How to Work From a Coffee Shop

There is a reason coffee shops are full of people with laptops. The combination of mild ambient noise, the commitment of having left home, the presence of other working people, and the forced time limit of a single coffee creates a productive environment that is genuinely different from a home office or a corporate workspace.

Finding the right cafe

Not every coffee shop is good for working. Look for reliable WiFi, enough seating that you don't feel guilty taking a table, power outlets or at least enough battery life for your session, and a noise level that is present but not overwhelming. Specialty cafes in quieter neighborhoods tend to be better work environments than destination cafes in busy areas.

The noise level question

Research on cognitive performance suggests that moderate ambient noise (around 70 decibels, the level of a typical coffee shop) improves creative thinking compared to either silence or loud environments. This is not an excuse to work in a loud cafe if you find it distracting. But if you've always wondered why you're more productive in cafes than at home, the research supports your experience.

Ordering enough

The unwritten contract of working from a coffee shop is that your spend should justify the time you're taking. Order a coffee when you arrive. Order something else if you're staying more than 90 minutes. If you're there for three hours, order food. This isn't a rigid rule, but treating the cafe as a free coworking space that you occupy with a single $4 drink is behavior that contributes to the closing of independent shops.

Session management

Three to four hour sessions work better than full days. The coffee shop environment is stimulating in a way that eventually becomes fatiguing. Leaving before you're exhausted and coming back another day produces more work than trying to grind through eight hours in the same chair.

Building your rotation

Having three or four regular cafes that you rotate through prevents any single relationship from becoming the barista dealing with you every day for eight hours. It also gives you variety, which itself affects productivity. Use Pulled Coffee to discover new work cafes and earn rewards for every check-in.

Related reading: coffee shop etiquette, how to find specialty coffee.

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