To be quite frank, this prospect fills me with horror, because when I’m working in a café I want to be as invisible as possible, not posting selfies and hashtagging all over the place. But I take her point.
In the end, I went with popular opinion and holed up in a chain café to do the bulk of my work; I bought two drinks and a snack from the outset, and comfortably completed three hours of work. Well done, Twitter!
To sum up, here is Twitter’s accumulated wisdom on the topic:
- Sit at the smallest table possible for your needs
- Choose chains over independent coffee shops for very long working stints
- If you do go to an independent, buy generously
- Clear out when it’s busy
- Promote places you use habitually on social media
- Also, bring them new custom when you can
- Consider working in a library instead
- Or a Wetherspoons pub, as they have free refills
Personally, I’m a big fan of my local Caffè Nero, as it has a sign welcoming breastfeeding mothers (which I am also) and they put out jugs of free tap water for punters.
And as for the eternal question: “What should you do with your laptop when you go to the loo?” Why, take it with you of course. This is literally the sole reason I shelled out for a MacBook Air: lightweight, fuss-free, take-to-the-loo-ability.
That said, my favourite place to work is still my box room, where I don’t have to talk to anyone, and the coffee is free.
