No matter how much you avoid being attached to the ‘person working in coffee shop’ stereotype, it’s hard to evade. Working from the nearby coffee house is the best thing to do when you cannot focus at your home and don’t want to go to your office. Countless people work in coffee establishments, not because they want to be seen working, but because coffee shops boost productivity. There are various versions to explain the link between coffee and creativity and why coffee shops boost productivity. Here are some of them:
Version 1: Caffeine
The real reason behind seeking a cup of coffee is obviously the caffeine, although there are also the ones who enjoy its flavor. According to a research, caffeine is the most consumed psychoactive drug around the globe. Why? Because it does its job really well.
How does caffeine work?
The neurons in our brain produce adenosine throughout the day. As it produces more of adenosine, our nervous system slows down. Once the level of adenosine reaches a certain point, your brain would enter the sleep mode. Consumption of caffeine blocks the adenosine intake by entering A1 receptor without activating it. To put it in simpler words, it’s not the caffeine that is increasing your productivity, but it is blocking the doors so that your brain could do its work without being interrupted. Consuming caffeine thus provides short-term memory boost, enhances motor and cognitive performance, and increases the ability to focus.
Version 2: The sound at coffee shops
On the other hand, there are people who believe that it’s not the caffeine that does it, it’s the background noise. A study says that people tend to be more creative when they work in an environment with moderate background noise as compared to an environment with more or no noise at all. There is a site named Coffitivity, which is inspired by the research of how background sounds at coffee shops boost productivity. The Coffitivity website allows its users to convert their cubicle to a coffee shop by hearing to their coffee shop soundtrack while working.
Version 3: Interacting with people
While some others like the author of Where Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson observed that it’s the interaction that happens at the coffee house. In the video, he mentions that the productivity boost comes due a range of factors, and caffeine is again not one of them. According to his viewpoint, sitting with a bunch of people and jabbering about your ideas can lead to something innovative and creative. The ideas are not only supposed to be protected, they are also meant to be shared and improved. Exchanging ideas can lead to some eureka moment, in which you can innovate and implement the basic idea. Whichever version you like or believe in, you need to go to coffee shops more often, may it be the link between coffee and creativity or the background sounds. Apparently, a pinch of noise and a sprinkle of conversations can spur you to think more creatively.