What's your favorite place to work out of?

I work from my home office for most of the day, most days. In the very early mornings, I like to sit outside in a little gazebo that is in front of my house. Eventually, neighbourhood noise and my empty coffee cup make me go back inside.

At least once a week I ride the bus up to our corporate offices in the city for meetings and I work from there. I find though that it's easier for people to eat my time when we are all in the same office. I get more done on the bus ride there and back than I do at that office.

Sometimes I rent a hotel room to work from. I usually do this during important product launches when I work around the clock and need to focus. My house can be chaotic with three kids and two dogs etc, though I do have help at home (housekeeper) and a sturdy door on my office. I am still "tuned in" to what is going on in the rest of the house and that is bad for my productivity during working hours.

Lately, I have been thinking that I want to rent a little office for myself in a building down the street from my house. I've actually been rather fantasizing about it lol. What about you?
 
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I have always had an idea that working from a coffee shop would be fun (living the wantrepreneur dream), but when I have tried it, I get too distracted. Definitely somewhere quiet for me.
 
Before I went full time I romanticized working out of different coffee shops, and I even bought a really nice laptop for it. Then as I started trying it I realized how much of a nuisance it was, wanting to get a drink refill or go to the rest room and not being able to trust that someone wouldn't steal my gear. And annoyed at the people who can't help but look at my screen, etc. And being on a laptop when I'm used to a multi-monitor desktop.

So I work from home in an office room that I've tried to make comfortable. What's lame is that I also chill in this room on the computer. I need to disconnect from this room more after work hours and sit on the couch with the laptop if I'm not leaving the house.

This last week or so has had me realizing why people choose co-working offices too. You end up isolating and withdrawing by accident in a non-changing environment otherwise.
 
I've tried a bunch of different places over the last few years and always come back to working at home for the vast majority of my time. But I have found that it's important for me to have some separation from my day-to-day life, so I try my best to only use my desk for work and then the sofa for leisure.

Another great spot is a local university or library. They almost always have free Wi-Fi that is super fast, cheap coffee + snacks, and other people working hard to achieve their goals. They are much better than coffee shops because the crowd is working, rather than gossiping and enjoying the newest heart disease inducing milkshake.
 
Working in a coffee shop is nice, but you can't beat the productivity you get at home from 2 monitors, mouse with 12 buttons, trackpad, keyboard, a comfy chair and the music on speakers, not headphones. So yea, will always choose home, especially when I need to create websites for my clients, I just can't do it on a laptop.
 
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Ryuzaki said:
Before I went full time I romanticized working out of different coffee shops, and I even bought a really nice laptop for it. Then as I started trying it I realized how much of a nuisance it was, wanting to get a drink refill or go to the rest room and not being able to trust that someone wouldn't steal my gear. And annoyed at the people who can't help but look at my screen, etc. And being on a laptop when I'm used to a multi-monitor desktop.

So I work from home in an office room that I've tried to make comfortable. What's lame is that I also chill in this room on the computer. I need to disconnect from this room more after work hours and sit on the couch with the laptop if I'm not leaving the house.

This last week or so has had me realizing why people choose co-working offices too. You end up isolating and withdrawing by accident in a non-changing environment otherwise.
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Yes, to all of this. I work at coffee shops only in emergency situations for these reasons. (ie I have no internet and/or power at home for some reason)

It's not comfortable at all either. I'm tall so I'm hunched over my laptop screen when I work on those low tables, the high tables aren't any better, the table height is still just inches above my waist but now with the added discomfort of sitting perched precariously on an adult high chair as I hunch over my laptop.

I'm constantly distracted by the crowd moving around me, I feel like I'm working in a fish tank; I'm on guard. Every time the door opens I look up, every time someone gets up and starts moving around the room I look up. And lose my place. That was back when most of my work was quiet focus work, now it's 90% me on the phone as I'm on the computer so pretty impossible to do in public. I'd be that a-hole.

I need peace, quiet and solitude to work. I can't even listen to music with lyrics, it messes me up unless it's in a language I can't speak. My space has to be clean and organized too. If I am in a zero distraction environment then I set alarms to remember to eat because I can just work through meal times, 6 or 8 hours at a stretch if I let myself. The flow is great. Edit: toning down the autism.
 
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I know I harp on this a lot, but I think it comes down to personality type/profile ( who you are )

If you don't know, I'm an INTJ.

However, it took me a long time to actually know and understand what that meant and why I have the office set up I now do.

Example:

I've always known I was different.

A loner, someone that goes against authority, etc. However, I always took this as being a "misfit" or a bad child. Someone with a social disorder and a problem.

Why? Because society has it setup that you should work a job, get along with co-workers, be an apple fan boy, work in the coffee shop with others, etc. You get my drift right? No one is really advocating for the loners and isolated and cheering us on ( at least not when I was growing up ).

So I had this confliction for a long time of what I should be doing because the only leaders I had were "the man" pushing it down my throat.

