What work is for a coffee shop? A guide for confused home workers
What work should you be doing at coffee shops, and possibly more importantly, what should you not be doing?
This is an interesting question that more remote and home workers should ask themselves before they enter a coffee shop to begin work.
Thinking about what work we can and cannot do is important, especially if we are going to undertake this work regularly.
Working in a coffee shop means being in a space with people around you. This style of working helps you escape the tedium of the office or working at home, whilst providing great coffee.
Coffee shops fill a great space, such as that "third" space between work and home, for many people. However, colonising the coffee shop with work is not fair to the other patrons.
So, what work should you do in a coffee shop?
It’s easier to answer this question by asking: what work should you not do in a coffee shop?
What work should you NOT be doing?
Given the breadth and scope of human work and jobs in the modern economy, this article could be a never-ending list of tasks that can or cannot be done.
So instead, this article approaches the topic from a set of principles. All stem from the same core belief of mine: do not disturb the other patrons of the coffee shop.
- Disruptive work should be avoided.
- Work that is privileged or legally protected should be avoided.
- Inappropriate work should be avoided.
Disruptive Work
Disruptive work is work that would disturb the other patrons of the coffee shop. Generally, this will be work that is loud, takes up too much space, or is generally anti-social to conduct in a shared public environment.
This includes:
- Telephone calls
- Skype, Zoom, Teams and other video calls
- Web conferencing
- Recording podcasts
- Boisterous face-to-face meetings
- Editing videos, music or sound without headphones
Much of this should be pretty self-explanatory. However, as someone who has worked in coffee shops on and off for over a decade, I can tell you that I’ve seen almost all of these behaviours (except the podcasting bit).
Essentially: do not disrupt other patrons with your work.
Work That Is Privileged or Legally Protected
This has a wide scope for interpretation. The best way to describe it is: work involving data or information that you wouldn’t want shared about yourself in a coffee shop.
Personal data – e.g. reviewing medical insurance claims in public is a no-no.
HR data – e.g. employee records, payroll runs, sickness reports—keep these in the office.
Accounting information – This depends on the scale. Doing your own personal accounts? Fine. Handling sensitive company financials? Not so much.
Company information – if your company wouldn’t want a journalist looking over your shoulder, this is probably for the office/home office.
Privileged information – broadly speaking, anything that should not be in the public eye.
So, what work should you be doing—both productively and respectfully?
Work for the Coffee Shop
Administration and Emails
Emails and the constant administrative burden of modern knowledge work mean we all have a massive pile of communications to deal with. The good thing about this type of work? We all have loads of it—and let’s be honest, having a coffee alongside makes it a little more bearable.
Data Entry and Analysis
Coffee shops are great for this type of work, as it generally involves working on the computer and doesn’t require anything beyond the laptop. Business Meetings
Meeting someone for business in a coffee shop is perfectly acceptable. We've all seen it. These settings are especially useful for relationship-building meetings or informal catch-ups.
Job Interviews
A quick note here: job interviews in coffee shops should be casual and work-focused, but not too heavy.
As someone who has worked in recruitment for several years, I’ve always preferred meeting candidates in informal settings initially, rather than bringing them straight into an office. It’s a great way to build rapport.
However, conducting telephone or Teams interviews in a coffee shop is generally a no-go. These should be done in a more private setting—either an office or home office—especially since the candidate at the other end may not realise you’re working in public.
Respect the space, sip the coffee, get stuff done and do not be that person.
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