
Why You Should Work From A Coffee Shop, Even When You Have An Office - dsr12
http://www.fastcompany.com/3005011/why-you-should-work-coffee-shop-even-when-you-have-office
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djt
Fast Company seems to jump on all these memes pretty quickly for page views,
would be interesting to hear any empirical evidence.

Also, please don't sit in cafes during peak times as that is when they make
most of their money and need to turn over tables.

When it's quiet sit near a window to make the cafe look busier.

Ask BEFORE plugging in your laptop charger.

I know these are obvious to most people but I've seen people seemingly
oblivious to it and most cafe owners are too nice to throw someone out.

~~~
jmduke
Some cafe owners generally prefer long-term 'residents', so to speak, because
they're much more lucrative. There's a reason Starbucks invests so heavily in
their store's furniture and ambience: customers who spend more time there buy
not only more coffee, but more food as well.

Though I completely agree that if a place is plumb full and you've been
sitting their for four hours, it's only polite to offer your table to someone
else.

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mistermann
> There's a reason Starbucks invests so heavily in their store's furniture and
> ambience: customers who spend more time there buy not only more coffee, but
> more food as well.

I'm not sure that's a 100% logical conclusion. Would one interpret that to
mean that the ~50 people who spend all day sitting in the chairs generates
more revenue than the many hundreds of take out customers that pass through
each day? Sure, perhaps they make more revenue per individual person, but if
you look at revenue per customer type per unit of time, the sit down in store
customers are by far the worst revenue source.

I don't deny there's a reason they choose to have attractive interiors, but I
doubt it is to encourage individuals to spend an entire day there, so
Starbucks can reap the windfall of selling the same customer breakfast AND
lunch.

~~~
4clicknet
The people who get their coffee to go and the ones who sit at the tables are
different segments (although there is some overlap).

Also, the sitting customers can be segmented as well: most of them will sit
down for 15-30 minutes and leave, but there are some who will stay longer. It
would be difficult for someway staying 4 hours to spend as much as 8 people
staying 30 minutes each, so that's why djt talks about the need to turn over
tables.

~~~
mistermann
I 100% agree with you. I was questioning jmduke's assertion that 4 hour sit
down customers are more lucrative. As I see it, they are the least lucrative
customer.

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alexyoung
Trying to work with a laptop on a table in a coffee shop is either incredibly
poor ergonomics or I'm doing it wrong, because it usually gives me back or
neck ache.

I found the couches in some cafés work pretty well with a laptop, but they're
always taken around London. Although there are quiet times outside of
breakfast and lunch though.

I ultimately wish I could just work in a pub, but too many have been taken
over by sports TV in my area.

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kulkarnic
Even better idea: work at a library. These are buildings designed to be quiet,
meditative places, and they _want_ you to be there all day. In addition,
several libraries now allow coffee, and most have great Wifi.

Where do you find a library? If you are in the US, public libraries are a
great downtown option. As a student at Stanford, I think great libraries are
one of the biggest privileges. However, I think you don't need to be a
Stanford student to get in! Like other universities, Stanford has a Federal
Depository Service
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Depository_Library_Prog...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Depository_Library_Program)),
which means the public has a right to enter and read federal publications at
no cost (Strangely, I couldn't find a open-to-public library at Harvard
though)

Hope this helps...

~~~
jwarzech
For about a year I worked from home and due to impending cabin fever I decided
to give coffee shops a try. It was super loud and I always felt like I had to
keep moving and buy something. It was just distracting.

I then rediscovered my local library and was amazed. Fast Wifi, Keurig
machine, and private study rooms that I could take for the entire day. I was
even more amazed at how many people use it as a 'co-working space', one guy
would even come in everyday and even set up his VOIP office phone.

