Curious: Why do people like to work in coffee shops?

In life, there are always many people who carry notebooks and books and go to a cafe to work. When asked why, they always say that they feel they can work more efficiently in a cafe.

As we all know, a cafe is just a small room that makes and sells coffee, but why is it that based on life experience, working and studying in a cafe is more efficient?

01

Caffeine for a boost

First of all, coffee contains caffeine, which can stimulate nerves and keep people excited.

The caffeine contained in a cup of coffee is enough to make some people who are sensitive to caffeine excited for several hours. During this period of excitement, their work efficiency will inevitably improve a lot.

In terms of nerve stimulation, the caffeine in coffee is equivalent to theophylline in strong tea. However, our survey did not show that studying and working in teahouses are more efficient. Why is that?

This brings us to a major difference between a cafe and a teahouse – the atmosphere.

Image source: pexels

02

Cafe atmosphere

The customers in cafes are often white-collar workers and college students. Even if these customers do not choose to work or study in cafes, they will behave positively and work hard.

Research results show that "performing a task next to someone who puts in a lot of effort in the task will encourage you to do the same", which is the social facilitation effect. This is one of the biggest features of a cafe, similar to going to the gym to exercise.

When new customers see a group of white-collar workers sipping coffee and working hard, they will have some hints in their minds to motivate themselves to work hard.

In the teahouse, the customers around are relatively older and their lives are more casual, without an office atmosphere.

03

Just the right amount of noise

Aside from the caffeine rush and social boost, coffee shops have another seemingly disadvantageous advantage: they provide just the right amount of noise.

The music and the grinder, mixed with soft human voices, can hardly be considered a nuisance. A 2012 study in the Journal of Consumer Research showed that low to moderate levels of ambient noise in places like cafeterias can actually increase your creative output. A subsequent 2019 study also showed that the right amount of noise is good for stimulating our senses.

Image source: pexels

04

Sensory diversity

Since the right amount of noise can help stimulate sensory experience, by analogy, the right amount of visual and olfactory experience can also benefit us.

Compared with at home or in the office, the visual experience you get in a cafe is undoubtedly more diverse. The crowds and various lamps and teacups can all stimulate people's thinking and help them bring out their most acute and creative side.

Even though today’s workers are used to wearing noise-canceling headphones and staring at their screens, it seems that everything is the same no matter where they are. But no matter how isolated they think they are from the world, things are still happening around them. They may be slightly stimulated by these changes, or they may not notice them at all, but their brains are already working in a different way than usual.

05

Informal teamwork

In people's impression, it seems that a cafe is just a perfect scene for lonely people to create alone, but in fact a cafe is also a perfect place for team work and communication.

If you meet online, the distance and implicit formality brought by the camera will make participants feel restrained, while offline gatherings such as cafes and bars have an informal atmosphere. You can talk about work and life while drinking coffee, and no one knows what you are going to talk about next, even you don’t know.

Image source: pexels

Without an agenda, nothing is completely predetermined, creativity can be maximized, and team brainstorming will be more effective. For this reason, some universities, such as the University of Buffalo in the United States, have also borrowed from the design of cafes to promote students' collective creativity.

However, we cannot say that all public places are suitable for working just because of these advantages of cafes. For example, bars, with dim lighting and slightly noisy background music, are obviously not suitable for working. Libraries are another example, it is okay for one person to work alone, but if there are many people working, the noise generated will affect the people around them.

As the epidemic continues, although most people are forced to work from home, according to surveys and research, the epidemic has not made more people truly willing to work from home.

After more than two years of social distancing, some people still crave public spaces. The green grass next door is not the reason, but efficient work and study is the goal.

Do you prefer working from home or in a cafe?

END

Reviewer: Sun Tao, National Psychological Counselor

Editor/Heart and Paper