How to Stay Focused (Without the Energy Crash That Follows)
By Shannon Kate Murray, Founder & Editor of High Flying DesignThe season’s shifted and I can feel it.
Slower mornings. Darker afternoons. Less time outside between emails and Google Docs. I’m writing this from a window seat in Caffè Nero, gingerbread latte (no cream, always) cooling beside my laptop - and for the first time in a while, coffee isn’t really touching the sides.
My energy feels… different. Not terrible. Just quieter.
If you run a business, lead a team or spin a dozen creative plates at once, you probably know this feeling. We’re taught to meet it with more caffeine: another cappuccino, another iced latte, another “I’ll sleep when Q4 is over” joke.
But at a certain point, the extra espresso stops giving you more; it just takes more from you.
So it makes sense that something else is starting to trend: calm focus.
From coffee highs to calm focus
According to new Google data analysed by the team at Feeling, searches for L-Theanine have surged by 113% in the past year, with over 750,000 people Googling it last month alone.
If you’ve never heard of it: L-Theanine is an amino acid found naturally in green tea (especially matcha) and some mushrooms. It’s also available as a supplement - in capsules, powders, drinks and, in Feeling’s case, transdermal patches.
It’s being talked about as “focus without the crash”: a way to take the edge off stress while keeping your brain switched on.
“We’re seeing a real shift towards calm energy rather than chaotic energy,” says Kiera Lawlor, co-founder of Feeling. “People are tired of the caffeine rollercoaster. They want focus that feels grounded, not frantic.”
On TikTok, #LTheanine is packed with before-and-after clips: women taking it before stressful meetings, during anxious commutes, or to soften spiralling thoughts at night. For some, it seems to help. But the reality is more nuanced than a short-form clip can show.
What the science actually says
Research suggests L-Theanine can:
Reduce stress and state anxiety in stressed but otherwise healthy adults
Support a sense of relaxed alertness (those calm “alpha” brain waves)
Modestly improve sleep quality and attention, especially when used regularly for a few weeks
There’s also early evidence it may help alongside standard treatment in conditions like anxiety disorders and ADHD - but it’s an adjunct, not a standalone cure.
Most clinical trials use doses between 100–400 mg/day and report very few side effects. Still, it can interact with certain medications (especially for blood pressure, sleep or mental health), so it’s not something to start in secret if you’re already under a doctor’s care.
In other words: promising? Yes. A miracle fix for anxiety or intrusive thoughts? No.
Matcha, Coffee and the “Calm Alert” cup
If you’ve ever had a matcha latte and thought, I feel awake but weirdly calm, that’s the caffeine–L-Theanine duo in action.
Matcha is essentially powdered, shade-grown green tea - which means it’s naturally rich in L-Theanine. Depending on the quality, a gram of matcha can contain anywhere from roughly 10–40 mg, so a standard cup might deliver 15–80 mg of L-theanine alongside its caffeine.
That’s why many founders now treat matcha as their “meeting drink” and coffee as their “treat drink”.
Of course, overdoing matcha (or green tea extracts) comes with its own caveats: it can reduce iron absorption, and too much caffeine from any source can pump up anxiety, disturb sleep and upset digestion.
Founders, energy, and the myth of more coffee
Productivity isn’t about squeezing more out of your body; it’s about supporting the body that does the work.
L-theanine is one tool. So is matcha. So is switching your 3 p.m. latte for water, a walk and something with actual protein in it.
Other non-caffeine energy upgrades that don’t look sexy on TikTok but make a real difference:
Protecting your sleep like a client deadline
Getting outside for ten minutes of daylight before you open your inbox
Start your day with something more sustaining than a pastry and a coffee
Taking magnesium at night (with professional advice) to help your nervous system downshift
Designing your calendar around your natural energy peaks instead of fighting them
(I’ve even started planning my days around my natural energy peaks rather than forcing focus - something that inspired my Daily Productivity Planner for founders who want structure without burnout.)
None of these make as good a hook as “this one supplement changed my life”. But together, they move the needle far more than a single patch or pill ever could.
Your calm founder era
If there’s a bigger story here, it isn’t that L-Theanine is trending. It’s that women are quietly redefining what it means to be “on it”.
We’re starting to choose steady over wired. Depth over speed. Nervous systems that feel safe enough to create, lead and make decisions - not just survive the day.
One gingerbread latte and a nervous-system-friendly supplement won’t fix burnout. But they can be part of a kinder, calmer way of working.
