A solo date in a cafe

You are sitting there with some scattered books, and your laptop screen is open. You look outside your table, and there are people having chitchats, doing work, or just having an evening coffee with their loved ones. You are not there with anybody else but with yourself. Moment by moment, a tingling sense of comfort takes you over. The fingers are running horses on the keyboard. The thoughts keep pouring upon the screen before you.

This might be an imaginary scene, but it can be a very good atmosphere for a writer or anyone with a remote job facility. With our ever-changing work life, remote work is a well-rounded choice for most of the youth souls. In an urban place like Dhaka, coffee shops are a go-to place for hangouts, but they are also places where you can sit for hours and carry on with your tasks. A solo date in a coffee shop, well, that is how many consider this experience, can help with being self, but also not very isolated from the crowd of the world. It might seem a balanced environment for the people who like to spend their time with a freshly brewed cup of coffee and their own company.

Md Imran is a freelancing content writer who finds the working atmosphere of a cafe very well suited to his working habit, "I always prefer going to such places where I get the motivation to work. A coffee shop is where you get to see many people working with their laptops. This increases my workflow, so I prefer to go to North End."

"However," Imran further adds, "not every time I get to go there cause, of course, the overall package is expensive. The price of the coffee is not so high, but the transportation cost, along with Dhaka traffic, makes it quite a loss for me. Environment wise the place is helpful. But I find my friend's house way more comfortable to work."

Prokash Sikder is a Machine Learning engineer; his mind is often filled with research ideas. It was not long ago that he used to work in some of his favourite coffee shops in Dhanmonndi. He shared some of the magnet points that kept him stuck with this specific working habit.

"I love to work in a cafe, though I am not going there nowadays for the same purpose. Still, it is a go-to place for me. I have my laptop open near a charging port. Headphones are on whether I listen to music or not- it certainly cancels the unwanted chaos. And I am set for my cafe time. Among the cafes I hopped around in Dhaka, Sao Paulo is going to be my all-time favourite, especially for its cosy lighting and seating arrangement. But I must say, the cost is expensive there, and not too many people know about it."

"Besides that, I have also spent a great share of my remote working time in North End and Joyeeta in Dhanmondi," Prokash shared.

The longest time Prokash spent in a cafe workday is over 4 hours a day, which he referred to as a productive timeline for his study and work.

Sharbani Datta is a student from Dhaka University and another young person from today's list who often chooses a coffee shop for her workplace. She also frequently joins herself on a solo date, at least once a week. Work is kind of a date for her while being in a coffee shop if there is no other company around.

"I often go on solo dates in a cafe with or without work. Though I prefer working more rather than just sitting there. I enjoy my work-time in a cafe while having a sip of coffee or other snacks."

Sharbani's knack for having 'me time' mainly attracted her to this work style, "I love to spend time with myself, whether at home or at any other place. But it creates a string of boredom by just staying alone at home. But being alone in a crowd is something that gives me sense of the real enjoyment. There might be many people around me in a cafe but I am just with myself here and doing my own thing, minding my own business- this is fun."

If you have your headphones, laptop or just a book- to feel the dear fragrance of a cappuccino or mocha perfectly suited to your taste buds (a brownie can certainly be a brownie point in that scenario), what else do you need? This apparently vagabond working style is helping us to break the established idea of an office place. It proves that if we are willing to experiment, anywhere can be a temporary office for us.

Cheers to the solo dates in a cafe where you brew your own stories- alone but not lonely. Let solitude treat you with the best time in your hustling life because nobody else can accompany you more properly.

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