Coffee shops…
The smell.
The almost relaxing commotion.
The random conversations.
The flow of people coming and going.
The smell.
Getting work done in a coffee shop is a great experience, but what if you don’t like coffee?
This is Social Saturdays.
The one about coffee shops.
The Drive
So, it all started with a drive—a drive to want to work on something outside of my day job.
I’d done it before, working on stuff for fun, but this was different. I wanted to work towards something that I could build up, something that would feed my creativity in ways that my day job didn’t, but I needed somewhere to do it.
I could always work at home, but I wanted a change of environment, a place where I could go to get things done in the short amount of time I had. I was watching a lifestyle and tech video by D. Dames and saw him going to these cool coffee shops to get work done, and I thought…
‘I want to do that.’
Around that time, I decided to write down where I wanted to be in the next few years, what I wanted to work towards, and how I wanted my life to look. One of the things on that list was to get work done at a coffee shop, so that’s what I was going to do.
The only problem was I didn’t like coffee.
Hurdles
I had tried coffee less than a handful of times in my 20-something years of life, and I thought it was pretty stinking gross. (I did like the smell of it though.)
I couldn’t just go to a coffee shop and not buy anything. I was pretty sure that you at least had to “pay your rent” if you were going to take up a spot in the shop, so something had to change.
(I couldn’t just get smoothies either because I was working to limit or eliminate my dairy intake, so that wasn’t an option.☹️)
I had to try coffee again, but what kind of coffee?
Aren’t there different kinds?
I didn’t know.
I didn’t drink it, so I really didn’t care.
But I had to start caring.
My First
I woke up extra early one day and hit the road before my day job to get some work done at a coffee shop or at least to get a feel for where I would be spending a good amount of my time.
I had been to the coffee shop before, but only for a smoothie, but I wanted to try coffee again. I asked the barista what she recommended for someone who doesn’t like coffee, and she suggested some custom concoction that she usually made for herself because she wasn’t a big fan of coffee either.
I asked her to make me one.
It was okay…a lot of flavors and added stuff, but it was better than the coffee I had tried years before.
But this wasn’t really “coffee,” was it?
This was just some barista’s concoction of syrups, right?
I needed to try one of those appuccinos or whatever you call them.
Second & Third
I was feeling adventurous. I knew that whatever I landed on, I would get stuck in the habit of ordering the same thing every time (also known as your regular), so I needed to try some different things first.
Google: How to order coffee?
Those wikihow pages come in handy sometimes. I learned about the different kinds of coffee and picked one to try the next day: an americano. It sounded cool and looked all right.
It wasn’t alright.
My heart rate increased FAST, and beads of sweat rolled down my face with each sip. I couldn’t focus on the work I was trying to do because of the KICK of each sip.
It was too much.
The next thing I tried was a mocha (hot chocolate and a little bit of coffee). This was better and I decided to look no further.
A mocha with almond milk became my regular. (That’s crazy; I have a regular!😮)
Not Getting Stuck
I wanted to create a habit of getting work done at a coffee shop, and I did.
I had found a coffee shop.
I had found my regular.
I had even found my spot in the coffee shop to sit.
But I knew I didn’t want to get stuck. I didn’t want to go to the same coffee shop, sit in the same place, order the same thing, and watch the days fade together as I repeated the same routine.
So, I went to different coffee shops, sat in different spots, and worked at different times. (But I still ordered the same coffee.)
Watching D. Dames and reading Atomic Habits inspired me to create this new habit in a new environment, but I wanted to keep it fresh. I didn’t want it to become a chore or a bland, repetitive task.
Don’t get suck in the repetition of the day-to-day.
Repetition and habits are great, but if they are creative or work-related, they have the opportunity to produce mediocre work.
Don’t let them.
Change things up that need to be changed.
Endlessly scrolling through social media on your down time? Struggling to focus in your current environment? Lacking motivation to achieve your goals?
Change what you know needs to change.
Don’t stay stuck.
Final Words
I started writing this one at home and then finished it at one of my favorite coffee shops. It’s easy to write about a coffee shop while you’re inside one.
Anyway…✌️
- Will