I wrote about my first experience working from a cafe some time ago, and I’ve been looking for other interesting spots throughout the week. A few friends of mine suggested a couple of places which were like coffee shops, but not really coffee shops. It’s difficult to explain, but the concept is the following: you pay a certain amount every minute you spend at this place, and the rest is all free of charge — coffee, tea, doughnuts, cookies, wi-fi, board games, books, and so on.
It turns out there are quite a few such places here in Moscow, and the first on my list was Local Time (in the photo above) which is around an hour away from where I live. It’s not very big, but according to the owner, can easily host up to a hundred visitors.
Tea with fresh lemon, and then some good coffee, that’s what got me started working. It wasn’t very crowded since it was a weekday and it was early. A few folks were busy working on the other side of the big room, and a couple folks were playing a board game nearby. I didn’t seem to notice them though, as I was busy doing my work, and quite productive actually!
More people arrived after lunch, it started to get a little noisier. I spent a total of three hours (that’s 180 minutes) at Local Time and had to pay 180 rubles ($6) when I left. I loved the place overall, just wish it was closer to the place where I live, since a one-hour metro drive in the morning is not the best way to start your day.
I’m also thinking about organizing a WordPress Moscow Meetup there in mid-March. They have a big screen, sound, comfy chairs and sofas, and I got a discount price for making it on a weekday. More about the meetup later, in a separate blog post. Back to Local Time.
I’ll be visiting other similar places throughout this month, I’ve got two others on my list: Циферблат (Clockfacer) and Anticafe Babochki. Both are a little more expensive, but look bigger on the photos, worth giving them a try anyway :)
What do you think? Do you have a similar place in your area? If you don’t, would you visit one if you did, and how often? Do you think charging by the minute is fine? I noticed none of them say anything about membership cards, I’d get a monthly pass if it gave me unlimited access for a fixed price, which is also a certain guarantee for them. Share your thoughts in the comments below!
The “Clockfacer” cafe is an interesting concept, eat and drink all you want and pay only for the actual time you spend there. So your 180 minutes may become more expensive than two cups of coffee :)
Back on topic, I have been working at home for over a year now, seldom getting out. I don’t think that I would be more productive in a public place, such as a cafe. I like to work deep into the night, and once I’m in I’m in for at least 6-8 hours without a break up to 18 hours per day. I can’t stand the interruptions caused by traveling, people walking around, talking, etc.
I have tried coding in the countryside a couple of times last summer. The only problem was the lack of high-speed Internet. But I usually always have offline versions of relevant documentation stacked up – PHP, MySQL, WordPress (in the form of source code), etc. Those are invaluable during electricity blackouts and Internet going down, too.
Anyways, thanks for the update; looking forward to hearing more stories on places to work from. Maybe I’ll get inspired to get out one day, when it’s a little warmer though.
Hola! I agree it can be more expensive than coffee, but it’s not only the coffee you’re “not paying for” :) I’ve been to Local Time a couple of times now, both were quite productive and in fact, I got a good deal on the price for hosting the WordPress Moscow Meetup there next week (more on that later.)
Countryside sounds like fun (3G and Wi-Max are often enough) I also tried working on the beach when I was in Bulgaria last year, not too comfy and you can easily get a sunburn if you’re wired in. Great tips on offline survival, thanks!
I’ll keep you posted on other places I find interesting, thanks for your comment!