There is a way to hack coffee drinking to avoid these horrible withdrawal symptoms, and the key lies in caffeine’s half-life. Depending on your age, weight and other drugs you consume (including nicotine via smoking), the rate at which caffeine is removed from your body varies. Biologists approximate the half-life of caffeine—that is, the time required to eliminate half the total amount of caffeine—for a healthy adult to be about six hours. So if you are an average adult, a cup of coffee every 48 hours will do the trick. Read more: How to hack your coffee habit to improve your focus and decrease anxiety