theory, I had the energy to start making a dent in a few things that I’d left standing for weeks, and I finally had the drive to learn a handful of basic phrases in a new language (but until I’m sure it’s properly absorbed into the brain sponge for the long-term, I’m not revealing which!)

Over two weeks, I finally built up a more disciplined routine than the one I’m normally able to keep.

Simply, it helped.

A Note on Chronic Conditions and Caffeine

When used as responsibly as you would any other pharmaceutical and done with enough control, care and a thorough medical examination, caffeine can help for a lot of conditions.

Some of them are chronic: CSF leaks are common spinal-related injuries that can happen because of certain severe injuries and some medical conditions and procedures.

According to an increasing amount of research, caffeine is one of the long-term treatments for an active CSF leak – and the consumption of caffeine promotes the slowing of the leak and the subsequent increase in CSF-fluid.

Can’t cope without caffeine at all? See your doctor: You might have a CSF leak that hasn’t been diagnosed yet.