Because of that, I followed all the popular advice from others....

I did the "working at the office" for a long time. It sucked. I disliked everyone around me. I was the Dwight ( The Office ) of our office.

I did the coffee shop/McDonalds/Panera Bread stuff. It sucked. I loathed all the people in there moving around and causing noises and their bad breath and beeping sounds from their phones.

I did the office of my own in a remote part of town. I hated driving to it after a few months and the things I would forget like my lunch, something I needed that day, etc and be too far to want to drive back home to get it.

I did the office at home. This somewhat worked. First couple tries I had the office in the wrong space. Wife talking to me non-stop, kids constantly being loud near me, distractions of all kinds, etc.

I finally set it up where I got into a part of the house no one likes to go to, the basement. Kids think it's scary and the wife doesn't like to go up and down the stairs. PERFECT! I'm alone to focus and recharge ( INTJ thing ) while also close enough if I forget something I can go up the stairs and get it. I don't have to be distracted by people I dislike ( coffee shop or office ) and all their convos, beeps on their phone, and the smells of food I feel like I need to eat right now.
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This is what ending up fitting me in the end and now I can see easily why I could never get the hang of office life, coffee shops, office of my own, etc. It's just not who I was going to be and I learned it's ok Im not doing the "popular" thing that I thought I should be doing.

Sometimes I really love to take my laptop and sit on my decks outside, but the weather has to be good for it. Again it's mostly because I'm isolated and still close enough to everything I need during the day. If I were at the beach doing this, I'd prob hate it because of the people.
 
eliquid said:

I did the "working at the office" for a long time. It sucked. I disliked everyone around me. I was the Dwight ( The Office ) of our office.

I did the coffee shop/McDonalds/Panera Bread stuff. It sucked. I loathed all the people in there moving around and causing noises and their bad breath and beeping sounds from their phones.

I did the office of my own in a remote part of town. I hated driving to it after a few months and the things I would forget like my lunch, something I needed that day, etc and be too far to want to drive back home to get it.

I did the office at home. This somewhat worked. First couple tries I had the office in the wrong space. Wife talking to me non-stop, kids constantly being loud near me, distractions of all kinds, etc.

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This is exactly me. I have worked in an office, coffee shop, library and hated it all, for the reasons you gave.

Unfortunately I live in a small house with my wife and four kids, and there is literally no room in the house at night that doesn't have someone in it, watching TV or listening to music. I have to make do with working at the kitchen table, with everyone coming in every two minutes and talking to me even though I have headphones in!

I think an office in the garden would be the perfect solution for me, peace and quiet with no distractions but still close enough to home in case I need something or need a break.
 
Cash Builder said:
This is exactly me. I have worked in an office, coffee shop, library and hated it all, for the reasons you gave.

Unfortunately I live in a small house with my wife and four kids, and there is literally no room in the house at night that doesn't have someone in it, watching TV or listening to music. I have to make do with working at the kitchen table, with everyone coming in every two minutes and talking to me even though I have headphones in!

I think an office in the garden would be the perfect solution for me, peace and quiet with no distractions but still close enough to home in case I need something or need a break.
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Same, I did the library too.

I also tried the kitchen table thing and got the same experience as you.

Sometimes I get a little peace late at night and real early in the morning ( like 5am early ), but I personally hate that as it makes me sleepy rest of the day.

It's tough. Been there and done that. I once made my office in one of my closets to escape everyone. Luckily the basement ended up working for me though.
 
eliquid said:
Same, I did the library too.

I also tried the kitchen table thing and got the same experience as you.

Sometimes I get a little peace late at night and real early in the morning ( like 5am early ), but I personally hate that as it makes me sleepy rest of the day.

It's tough. Been there and done that. I once made my office in one of my closets to escape everyone. Luckily the basement ended up working for me though.
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I find I'm at my most productive after 10pm after everyone has gone to bed, but that only lasts 2 - 3 hours until the tiredness kicks in.

A basement sounds ideal, looks like I'll have to start digging!
 
I find I actually work better in cafes than at home. Just sitting in the corner where my table is working by myself for ages starts to get me down. Feels lonely.

At a cafe I find the following: I feel more energized because I'm working whilst around other human beings; I don't goof off onto YouTube and other detractors as often; and the furniture and physical layout just feels better and more spacious. The fact I live overseas and nobody speaks English precludes the talk being distracting. It's only when there are other English speakers in there that I lose concentration and have to leave.

Even if I could afford an office, I wouldn't get one unless I had employees or visiting clients.
 
I like public libraries, for some reason they have a calming influence, few distractions, no one pestering to buy stuff, but still some people around to stop cabin fever.

Co-working space can be ok, but they're distracting because you tend to get talking to people. Too much going on. Still I like to go once a week or so to get some social stimulation.

Working from home, not really the best for me, except for spurts of hardcore grinding.

I think, I'd prefer a shared office with some other self employed people for motivation. A day or two at home or somewhere else, that would be ideal.
 
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