Why Coffee? It isn’t about the caffeine but the process behind it.
Why do we feel more productive when we work at the coffee shop?
We tend to feel more excited and confident to get our work done when we work at the coffee shop. I thought it too. I choose a different spot during my MBA studies back then to work on my assignment. Most of the time, it creates new excitement and a fun way to make my work done faster. I can spend hours working on my project and feel the fluidity in my brain.
Coffee shops are the one place that serves coffee and have become the favorite place for many people. Coffee nowadays begins as an object of getting ready and productivity—such a mood and energy booster for many people. The caffeine inside the coffee makes our bodies more alert and active. But is the coffee or something else that makes us feel more productive when working at the coffee shop?
Novelty
The novelty effect is a new term for me and gives me some fresh perspective. I realize it’s not about of amount of cup of coffee that I consume. It’s the novelty that I received that affected my body to work more actively.
So, what’s “the novelty effect”?
A small change can make a significant improvement in my daily activity. Not just about how I perform at work but in my life too. The novelty effect is a common phenomenon where our body initially gets more motivated or performs because something new is introduced.
Having something new and exciting to focus on can be a positive thing. Sometimes it can be fun, but it has a dangerous part too. We can’t always expect dramatic changes in our lives or buy new ‘toys’ to keep us entertained. However, is that we will then continue to introduce new technical practices, then wonder why the effects don’t last long. This can be confusing and a waste of time and resources too.
My favorite novelty action is working from somewhere else for a change. Sometimes that’s a coffee shop or coworking space serving a good coffee.
The smell of the coffee, the sound of the coffee machine, and the people talking, it’s been a nice feeling to create such an excellent environment to get productive. And no wonder all coffee shop spent their budget to create a joyful experience in their store to take more people to come and sit for hours to work etc.
Coffee, for me, has now become a part of my life. Get the booster from caffeine, know more people visiting a favorite coffee shop, and all my friends and colleagues know that coffee refers to me and vice versa.
When pandemics hit in 2020, it forced all my favorite novelty actions to stop. I can’t go to sip my favorite coffee, go to the office or visit a different coffee shop or coworking space to work. My motivation goes down so does my productivity.
My New Novelty Action
Here are some little changes I make that can offer part of the novelty effect without disrupting my routine too much.
Rearrange my working space at home makes a more comfy feeling. Replacing or rearranging things on the desk can create a new ambiance and boost a better feel.
Refresh my song playlist and bring some fresh tunes each time. Sometimes I put a coffee machine sound or coffee shop ambiance sound to get a coffee shop feel into my room. I know it’s weird, but it works! This small action is a fun activity to choose fresh tunes and refresh my playlist to create a new feeling and boost some new ideas too.
And the best achievement so far for me is learning how to make my own coffee, step by step. It brings new novelty habits to my daily life. These are new things to get my new novelty back on track and give me more motivation and performance.
The process behind my coffee routine each morning feels like therapy.
It isn’t about the caffeine but the process behind it. Indeed.
The process behind how to make my own coffee surprises me like my kind of therapy. I wake up every morning, and I spend 15 minutes after showering and making my coffee. Begin with preparing all the ingredients and tools. Pick the coffee to grind with the right size, scale the amount of each ingredient like sugar and milk, and set the time to flow the water to press the coffee to produce espresso with the right amount. Pour milk after steaming it, and create a pattern called latte art. Give me some novelty effect that I can’t experience before.
Ready in front of my work desk at 7 AM with my homemade coffee latte motivates me and makes me feel the fluidity in my brain like never before.
So, yes. It’s not the caffeine inside the coffee but the process that makes me feel more productive and ready to start the day!
