How to Maximize the Benefits of Drinking Large Amounts of Coffee
Meandering wildly in all directions (I am so jealous of the name -- would have worked perfectly here), the blog of a cognitive scientist, wrote a great post about how to use caffine effectively:
It should be becoming clear to you that in order to use caffeine effectively, you have to use it in the context of your physiological arousal. If you are trying to study some topic far less engaging than cognitive science, and you feel yourself getting distracted and listening to the conversations outside your window, there is a strong indication that your arousal level is low and that caffeine will help get you moving and focusing and concentrating. If you are trying to study said material, and you are scanning back and forth between notes and textbook, furrowing your brow, and wishing your roommate would get off the phone so you could concentrate, you sound like someone who is already at or above peak arousal and coffee will not help, in fact it will probably make things worse.
Read it again if you have to.