Last week was a bit of an anomaly for me in that I ate out every day for lunch and sometimes breakfast, ALONE! I even went to a bar that had WiFi access on one of those days.
Now regular readers know that I”m frugal if not out and out cheap, so why would I do such a foolish, totally unfrugal, spendthrift thing?
Well, last week I was able to telecommute in to work the entire week, so that gave me a cushion in my regular spending to the tune of about $7 or $8 dollars extra a day that I saved on gas from not driving. With gas hovering around $3.75, it’s easy to say that my dining experience didn’t cost me anything extra than typical that week.
Now some will say, “What about the time you spend driving to the coffee shops and bars“? Well, I drive each and everyday at lunch when I’m onsite at work too. If I’m not eating out, I’m driving to the library to borrow DVDs and books for free!
Still, what about the tip? Basically I usually spend some money when I’m on-site at work for lunch, so I’m pretty sure the cost of a regular meal covers the tip, and with money left to spare.
Panera Bread
Eating Out Alone Reasoning
Why eat out alone? I was curious to see how my environment would help or hurt my creative process while blogging. In the recent past, I also went to a few local coffee shops alone, so that I could see how it would affect my writing. My success in the past was spotty at best. Not so this time!
This time I went to “Panera Bread” to have lunch (and one day breakfast), and much to my surprises, I was able to crank out posts quickly and with what I considered some originality! One such article was How Money Can Improve Your Life and Make You Happier. This article lead to a composite article of all the comments compiled into a sister article the next day! It was an incredible list that was built!
The point of the experiment was to get comfortable write while in the middle (or at least close in proximity) at a large groups of people. Then to seek inspiration by feeding off my surrounding via the different types of people in the restaurant. I had a lot of success when I went to “Panera Bread“! A few days of eating alone at this restaurant made me realize that I was not so unique in eating out alone. In fact, there were plenty (maybe 20%) of people just like me, with there laptops working on their own thing. I also saw a lot of business being conducted at the restaurant.
It was an incredible experiment that gave me a better sense of what it would be like if I were blogging full-time at the ultimate mobile business. I can see if I had a few posts scheduled to post in advance, how I could practically go anyway, totally unrestricted by location.
Thanks for reading about my little experiment,
MR
So it helped your creativity? I’ve often wondered about how people can do homework or write in a busy cafe like Starbucks, but I get it. It changes the environment up and helps with the thinking process.
I was able to think of things to write about by soaking up the environment at the coffee shop.
It also has a home feel that help quite a bit too. When at Panera, I like to be beside the fireplace when it’s snowing outside… Very cool 🙂
It sounds as though you could get used to this way of life. I know I would like to sdo it on an International basis. A little coffee at a Paris cafe sounds great to me!
I’ve thought the same. If I were completely mobile in work, I would like to travel the world… or at least the good parts (lol). Paris, Italy, Japan, etc.. it would all be good.
So long as you can focus and tune out any surrounding noises or movement – it’s a great idea! Helps with separating “home life” and “work life” too =)
It was a fun and interesting week. I also got to act like I was a full-time blogger, and that was pretty cool.
Awesome experiment. Were you thrown off if something from your day job popped up? Like KC said, sounds like you could get used to this lifestyle. 🙂
I don’t have a laptop, but I do often stop for breakfast on the way to my painting class and spend a little time blogging on my phone 🙂
I think if I worked from home, I’d have to get out of the house for some period of time!
I have done a lot of writing while sitting at Panera. My kids have gymnastics practice for several hours so it sometimes is preferable to go to the nearby Panera rather than spend the money on gas driving home.
Hmmm – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APATLrEte9s
i think it sharpens one’s brain to be able to focus on a noisy envrionment, i too love Panera Bread and they have lot’s of space, good wi-fi and great food. I could kill a few hours in there writing for sure if I ever had the free time.
I’m taking some time off too and wasn’t very productive at home today. I’ll try the library tomorrow. I don’t think I can do much work at a coffee shop, but I’ll try that at some point too.
I have noticed that I’m more productive when I visit Starbucks.
I throw in the headphones and listen to music quietly and it really helps my focus. I’ve gotten away from this a bit because I now have a home office and generally just blog here.
I might have to give the Sbux a try again. Fun experiment!
I eat out alone all the time, and not for working. I just do it because I like the food and I don’t have anyone to go with me.
I rarely do that at restaurants where there is a server that waits on you though; it’s almost always at restaurants where you order at the front and they being your food, like Panera.
P.S. Panera started as St. Louis Bread Company in St. Louis. They still go by that name in the St. Louis area.
In college, I loved to write in Starbucks. It was a creative outlet to be able to look around at my surroundings, become inspired, then completely tune out the coffee shop noise to concentrate. I also tried this at my hotel’s 24-hour lobby when I was away from home for a week. It was a great experiment — something I should do again!
Enjoyed reading about your experiment. It sounds as if you will be doing that again. Way to go, getting out of your comfort zone.
I love writing at Panera. Life is finally settling down so I may just head there this weekend. For me though, I need to be ‘inspired’, and no matter where I am, sometimes the ideas just aren’t there. Maybe I need to nap, and then go to Panera… 🙂