How to Work on Your Laptop at a Coffee Shop Without Being a Jerk – Lifehacker

From across the coffee shop, I noticed a gentleman walking in with a computer. Not a laptop, mind you. With both hands, he carried a full-on desktop, monitor and console included. Surely hes not ... I thought to myselfbut I was wrong. He plopped the machinery down on a table, plugged in, and ordered his coffee while the rest of us looked on in horror.

I understand there are no etched-in-stone rules for using coffee shops as your remote office, but there are some unwritten guidelines we should all follow if we dont want to be jerks.

More workers than ever are getting their stuff done remotely, and many coffee shops accommodate this work-from-wherever lifestyle, with fast and free Wi-Fi and large, communal tables complete with outlets. Other coffee shops buck the trend entirely by not offering Wi-Fi at all. Instead of clacking away at a keyboard, youre encouraged to relax with a book or (groan) socialize with other people.

Weve all heard the bad news that sitting will kill you. That might be a slight exaggeration, and

Therefore, the first order of business is finding a coffee shop where its appropriate to work in the first place. Sure, you can get your stuff done wherever you want; its not like theres a law forbidding you to use your laptop at a quiet cafe that doesnt have Wi-Fi. However, if you care about politeness, youll want to find a coffee shop that doesnt mind being your part-time office (we offer up some tips here). Once you do, follow a few simple rules of etiquette.

Its not like businesses dont want you there, but if the place is packed and youre taking up space, theoretically, theyre losing money from customers who could be sitting in your spot. If you need to stay, at least order something extra to make up for this. As a general rule, most insiders say you should order a drink every 2-3 hours.

I actually like to think about it in terms of total dollars spent rather than buying frequency, said Claire Murdough, a writer and former barista. For example, say you plan to be at a coffee shop for four hours. That doesnt mean you have to order $2 coffees every hour. Just plan to spend $10 (or whatever fee seems reasonable). This can be over a couple hours or all at once.

I like this option more because sometimes you just dont want to drink coffee every two hours. This way, the coffee shop still makes a profit and you still get to sit and work.

Consider it as the price to admission. And if you think there shouldnt be a price to admission, keep in mind that coffee shops especially independently run cafs need to meet a bottom line in order to stay in business, said Murdough, whose mother owned a coffee shop for 20+ years. Help them do that.

If you work at the same caf day after day, it probably starts to feel like your office away from home. But its not; its a caf. For most of us, it goes without saying that you probably shouldnt bring your desktop computer (Ive also heard of someone bringing a printer to a caf!), but there are a few other habits many baristas, patrons, and coffee shop owners would prefer you avoid:

While I wouldnt necessarily care [about meetings] as a baristait usually means more business, after allit sometimes frustrates me when Im a patron, Murdough said. Large meetings can easily add a lot of noise and distraction.

Its hard to find a place to meet clients, give presentations, host meetups, or conduct job interviews if you work from home. Ive seen a few coffee shops with separate meeting areas reserved for activities like this, and you can book them in advance. This will take some searching, but you can look for meeting spaces in your city on Yelp, for instance.

A coworking space is another option. Some of them will allow you to rent meeting rooms for the day, even if you dont regularly rent an office from them. Similarly, most libraries have meeting rooms that patrons can book for free.

If all else fails, set a limit on how long the meeting will last and how many people will join.

Remember, the Wi-Fi is for everyone, so dont hog the bandwidth. That means you should probably skip watching movies in the background or uploading or downloading a bunch of stuff. This is a good time to remind you to keep your data safe on public Wi-Fi networks, too. Make sure your sharing settings are turned off, your firewall is enabled, and youre only using Wi-Fi when you need it (you might even consider switching to a Virtual Private Network while you work).

Its not just Wi-Fi, though. You also dont want to hog the electricity. Plan to charge your laptop, phone, and any other device you bring with you before you leave the house. Once you get there, the only thing that should require fuel is you, and thats what the caffeine is for.

For the most part I think its generally fine to stay plugged in as long as you need to when the caf is empty, or if youre the only one working, Murdough said. It changes when others might need to charge or the caf is crowded.

If you do find yourself in need of a battery boost, charge enough to get you through your time there and then unplugsomeone has to pay for that electricity, so dont be a jerk about it.

My advice would be to gauge the environment and react accordingly, Murdough added. Self-awareness goes a long way. That said, a pretty universal rule is dont bring your own power strip or stretch cords across aisles. Its dangerous!

If you have the ability to work from anywhere, you probably work from home. That means you probably

It depends on the coffee shopsome are really loud and bustlingbut as a general rule, you should respect your fellow customers and keep it quiet. That means using headphones to listen to music or watch videos. It also means taking your phone and Skype conversations outside, though some are okay with short conversations. Heres the general consensus of some baristas and owners that American Express interviewed:

If youre going to take calls indoors, though, the rest of our interviewees stress: dont shout. Dunning elaborates:

Youre looking for that sweet spot, of being in a caf thats busy enough where most people wont notice, but not too busy that everyone around you can hear your conversation. My general rule as a manager was phone calls of any type were good to go until they were disturbing the other customers. But use headphones. Those conversations are twice as disturbing to other people with another voice coming through your tiny computer/phone speakers.

Speaking of using libraries as meeting spaces, dont forget: you can use them to work, too! Most of them come with free Wi-Fi, have plenty of places to sit, and are quiet so you can concentrate (sound helps you focus on certain tasks, but silence might be better for tasks that require a lot of cognitive demand). Whats more, libraries are awesome and patronizing them is an easy way to offer your support.

Finally, as reasonable as these rules are to most of us, theres always someone who equates being polite with infringement. As one remote worker put it:

If I spend $10 or more on a sandwich and a coffee, I should be able to stay as long as I want to.

In most cases, you totally can. But youre kind of being a jerk.

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How to Work on Your Laptop at a Coffee Shop Without Being a Jerk - Lifehacker