A subject near and dear to my heart. I'm in Seattle, the coffee capital of the country. I've created a very comprehensive photo collection of paper cups from indie coffee shops ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/martincron/sets/721576066520024 ) and recently, I've found that I just can't bring myself to work from coffee shops anymore.
I tried for a few months to spend one day every week working away from my office, just to shake things up and to get some uninterrupted programming time. I just don't like the feeling of being some kind of freeloader.
I never felt right working through the entire day at one shop, so I would hit up one shop in the morning, have lunch, and then go to another. After a while, ordering beverages felt like a chore. Another americano? Bleh. Mint tea? Meh, I guess so.
The other part is that there's value to the whole "third place" concept; where home is place #1, work is place #2, and community is place #3. If you work from a coffee shop, it makes it harder to actually relax and enjoy the coffee shop later. Also, it's harder to actually relax and enjoy the coffee shop when it's filled with people on their laptops all day. There are a handful of places I don't bother going to because it's so difficult to find a place to sit (Greelake Zoka, for example).
What I really want to do is find a good co-working space to be my "second place". I signed up at one last month, but they kind of fell apart. Any Seattle area HN folks have experience with local co-working spaces?
I work at 15th Ave Coffee and Tea during the day (it's the original Crypto-Starbucks in Capitol Hill) and Liberty during the evening.
Actually, I'm sitting at Liberty right now while I wait for Xcode to deploy an iPhone app to my phone.
You should check out Liberty: couches, free wifi, sushi and great cocktails. You'll suffer diminishing returns on work, but it's still worth it :)
Back to your question, have you tried Office Nomads? A good friend of mine has a 'resident' membership there and loves it to death. I'm considering trying it out this week.
Likewise. $450 is a good chunk of cash, but at least the first taste is free. On the plus side of things, there are definitely some interesting characters who work there, like Kevin Moore (http://kevinmooreconsulting.com/)
I really shouldn't be too put off by the $450 (and the commute from Ballard to Capitol Hill). If I can be just a little more productive, it will be worth it, and the chance to work with interesting characters like Kevin Moore sounds great.
I tried for a few months to spend one day every week working away from my office, just to shake things up and to get some uninterrupted programming time. I just don't like the feeling of being some kind of freeloader.
I never felt right working through the entire day at one shop, so I would hit up one shop in the morning, have lunch, and then go to another. After a while, ordering beverages felt like a chore. Another americano? Bleh. Mint tea? Meh, I guess so.
The other part is that there's value to the whole "third place" concept; where home is place #1, work is place #2, and community is place #3. If you work from a coffee shop, it makes it harder to actually relax and enjoy the coffee shop later. Also, it's harder to actually relax and enjoy the coffee shop when it's filled with people on their laptops all day. There are a handful of places I don't bother going to because it's so difficult to find a place to sit (Greelake Zoka, for example).
What I really want to do is find a good co-working space to be my "second place". I signed up at one last month, but they kind of fell apart. Any Seattle area HN folks have experience with local co-working spaces?