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toyg
I work _a lot_ from a wonderful coffee shop in Stockport (UK). I find myself
much more productive over there than at home; the change of environment
clearly toggles a "brain switch". The place is big enough that owners don't
mind if I hang around all day, and wifi is great (no "The Cloud" bullshit,
just a fat pipe to the intertubes). Usually I end up buying coffee and water
as I get there; sandwich, coffee and water at lunch; and again coffee and
maybe a sweetie in the afternoon -- around £ 20 in total ($ 30), which seems
to be enough, because I never got any bad word or stare from waiters, unlike
in other places. I often end up bringing friends and coworkers as well, so I'd
say I'm a "good" customer.

I'm not shameless enough to claim it on expenses, but I'm sure freelancers
could offset most of it against taxes.

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gavinlynch
Minority anti-social counter-point: For someone who enjoys a simple solitude
while coding, this type of environment is anathema to everything that makes me
productive. I admit that I struggle to find any appeal whatsoever in working
in this manner, although I do love working remotely. Just not at a glorified
fast-food joint... It's actually bewildering to me how you folks manage to get
anything done. But I'm probably not their target market anyway. Just not for
me :)

~~~
Xion
I find coding in a public, somewhat noisy place - like a coffee shop - pretty
effective if you have a mundane but necessary task to do. The combination of
ambient sounds to keep my brain busy while going through the boring parts,
coupled with implicit social pressure of sticking to them ("Someone might have
a glance at my screen, they better _not_ see me browsing Facebook") makes it
much easier to accomplish the task, compared to cozy, distraction-free
environment of typical (esp. home) workstation.

~~~
gavinlynch
Interesting point about the ambient noise. I'll have to try it again when I
have something a little more tedious to do and see if it works for me.

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saosebastiao
I think my local starbucks might have a problem or two with me hauling in
three 24" monitors.

~~~
pwthornton
I will buy you a drink and food if you make this happen.

~~~
japhyr
If you haven't seen the old Improv Everywhere prank, you might like to see
this happen:

<http://improveverywhere.com/2008/02/25/mobile-desktop/>

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macavity23
Maybe occasionally. If you spend a lot of time hacking at a ergonomically-poor
workstation (which coffee shops pretty much always are), you _will_ suffer as
you get older.

~~~
kennu
I'm not entirely sure I believe this claim. Ergonomically poor surroundings
typically force you to change your stance often, because you get uncomfortable
quickly. And in the long term, moving around a lot is generally better than
standing still.

I suppose if you always sat in the same café in exactly the same position and
got used to it, you might eventully develop problems.

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interpol_p
I love doing this. I usually find that two hours working at a coffee shop is
worth four at home or in the office.

It's also especially good when the place has no WiFi (a rarity these days) and
I'm too lazy to tether my phone.

~~~
saryant
I've also found that adding these sorts of limitations to my work
environment—no Wifi, for instance—can really boost my productivity.

I download local copies of documentation and APIs for reference and then set
up at a coffee shop near me with no Wifi or power outlets. I find it's most
useful at the start of a project when I have trouble just getting _something_
down, sort of like staring at a blank page when you have a paper to write in
college.

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urlwolf
I have an ergonomic keyboard (maltron) and a standing table. Both are not
exactly portable.

In any case, I highly recommend NOT to work on your laptop's keyboard. It's a
sure recipe to screw up your hands.

~~~
robomartin
Many years ago, when I was coding 16 hours a day with regularity, I suffered
from horrible carpal tunnel pain on both wrists. My solution was two-fold.

First, I threw away the mouse and switched to a thumb-operated trackball
(Logitech or Microsoft).

Second, I designed and fabricated my own desk. The easiest way to describe it
is that this desk has a cavity into which the keyboard and trackball fit. With
this design my wrists were fully supported and my hands drooped into the
cavity to naturally make contact with the keyboard and trackball.

This worked wonders. I took a two week break from coding while designing and
fabricating this desk (MIG welding and woodwork). By the time I was done the
inflammation on my wrists was gone. I went back to coding long hours. The pain
never came back and neither did the inflammation.

