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I work remotely and find myself working from a lot of Starbucks. The music level seems consistent no matter where you go to the point where it feels like a poli

I work remotely and find myself working from a lot of Starbucks. The music level seems consistent no matter where you go to the point where it feels like a policy. It is just loud enough that you can't drown it out with a good set of headphones or take a conference call without annoying the rest of the group. It seems too consistent to be unintentional. Conversely, there's a new coffee shop in Chicago that is designed from the ground up to facilitate work. It has tons of natural light, freely available whiteboards and almost no music call Limitless coffee. It is such a joy to not have to deal with the din that I go there even when I'm not working. You can almost hear yourself think.

firepoet 8y ago
Where is this mystical coffee shop? I live in Chicago and would appreciate the tip. :-)
- L_Rahman 8y ago
  I imagine it's one of these: https://limitlesscoffee.com/store-locator/ https://limitlesscoffee.com/store-locator/
  - pcarolan 8y ago
    That's the one.
technobabble 8y ago
Thank you for the recommendation
jtreminio 8y ago
Honest question, have you considered it might be on purpose so you are not using Starbucks as your personal office?
- rhacker 8y ago
  It seems a bit strange that they encourage laptop usage at Starbucks then if they don't want people to use it as an office. The have laptop plug in ports at special bars and tables all over the place.
  - paulsutter 8y ago
    Likely they want to be a reliable stop for business travelers, but they don’t want you parking at a table for 8 hours everyday.
- pcarolan 8y ago
  Yes. I think that's what I'm saying and I also think that it is great that coffee shops are popping up to solve the job to be done of providing me with an affordable space to work at the cost of a few cups of coffee. One thing I've noticed about a lot of coffee shops is that they have a big morning rush and a big lull during the day. Even Starbucks has a bunch of offers incentivizing you to come back for 'happy hour'. I imagine they are trying to spread out traffic throughout the day. It seems like offering a nice place to work during the day, might actually be more optimal than discouraging longer stays. Maybe Starbucks could just turn down their music between 10-4 and offer promotions to co-workers.
mo1ok 8y ago
OMG! I'm glad I'm not the only that noticed this. The music is definitely there to discourage staying and working.
lfx 8y ago
This sounds like an awesome place! Do you have pay extra for anything? I would happily agree to pay like 10$ for some time just to run away when I have to work. Additional extra points would be if they would offer some external monitors as well. This was my dream for a while now.
- wenc 8y ago
  > offer some external monitors as well IIRC even more expensive co-working spaces like WeWork don't offer that (some folks bring their own monitors). Maybe this could be a new business idea? Might be hard to break even at $10 though, not sure.
wenc 8y ago
Eva's Cafe is one of the quietest cafes in Chicago. People talk in whispers there. There are also a bunch of new cafes that are books oriented like Kibbitznest and Bibliophile (near the University of Chicago).

firepoet 8y ago

Where is this mystical coffee shop? I live in Chicago and would appreciate the tip. :-)

L_Rahman 8y ago
I imagine it's one of these: https://limitlesscoffee.com/store-locator/ https://limitlesscoffee.com/store-locator/
- pcarolan 8y ago
  That's the one.

technobabble 8y ago

Thank you for the recommendation

jtreminio 8y ago

Honest question, have you considered it might be on purpose so you are not using Starbucks as your personal office?

rhacker 8y ago
It seems a bit strange that they encourage laptop usage at Starbucks then if they don't want people to use it as an office. The have laptop plug in ports at special bars and tables all over the place.
- paulsutter 8y ago
  Likely they want to be a reliable stop for business travelers, but they don’t want you parking at a table for 8 hours everyday.
pcarolan 8y ago
Yes. I think that's what I'm saying and I also think that it is great that coffee shops are popping up to solve the job to be done of providing me with an affordable space to work at the cost of a few cups of coffee. One thing I've noticed about a lot of coffee shops is that they have a big morning rush and a big lull during the day. Even Starbucks has a bunch of offers incentivizing you to come back for 'happy hour'. I imagine they are trying to spread out traffic throughout the day. It seems like offering a nice place to work during the day, might actually be more optimal than discouraging longer stays. Maybe Starbucks could just turn down their music between 10-4 and offer promotions to co-workers.

mo1ok 8y ago

OMG! I'm glad I'm not the only that noticed this. The music is definitely there to discourage staying and working.

lfx 8y ago

This sounds like an awesome place! Do you have pay extra for anything? I would happily agree to pay like 10$ for some time just to run away when I have to work. Additional extra points would be if they would offer some external monitors as well. This was my dream for a while now.

wenc 8y ago
> offer some external monitors as well IIRC even more expensive co-working spaces like WeWork don't offer that (some folks bring their own monitors). Maybe this could be a new business idea? Might be hard to break even at $10 though, not sure.

wenc 8y ago

Eva's Cafe is one of the quietest cafes in Chicago. People talk in whispers there. There are also a bunch of new cafes that are books oriented like Kibbitznest and Bibliophile (near the University of Chicago).