Are coffee shops good places to work on a laptop?

Question

I recently got my first laptop and I wanted to try to go to a coffee shop that has wifi to do some work. I work from home and also take classes online, so I need to get out of the house. In your opinion, are coffee shops good places to do productive work or are they distracting? Would staff get annoyed if I sit there for hours? I'm also afraid that I may be tempted with food/pasteries and gain weight.

Answer 1

nope

Answer 2

I would say so.  It seems like a good place to study and do some work.

Answer 3

do what you find good and don't rest on the advice you get

Answer 4

i like doing homework and such at coffee shops, but I think you might have to pay for the wifi and places like starbucks.  The staff won't care if you're there as long as you leave when the place closes, and if you're tempted with food and drinks, just leave your money at home :)

Answer 5

I'm a barista and no we don't get pissed off if you sit for hours quietly on your laptop. If you intend on staying for hours and hours you have to purchase something more then a 2dollar cup of drip for using our wifi for hours.

As for being productive, it's depends on the person. Some people can block out all the noise from the machines and people, others cannot. There are a lot of distractions, but if you can work through it then it's no biggie. Don't ask others to keep it down when they are having simple conversations or laughing. People don't look kindly on others who think the entire world is a library just because they're working.

If you decide to go to a franchise they may not have free wifi, but that tmobile hot spot thing where you purchase the time you are online.

Answer 6

In my experience, a coffee shop is usually not the best place to go to do something productive by yourself. If you plug some head phones into your laptop and and blot out the noise of the shop it can work better, but I'd really not recommend it.

As long as you buy something, I've found that shops usually don't care how long you stay. And as for the pastries, that is a very real problem that I've run into, too. ;)