~~~
kordless
> coding 16 hours a day

I think you had bigger problems than with your wrists! We've all got to live
life first. Work second. Everything in moderation my friend!

~~~
robomartin
Different time, different place. I won't do that now. Haven't done it in
years.

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redm
I think a lot of offices try to provide similar environments to coffee shops.
Places you can go and work away from your desk, similar food and beverage etc.
It's also worth noting that while you are able to focus more, great for a
writer, it isn't necessarily better for teams of people trying to collaborate
on a complex project.

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krmmalik
I really need to work from Coffee Shops more often, but I get really self-
conscious while sitting there getting on with my work. Further, I tend to
skype quite a bit, which puts me off going to the coffee shops in the first
place, since i don't want to be disturbing others.

~~~
thirdtruck
> Further, I tend to skype quite a bit, which puts me off going to the coffee
> shops in the first place, since i don't want to be disturbing others.

And that's why the fascination with voice controls always confused me: the
self-conscious aspect. That said, the population at large might care less
about others overhearing them, if sites like <http://notalwaysright.com> offer
any indication.

~~~
krmmalik
What in particular about the voice controls fascinates you?

~~~
thirdtruck
Oh, I only really think about the "lower-touch" aspect of it, especially while
walking or jogging. I was referring to the apparent interest of marketers and
the population at large.

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mindcrime
I love working from the cafe at the local Barnes & Noble. We don't have office
space yet anyway, so I have to work from either my home, or a coffee shop /
bar / cafe / library / whatever... but even when we do eventually get proper
offices, I'd still want to come work somewhere like that fairly often. I just
enjoy being around people, having convenient access to tasty coffee beverages,
and the overall vibe and bustle and activity.

That said, the downside is when you need to work as a group and actually need
privacy. Or sometimes when you're doing something that requires deep
concentration and extreme focus, then the noise and bustle can be distracting.
But, by and large, I do like the "working from a coffee shop / cafe" thing.

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10dpd
The biggest issue for me in working in a cafe is confidentiality - its very
difficult to keep work-related calls and designs under wraps.

For example, in the UK a doctor was recently struck off for transcribing
patient details on a train - not the most sensible thing to do, but highlights
that there are some jobs that require privacy.

~~~
Too
Agree, it's usually very hard to find a spot where your back is facing the
wall. Especially as a single person. If you don't want to steal a 6-seater
table the remaining option is usually the bar-window facing the street
outside, meaning that everybody standing in line inside the cafe will have
perfect view of your monitor.

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calebgilbert
I really agree with commenters who mention ergonomics as a reason NOT to spend
a lot of hours in a coffee shop over a long period of time (months/years). I
spent almost every work day in cafes for a couple years and feel like it was
part of the root cause behind the significant neck/shoulder issues I have now.

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justinhj
I worked productively for a couple of hours in a kids play place at the
weekend. The roar of kids acts like loud monotonous music. I also once wrote a
key piece of a sofware system on a long flight. I agree with the author that
variety is really important to keep you stimulated.

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noahr
Many coffee shops cracked down on computer campers a few years ago, mainly
because of the recession. I wonder if that's changed.
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124950421033208823.html>

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lifeisstillgood
This is another "remote-working" meme - which is a Good Thing.

If you can work from a coffeeshop securely and productively, you have
abstracted enough of the deployment processes to work well anywhere.

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SolarUpNote
I love working from coffee shops occasionally, and find that I'm pretty
productive.

As long as there isn't someone talking loudly about their personal problems.
Or talking loudly about politics.

~~~
tehwalrus
noise: this is why sealed rubber/noise cancelling headphones were invented.
Only needed occasionally, but when they are, they're a lifesaver.

(My personal favourite for these is on a crowded tube ride after a long day -
they allow me to zone out and stay relaxed!).

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kadavy
The one killer application of Google Glass will be using it as a second
monitor in a cafe. That would be entirely worth looking ridiculous.

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dfrey
Single monitor, laptop keyboard, no mouse, listening to that piercing
conversation from that one really annoying person in the shop.

Who wouldn't love that?

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001sky
Its worth thinking about this choice:

souless, beige-grey cubicle

or

hip trendy cafe ?

>> how hard is it?

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helloamar
I use coffee shop for meetings, yet I have not gone their alone, after reading
this post and the comments I would love to try it out.

