The First Monday Morning as a Remote Worker
Monday mornings at the office are pretty standard: coffee, yawns, full inboxes, grumpy coworkers. Waking up before 9 a.m. on any day is a struggle for me, but there's nothing like the drugged feeling of rolling over on your alarm at the beginning of the work week.
So how does it compare when you work remotely? Today was Corey and I's first Monday morning as digital nomads. We both had our alarms set for 8 a.m. and although it was a sleepy start, I got up and did my routine: shower, dishes, clothes, hair, makeup, sunscreen. We packed up our backpacks and set out for our morning commute.
Sunday evening (yesterday) we did less than two hours of work at a cafe across the street from us. A french hipster spot called "The Hood." The waitress wore clear frame glasses and told me in English that the wifi password was "SmellyCat." Overall, we loved it.
Part of me wanted to go back there this morning, but we'd agreed to try 100 different cafes on this journey, so we decided to try someplace new. Corey found a place called "Le Poutch" on Work Hard Anywhere. It was 20 minutes on foot. Not a terrible commute, especially when you get to walk along Canal St. Martin.
But when we got there, the place was crammed with people with no spare space in sight. We pulled up the app again and saw there was a place nearby called "Cafe Craft." We waited with a few other Americans with backpacks on for the spot to open — noticing the sign outside that set the fare for a day's (or an hour's) work.
Their system: 4 euro for every hour. Sign in when you get there. Pay when you leave. Food purchases can be counted as payment. Seemed fair.
Corey and I ordered coffees, well Corey ordered something fancy called a " Noisette," to which the barista asked, "So, you heard about us on Buzzfeed?"
We sat down at a thin communal table, I want to call it a computer bar. My stomach dropped as I dug in my bag and realized that I didn't have my adapter for my laptop charger. I felt like a kid who forgot something essential on their first day of school.
Corey and I made it work by trading the charger back and forth, but still. By midmorning, ten people were sitting with us at the bar. A small group seemed to be students studying for a final, while everyone else was just like us. Working in a cafe.
I'm not sure if it was just the coffee but I managed to be extremely productive. Maybe because I knew that my workday wasn't going to be eight hours but more like four.
I even managed to write a blog post. (wink)
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Check out a roundup of our pictures from yesterday. We explored Le Marais, had a gastronomic experience at L'As Du Falafel, and did some shopping.
Thanks for reading!
