Wi-fi Coffee Shop workout

The new way to work.

It’s glamorous. It’s hip. It’s new. Ditch your office routine and work from a wi-fi coffee shop. Chris Brogan talks about how much more productive and creative he was able to be when he stopped working from his cubicle. David Risley recommends it as a break from your office routine. When I was working, I never believed that my boss would be cool with packing myself off to Starbucks for a morning just to get the creative juices flowing. I kept my nose to the grindstone in my standard issue office module. Now that I am my own boss, however there is nothing to stop me from creative experimentation. Nothing, that is, except for my own comfort level.

I give it a try.

I am very much a creature of habit, drawn into my comfortable patterns and the convenient facilities of my home office. Last week, however, an awkward schedule of outside meetings gave me an opportunity to try the coffee shop as office lifestyle, if only for a few hours. How did it work out? There are pluses and minuses.

So far so good.

I felt a little thrill as I waited in line for my coffee. Already busy at their laptops were several cool guys. (Everybody with a laptop at the coffee shop is cool in my book.) I got my coffee and the password for internet access and searched for a table. The good ones were gone but I did find a small table near a window right next to the restrooms. I knew that I wouldn’t miss anything. Soon I was checking emails and my blog for comments, all the while checking out the cool guys and wondering if this was all there was.

Look, a squirrel.

In college I never used the library for study because I always found myself distracted by the other studiers and never managed to get much real studying done. When there is work to do, I find that I have the focus of a gnat. Every movement or sound draws me away from study to see what is going on. It was just like that in the coffee shop. First there was the lady at the next table, negotiating the delivery of some lamps. I could never figure out if she was an interior decorator or just an involved homemaker. When I couldn’t learn any more, my attention drifted back to my computer but soon she left and was quickly replaced by a studious young guy. He wasn’t interesting at all until he started networking with another guy who was giving him tips about how to get a job with a big accounting firm. “Pick one set of software and learn it – SAP or PeopleSoft.” They exchanged names and some chitchat and soon my neighbor was alone again.

The verdict.

I checked the time and found that it was already time for my next meeting. “Time flies,” I thought as I shut down my computer. It wasn’t until later that I thought about my morning. Was it good experience? Did I get much done? Did the stimulation of the new environment boost my creativity?

Would I do this again?

I had to conclude that I really didn’t get much done and much as I tried to find one, there was no burst of creativity anywhere in the experience. I probably would have gotten more done at home. In the end, though, I know that I will do it again and sooner rather than later. In fact as I think about my experience I can’t wait to do it again. It is not because I think that I will work better and more effectively next time. Not at all. It is because I can’t stop believing that when I was in the coffee shop with my laptop, the other patrons saw me and thought, “That guy is cool.”. I never get that at home.