11–20 of 34 posts
Haven't ever really tried working at a coffee shop. Because of this post I'm going to go try it right now, but I'm damned skeptical! Update: this place has free wifi, I'm procrastination enabled again. I can only hope it's painfully slow!
Nothing is more grating than when a previously social, comfortable place is turned into a caffeinated study hall by geeks with laptops. Likewise, it's awful when a quiet, subdued place is over-run with noisy group meetings. Usually, the owner of an establishment makes it pretty clear what kind of environment they're trying to achieve with their business, and it's your job (as a guest), to respect the owner's wishes.
Some coffeehouses make an effort to accommodate laptop people; others don't. So if you go somewhere and you find that they don't have enough outlets, or no wireless signal, or whatever other annoyance, just take it as a given that they don't want you working there for very long. Whatever you do, don't try to bring your own outlet strips, chair cushions, ergonomic keyboards/mice/laptop stands, etc. to work around the ergonomics -- don't be that guy. If you can't work at a cafe for very long, just take it as a sign that you weren't meant to spend all day in the same location....
The first startup where I worked, it was just me and the founder, and we were always working from a Starbucks with two laptops as a way to save money on the office and also to allow for change of scenery (this was Manhattan, and there were something like 60 Starbucks here at the time) It worked great for 3 months. After Thanksgiving all the stores started to play the same Christmas Tunes CD on repeat - nothing kills…
The first startup where I worked, it was just me and the founder, and we were always working from a Starbucks with two laptops as a way to save money on the office and also to allow for change of scenery (this was Manhattan, and there were something like 60 Starbucks here at the time) It worked great for 3 months. After Thanksgiving all the stores started to play the same Christmas Tunes CD on repeat - nothing kills…
$100 spent on Shure earbuds can solve the Christmas music problem. They are essentially earplugs. I can't hear a thing but my iPod when I'm using mine.
The first startup where I worked, it was just me and the founder, and we were always working from a Starbucks with two laptops as a way to save money on the office and also to allow for change of scenery (this was Manhattan, and there were something like 60 Starbucks here at the time) It worked great for 3 months. After Thanksgiving all the stores started to play the same Christmas Tunes CD on repeat - nothing kills…
The alternatives, if you still have Tmobile wireless, are
- Fedex Kinko's, harsh lighting coupled with excessive air conditioning, and who knows what kind of fumes you're inhaling?
- Borders bookstores are more like it, if you need ot look up K&R, gang of 4, whatever, there it is. BUt the wireless routers have limited range.
I should try that, but finding good coffee shop in my area is hard.
A word of warning from a Seattle guy who does this all the time: if you start going to coffeehouses to work, please take the environment of the place into account. Nothing is more grating than when a previously social, comfortable place is turned into a caffeinated study hall by geeks with laptops. Likewise, it's awful when a quiet, subdued place is over-run with noisy group meetings. Usually, the owner of an establi…