The Etiquette Nobody Writes Down
· 1 min read
Six small habits that make you welcome in any room you want to keep working in, none of which involve spending more money.
Take one seat. A bag on the chair opposite is the single most common complaint staff have about laptop customers, and it costs the room a table without costing you anything. Second, keep the table small — a laptop, a notebook and a cup, not a spread of paper that makes the table unusable for anyone else.
Third, headphones for anything with sound, always, including the three-second notification chime. Fourth, take calls outside. The person on the other end cannot hear the room and will talk you into speaking louder, and a one-sided conversation is the most disruptive sound a cafe can contain.
The three that get you invited back
Order at the counter rather than making someone come to you, if the room works that way. Clear your table when you leave, which takes eight seconds and is noticed every time. And say what you are doing when you arrive if you plan a long session — asking whether it is a good day for it turns you from a problem into a regular.
None of this is about being liked. It is that the rooms which are good to work in survive because enough of their customers behave as though the room belongs to everyone. The ones where that stops happening put up signs, then remove the sockets, and then the room is not a working room any more.
