Top 10 Places to Get Work Done

As more and more of us become digital nomads and gain the flexibility to work when and where we’d like. We thought we’d take a look at 10 of the best places to work from. Because everyone knows, keeping your employees happy is all the matters. Worker production and high output days are a thing of the past.

1) The Coffee Shop.

Free wifi? Check. Delicious Pour Over Coffee? Check. Plenty of open space for your laptop and scone? Check. The “coffice” has become the go-to working space in the last 5 years. With the influx of more small business owners and independent contractors, this space serves as a catch-all for creativity. While it’s unsure how many of those 20 somethings at coffee shops actually collect a paycheck, it’s safe to say they look cool as shit doing it.

2) The Couch.

If you’re working on the couch, odds are you don’t have pants on and the TV is getting as much of your attention as the computer is. Probably the first space to breakthrough after America’s workforce was allowed to flee the office. The couch provides all the comforts of home (because, well, you know why). Year after year it’s been voted “Best Destination for House Hunter’s International Breaks in Between Conference Calls” by Forbes*.

3) The Beach. Seriously, Any Beach.

No one actually works at the beach. The best you’ll do here is read a book or check some email. If you put in a full day while sitting at a beautiful tropical resort, you should probably get a refund on your airfare. What to brag to your co-workers when you get back about how much work you got done while on vacation? How fun bragging to your soon-to-be ex-wife, too.

4) The Bar.

The bar is most certainly a high-risk, high-reward play. Perhaps best suited with those coffee shop / bar combos. Do you work early in the day and slip in a conference call with an IPA? Find yourself sending emails into too many beers and you’re going to have a lot of explaining to-do the next day.

“Suzy thanks for sending those reports today… And I just wanted to tell you I dream about the smell of your beautiful hair after every team meeting.

Thanks Again!
Craig”

5) Hotel Room.

The most dreaded work location of all-time. Thought you had a bad enough time working at the client site from 8-8? You’ve been rewarded by your favorite employer to put in a few more hours at the musty motel in – “what’s this city called again?” Hotel room work is the worst, we shouldn’t have even put it on the list. It should actually be #1 on the list of Worst Places to Work from.

6) The Office.

Sometimes the office isn’t that bad, unless you sit in a massive cube farm that takes up 10,000 sq ft. It could be worse, you could be sitting next to the guy who clips his nails every couple hours… oh wait, you do? Might we suggest those new noise-canceling headphones? If done right, the office can be the perfect psychological trigger to put you into work mode. Easy accessibility to others, infinite amounts of paper clips, and a stand up desk? The office is like… the new office?

7) An Airplane.

The airplane is an extremely useful place to get work done, especially during long flights. Of course if you’re anything like me, you have to drink so many gin and tonics just to get through the flight, work is an afterthought. Perhaps best suited for catching up on that new work book you’ve been meaning to read. Try to relax a little, odds are you were working just before you took off, and heading back your cell phone to make business calls once you land.

8) Outside.

The last time I worked outside was during Philosophy 200 in college. For some reason the view of co-eds in bikinis and frisbees helped me verbalize Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In reality, the glare is so bad on every computer screen in the world when outside – how can you even find the address bar? If you’re doing some creative thinking, sketching, or writing with a pen and pad, mother nature may just be the extra push you need. And if you do look to setup shop for an entire day, stay away from the co-eds and frisbees.

9) Co-working Space.

Ah the co-working space, a big FU to the Baby Boomers. Millennials don’t need no stinking walls, or pragmatics desks, or even chairs. We’re going to work and talk loudly so everyone in the room can hear us. Conference call? Perfect, everyone needed to know exactly how much my October expense report was. While the co-working space is an improvement over the conventional cubicle, it’s a quiet worker’s worst nightmare. Give it a try and see how long you can last.

10) The Bathroom Stall.

Last year German Researchers revealed that more emails are sent sitting on toilets than any other location in the world**. The bathroom stall just made the cut this year, but we already see it as an emerging trend for 2014. With the push to mobile and BYODs in the workplace, we’re expecting your boss to hold breakout session here very soon. Sit down and let the words per minute fly, but please don’t forget a courtesy flush and your sanitizer wipes. You’ll probably be texting on that same phone at lunch time.

*This is totally made up. To anyone at Forbes, I apologize. But you should research this stat, it’s probably huge!

**Again, made this one up too. For some reason “German” Researchers always sounds so much more credible

Craig Baldwin is a former accountant turned startup founder. He’s currently the CMO of Cincinnati-based startup Sqrl. Craig’s also a BBQ enthusiast, writer, and purveyor of delicious vintage cocktails. 

This post originally appeared on the Sqrl blog.