InstaOffice

I love that $2.35 and a cup of coffee and I have an instant office. Wireless access and a semi-comfortable chair and it’s so much better than any cubicle, regardless of how many cute plush animals you nail to the soft cushiony walls. Even better, my ever roaming office sprouts around wherever and whenever I need it in various different locations. Email, Instant Message and a couple of equally caffeinated friends and we have a team, a network, and a filing system.

It’s not the paperless office, or the home office that that I really desire. After all, the immediacy provided by paper is invaluable, and I really like the idea of having a distinction between work time and home time. I desire an ever roaming, always connected, coffee driven (or lemonade $1.90) office that lets me access and do work anywhere and anytime I desire.

Imagine, if you will, a chain of coffee shops where you can walk in twenty-two hours a day (two hours to clean up and restart – forced nap time for the workers). You walk inside and pick up some sheets from a stack of paper and a pen from the donated library area. You also pick up a copy of Ultimate Style : Rules to Writing someone left behind. You then order a double shot café mocha and sit down on your small red desk. The table has more than enough plug points and a hook underneath it to hang your bag. From there you can get print outs at the counter or you can photocopies made. You can take phone calls on your cell phone. Drop my mail at the mailbox outside when you are about to leave. You can have all the amenities that help you work and maybe more. A critique wall where you can get a critical analysis of your work. A discussion sofa where you can absorb and share new thoughts and ideas.

Then again, perhaps a simple quiet coffee shop, a cup of mint tea, classical music, strangers sitting next to me and friends across is enough. Much like this place right here, right now.