Hello my friends, today I am writing this newsletter from a cafe in Tuscany. I'm currently eating a Torta della Nonna (heres the recipe), and drinking cappuccino while the Italians around me try not to be disgusted at me drinking cappuccino in the afternoon.
I'm not showing off (I am showing off). but its perfect opportunity to talk about great places to work that isn't your house or an office
I have been remote first since before the kids were all doing it, about 2017.
So over the years, I like stretching my legs and working from different locations, particularly in a lovely city like Edinburgh (or Lucca).
But I really don't like working from coffee shops. It's hot, noisy, packed and the wifi sucks.
Here are some places I use that isn't commonly thought of but beat the bejingo out of a sweaty black sheep coffee.
Hotel Lobbies
One of my favourites. Here's why,
- The wifi is excellent.
- The service is excellent.
- Its empty during working hours.
- They often have a brasserie or cafe in house that beats most coffee shops.
Libraries
- Public libraries are a good place to get work done.
- It brings me back to my school days and I feel naughty if I don't get my work finished.
- If you are in a big city, the central libraries are really excellent.
- There are private libraries and reading rooms that are very cheap compared to co-working spaces.
Museums
- Free wifi
- Free admission
- Lovely surroundings
- Never too busy in work hours.
- Usually a small cafe.
- Interesting backdrops for meetings ("what that?....oh that's just my full size T-Rex skeleton...yes I often keep it next to my full size world war two fighter plane...where do you keep yours?")
The Gym
- Some bigger clubs like david lloyds and Nuffield Health have business centres and health cafes built in.
- If I'm struggling to get to the gym during the week, I can hole up in the gym for a days work and have all that saved travel time to Bench Press an embarrassingly small amount of weight.
Bars and Pubs
- Loads of bars are actively trying to catch the remote crowd.
- During the day most bars are set up for coffee and lunch which is perfect.
- The wifi is usually ok, and it's never busy during the day.
- There are loads to choose from in a town or city.
- BrewDog has leaned into this pretty heavily in the UK. They often have booths at the back with outlets, a quiet space and great wifi.
Uni campuses
- They are massive
- They have cafes, libraries and study spaces.
- Just please check first what areas are public before you go barging into 2nd year women's studies like I did in 2002....so embarrassing.
Theatre Cafes
- Most theatres have an almost alway empty bar/cafe.
- It's rammed for 15 minutes during a matinee performance. Other than that its all yours.
- Find a larger theatre in town as they are more likely to have an open cafe.
New addition thanks to the irrepressible Paul GillGolf clubs
- Theres are loads of them in most towns.
- They all have clubhouses, some are open to the public
- Similar to hotel lobbies, empty most the time, good food, good wifi.
Awesome Recruiter Spotlight
Lets talk about the incredible :
Raj Ghir
I had the pleasure of working with Raj while at Scede. He was incredibly hard working, tenacious and mature recruiter who was excellent with stakeholders
Well you lucky little penguins, he's now available. So if you need a superb recruiter who knows startups and large technical organisations like the back of their hand, connect on LinkedIn and grab a chat
Well... that's issue 18. It took 3 cappuccini, a panino and a Torta Della Nonna but we got there. I hope you enjoyed it.
I'll see you next week!