How does working in a coffee shop break the monotony of working from home?
For many people, working from home is a career lifestyle dream, allowing them to increase their work-life balance, reduce their commute times, and fit in essentially family time while being more productive.
Sometimes the four walls of the house become too much and we all need to get out and about. For some people, this will mean going to the office.
That scratches the itch for some people. However, sometimes we are looking for something different, and going to the coffee shop can help us break the monotony and get us into a social space that allows us to escape the house and work.
This article will speak from personal experience and discuss my own reasons for wanting to work at times from a coffee shop.
Social Hubbub
Social hubbub is one of those things that makes me feel connected to the world and helps feel like I exist. That does sound a silly statement to say out loud. However being around people, going about their lives makes me feel like a Main Character in my story and not a Non-Playable Character life.
As I write this, I am in a small coffee shop in the Scottish town of Dumfries. A couple of friends are talking about what wine they are going to drink at the weekend. A person is reading a book (although I cannot see the cover. The staff are chatting amongst themselves while what sounds like something from an Austin Powers soundtrack is playing in the background.
Out the window, I can see people going about their daily business. Sharing a public space makes you feel part of the world, and connected to people through a shared space. Even if it is just for a minute or two.
This social hubbub is also something that changes ever so slightly every time you are out of the house. This helps to keep the world fresh without it being a challenge or stale.
Personally, I also feel that 'Social Hubbab' has a basis in how our brains work, which I have written about before.
Now social hubbub is not for everyone, however, for me, it helps keep me motivated.
Mindset Shift
Going out into the world into a third space like a coffee shop helps me to shift my mindset. Whilst I am trying to think through problems or issues this is important as changing how we are thinking can help with breakthroughs. Why does this happen? For me, my personal belief is that moving from the home office or normal working location to a new location changes the way our mind works in the background.
So I dived into Google (of course) and the Google search threw up this overview:
"According to neuroscience, changing your work location can shift your mindset because our brains are highly sensitive to environmental cues, triggering different neural pathways depending on the surroundings, which can influence our mood, focus, and overall cognitive state, essentially allowing our brains to "re-wire" themselves slightly based on the new environment; this phenomenon is largely due to the concept of neuroplasticity, where the brain can adapt and change in response to new experiences"
You can view the search result and the AI-generated response here.
Now we have to always be careful about what an AI-driven search result brings up. However, anecdotally, changing location does change how we feel. For me moving into a new location will allow me to think differently and change my mindset.
I find this especially powerful when combined with getting out of the door and having a good walk in the morning.
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Getting out of the house
Now, I love the concepts of remote work, and working from home. I think that this shift can revolutionise the way our society lives, parents and works. However, I am no shut-in, I am not a recluse and I am certainly not someone who wants to sit away my entire life hiding from the world.
Getting out of the house is a must for me.
It allows me to get the social hubbub, the mindset shift and the entire process of leaving the house and getting out of the house to a coffee shop helps me to create new energy.
Everything from choosing what to wear to putting on my shoes and walking into the town to the coffee shop I am going to use all help to create a ritual and focus for that day.
It brings a new energy that does not come from commuting to work every day, nor from working from home. Leaving the house under your own steam to go work on work problems in a location of your choosing is for me something special.
Combining the social hubbub, mindset shift, and getting out of the house all help me break the monotony of working from home. And they can help you as well.
Final Thoughts
Working from home is a brilliant development, however, we all need time to get out of the house and interact with the world in a different way. Getting out to work in a coffee shop can do that.
Leaving the house is as good for us. Even a hardcore advocate of home-working I admit that.
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