Working Remotely - Coffee Shops

Hey there!

I love working from home. I enjoy my super short commute (like under 20 steps!) and I love the relaxed dress code. Who wouldn’t feel comfortable working in leggings, tank tops and no shoes?! The meals are reasonably priced and you can eat whenever and wherever you want to.

Well, once or twice a month I put on a nice shirt with my jeans and find a seat in a local coffee shop. I’ll work for 2 or 3 hours and just enjoy the change of scenery. I don’t spend a lot of money there. I just buy some coffee and a pastry (a little treat to myself!) and get down to business.

I hear people ask all the time, “Why would I want to work from a coffee shop? I have internet and free coffee at home.” Well, working in a coffee shop just might help your productivity more than you know. How?

• First things first, you showered, got dressed and left your house. Heck yes, you are going to get some work done! Every time I sit down with a coffee cup and a delicious pastry, I know that I have to get at least three things crossed off of my to-do list. I would feel defeated if I didn’t. So I make sure that I write blog posts or do research. I make sure that I accomplish something that makes the $8 that I spent worth it!
  

• Many other creatives work in coffee shops. Just watching them work can give you ideas. Maybe you overhear a conversation or catch a glimpse of something that they are working on… not that you are snooping! Seeing other folks working just might motivate you to work. Hearing the tapping of fingers on keypads and scratching of pencil or pen on paper can get the juices flowing. Maybe you catch a few folks having a quiet meeting in the corner. Who should you meet with? Are there people that you should be collaborating with?
  

• One thing that I miss from my 9-5 office days is having coworkers. Man, those water cooler days were the best! Sitting at a long table with other creatives is fantastic. Sure you might have one or two annoying coworkers but for the most part, everyone is thoughtful and you’ll enjoy the coworker life, if only for a few hours.
  

• My home office isn’t very exciting. And it doesn’t have soft but motivating music. Many coffee shops have a quiet hum of workers and people ordering food and milling about. The music choice is always the best to work to… so much so that you can find coffee shop music and ambient noise on YouTube! I’ve pulled up a video and I’ve gotten lost in several hours worth of work just listening to coffee shop sounds.
  

• You want to know why I started going to coffee shops? My home WiFi can be spotty some days. I’ve lost my internet connection for several hours at a time so I’ll pop on an outfit and run up the street to work for a few hours so that they day isn’t a total loss. Not all places have great WiFi and I certainly wouldn’t conduct any banking at a coffee shop but working on a book or creating client content is fine.
  

• I enjoy coffee at my house but I don’t keep yummy baked goods there. Heavens no! I couldn’t have that kind of temptation around. But, there are three coffee places near my house that have treats to die for at affordable prices. Two of those places are kind enough to walk around offering nice sized samples throughout the day. It would be rude of me to say no!
  

• However, the main reason that I stop by coffee shops is that it gets me out of the house. When I started my own business, I’d work for 10 - 12 hours everyday for several days and not leave my house at all. It can cause you to go a little batty! Leaving your home to run errands helps but setting up my laptop, a notepad and watching others work really reminds me why I started working for myself. It reminds me that I can be flexible and change the locale when I want to. It reminds me that I can choose the hours that I work and how I work. It reminds me that this is part of my “why”.
  

Have you ever worked from a coffee shop? Did you enjoy it? Where you able to get some work done? If you’ve never done it, I challenge you to try it this month. You might make it a new habit!