How To Make a Coffee Shop Your Office
I’m a freelance copywriter, I work remotely, and my office is a coffee shop located in a Fort Lauderdale strip mall frequented by cruise ship passengers, retirees, and Australian yacht crews. Here are a few things I’ve learned about how to be productive in this bustling environment.
1. Early Bird Gets The Juice
If you’re a pro, you arrive with your laptop battery at 100%. But you can’t risk running out. Stake your claim at a table near an electrical outlet. Try to get some natural light and make sure you’re a safe distance from that speaker blasting the soulful sounds of Kenny G.
2. Skip Starbucks
This has nothing to do with the quality of the coffee or the recent boycott. Starbucks are usually too crowded to accommodate people working for extended periods of time. The process of getting a refill requires you to get back in line (and usually pay). Plus, you need to save your brain power for brainstorming, not remembering the difference between a small, tall, venti and grande. Did I mention their food is terrible?
3. What about indie/ artisanal/ fair-trade coffee shops?
If you can find one that makes you feel welcome, go for it. Oftentimes, the smaller the coffee shop, the less they want people hanging around and working. That’s why they have those cute signs that remind you to talk to each other. That’s a nice way of saying “remote workers are not welcome.”
4. Be Good To The Baristas
The staff are your new coworkers. Get to know them, and tip once in a while. Clean up after yourself. Smile. Tell them a bad joke. Watch as they try to awkwardly humor you then roll their eyes as you walk away.
5. Ignore Side Conversations
You’re not here to make friends. You’re here to work (and to procrastinate while checking Instagram). As the coffee shop gets busier, you will be surrounded by people. According to my half-baked internet research, this energy can be channeled to help increase your productivity. But don’t let yourself get distracted by the awkward date to your left, the painful interview to your right, and the guy in the corner talking to aliens.
6. Listen Intently to Side Conversations
But sometimes, side convos can give you a welcome break from the drudgery of your work or a spark of inspiration to overcome a creative block. So sit back, relax, and spend a few minutes listening to your neighbors discuss the startling spike in quinoa prices that they heard about on an NPR podcast.
7. B.Y.O.M.
Single-serve cups, coffee sleeves, and plastic straws are for amateurs. Styrofoam? Don’t get me started. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is big enough already. And more importantly, you’ll get a discount for bringing your own mug.
8. Join the Club
You are now a regular of the coffee shop and it’s your office. Take advantage of the loyalty program. You’ll get a free coffee on occasion while sharing a trove of data about yourself that the company can use to increase quarterly profits as we hurtle towards a robot apocalypse.
9. Take a Break
Go outside and meditate, or listen to a podcast, or stretch your thumbs. Do what you got to do to keep your mind and body sharp. Take a breather from the drudgery of the human condition and the desperation of a doomed planet.
10. Follow the Etiquette
Three rules: don’t clip your toenails, don’t play the didgeridoo, and keep your conspiracy theories to yourself.
11. And the Winner Is…
In conclusion, the best coffee shop to work from is clearly Panera. Free refills, a good loyalty program, and nice staff (at least at the one I go to). I recommend it highly.
12. Actually…
Scratch that. Don’t go to Panera. I need that corner table with the outlet.
Justin Kramm has more than a decade of experience as an advertising copywriter and Creative Director. He has developed global campaigns for Nike, Red Bull, Philips, and Microsoft. A graduate of Miami Ad School’s portfolio program, Justin won Gold, Bronze, and Grand Prix awards at the Cannes Advertising Festival. Justin earned his Master of International Business degree in Uppsala, Sweden and has worked in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. He is skilled at assembling paragraphs and terrible at assembling furniture.
