Why I work at Starbucks

Quite regularly I’m posting a picture of a big cup of coffee with a good book or my laptop. Sometimes people ask me “Do you work for Starbucks?”, on which I start to laugh, because I understand where that question comes from. The answer is no. I don’t work for Starbucks, but I do work at Starbucks. When I’m in a coffee place I work for myself and here is the reason why.

People. I think the first answer is people. There are times when I work at my desk at home, but after a couple of hours I just get bored. I’m good at being alone, but I just like to be surrounded by other people. When I’m sitting in a Starbucks there are many people walking in and out and that gives the perfect amount of distraction not to get bored. Also at several of the coffee places there are big tables and there are more people like me working for themselves. That works motivating, because you’re all there for the same kind of reasons. Some people are studying, while others are working on freelance projects. People are combining the things they have to do with enjoying a cup of coffee at a nice place.

Workplace. One of the things I dislike the most about work is a boring office. Having tl-lights above your head, boring desks and feeling locked between four walls is just not good for creativity, productivity and motivation. While almost every Starbucks is different, they all have the same atmosphere. A friendly and open design, combined with often nice jazzy music gives such a relaxed mood that it’s just nice to be working in an environment like that. I think big companies like Google do a good job in making their offices more fun, but most offices I have seen are far from this. I believe a workplace should be a happy place, since you’re spending a lot of time there.

Coffee. Of course that one could not miss out here. But it’s the least important of these three. I love the coffee of Starbucks, but the main reason I go there is because of the people and the nice workplace. Unlike some other people I know that actually need coffee to do anything on a day, for me it’s more a luxury. I really enjoy it, but I don’t need it.

Lastly, Starbucks is one of my happy places. I come there to work, to read and to write. I come there to simply enjoy spending time there. No, I’m not working for Starbucks, I’m just a happy customer that feels quite at home when I’m there.

Categorised in: Personal

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