Walk into any coffee shop, and you’ll be greeted with the aroma of grinding coffee beans and milk foam and people typing on their laptops. It seems that freelance workers—or at least those who are allowed to work outside an office setting—choose coffee shops as their base. It’s like their personal workspace that’s free of mindless chit-chats and office politics. Productivity-wise, it’s even safer than your own home where you’re constantly distracted by dishes that need to be washed and laundry that needs to be done.
If you like working in a donut shop in Sterling Heights, don’t worry. It’s not weird at all. Plenty of people also feel more comfortable working far away from their own homes and offices. A café setting provides just the right amount of buzz and silence that people crave for when they need to focus on their work. Science is backing up that claim.
Productivity is contagious, so you find it easier to work in a coffee shop, where other people are also doing productive things—either typing on their computers or meeting with clients. A study reveals that moderate background noise is more productive than pure silence. The low buzz allows you to work better than the complete stillness of a library.
Change of Scenery
Even if you are working in the best office space with a view of a garden and free overflowing coffee, falling into a routine will still affect your productivity. Coffee shops are a welcomechange of environment. Not only does it have the right amount of noise at 70 decibels, but coffee shops also stimulate your mind and bring new inspiration. Your brain is also constantly looking for something new. When you are in a new setting, your brain releases the happy hormone called dopamine, which is linked to an increase in motivation.
Fewer Distractions
In your home, you are distracted by mundane tasks that you will remember needing to do since you’re surrounded by them. In the office, a chatty coworker will interrupt the flow of your ideas because they need to tell you something about some trivial things. What if you are great at multitasking? Several studies already say that you lose more when you multitask.
When you go from task to task, you lose about 25 minutes for every activity. It takes almost 30 minutes for your brain to refocus on a task again once the initial focus has been lost. Not only will you fail to meet deadlines, but you will also likely compensate for the loss of focus with substandard work quality.
Powerful Intentions
For years, scientists have failed to connect intentions to physical reality, but an experiment shows that setting an intention will change how motivated you are. When your sole purpose of going to a coffee shop is to get a lot of work done, there’s a good chance that you’ll reach that goal. It is your primary intention of going there in the first place that will motivate you to finish the tasks.
Are you ready for a coffee break? It seems counterproductive to go out of your office to work, but offices are distracting and are never a great motivator to get things done. It doesn’t need to be a coffee shop. You just need a change of environment that will trigger your inspiration and motivation.
