How did people even get through the morning before coffee existed? It’s terrifying to even think about, and a new survey shows that there’s actually something to this whole thing: A huge majority said their morning coffee routines actually predict how their day is going to go.

Especially as the shift to daylight saving time bears down on us and robs us of an hour of sleep that feels more like a month, the survey sheds light on just how important our morning coffee really is. The truth is, there’s nothing quite as delightful as a slow morning of sipping coffee and letting your body wake up gently without a mad dash. Now science is baking it up.

A majority of people say their morning coffee routine actually affects how their day goes.

Conducted by Talker Research and the owners of Eight O’Clock Coffee, the only brand this writer’s caffeine-addicted father will allow in his house (seriously, don’t even try to get him to change), the survey asked 2,000 Americans about their daily coffee routines and how they go about them.

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And suffice to say, it’s deep, and it’s real: Nearly all respondents said their morning coffee is what motivates them to get through the day. But even more interesting is the number of people who said their morning coffee determines how their entire day goes.

Almost three-quarters of respondents, 73%, said their morning coffee impacts how successful their day is, and 79% said it affects how easy their day is. Which sounds a little crazy at first blush until you remember, say, how easily your morning is ruined by that terrible coffee they always have in hotel rooms. All that money for a room and they leave you with that swill? It’s abusive!

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Respondents said they spend more time on coffee in the morning than on pretty much anything else.

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You’d probably assume that most people spend more time on, say, hygiene and getting dressed and getting out the door each morning, but the survey shows that for coffee drinkers, all of that comes second, and distantly so.

On average, respondents said they spent about 16 minutes making and drinking coffee, versus just 11 minutes showering, 9 minutes eating breakfast, and 8 minutes doing hair and makeup. Personally, 16 minutes sounds crazy low to me. If I can’t have a solid 30-45 minutes sitting outside or at the window staring into space while drinking coffee every single morning, I am of no use to anyone, if not downright unpleasant all day! But perhaps that’s just me.

Regardless of how much time people spend on it in the morning, it’s so important to them that nearly half of respondents, 47%, said they are motivated to go to bed earlier at night just to keep their morning coffee time sacrosanct. Now that’s dedication.

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As daylight saving time disrupts everything, coffee drinkers said they’d rather be late for everything than cut their coffee time.

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We are, of course, rapidly approaching the simultaneous worst and best time of year: The clocks change and it finally stops getting dark at 5:00 (hooray!) but we also lose sleep for weeks as our circadian rhythms go haywire, our children lose their dang minds as their schedules are disrupted, and our dogs and cats turn into demons because their meals are late. (Why must we do this again?)

We all have to rearrange our routines a bit to cope, but survey respondents overwhelmingly said their morning coffee time is non-negotiable. For instance, when the inevitable oversleeping sets in, just 15% said they’d skip their coffee to stay on schedule.

Everyone else said they’d skip pretty much anything else, like making the bed or shaving, just to get that cup of joe, with fully half saying they’d just be late to work if that’s what it takes to keep their morning caffeine flowing.

Which is vindication for those co-workers we all have who show up late to the morning meeting but still have a Starbucks in hand. (Me, I’m talking about me, I am this co-worker.) Show your boss this survey the next time they give you guff about it. They don’t make all that “but first, coffee” merch for nothing.

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John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.