Friday evening at a coffee shop in Portland broke my workaholic streak

I used to take my laptop everywhere, even to meetups with friends. Last month I was at a spot called Heart Coffee and my buddy straight up said "you're not even here." I looked around and realized every freelancer in the room was glued to their screen too. That night I left my laptop at home for the first time in 3 years. Has anyone else had a moment where you just snap out of the grind?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.troy12d ago

Nah, I don't buy it. That laptop is what pays your bills - leaving it at home doesn't make you more present, it just means you're avoiding your responsibilities for a night. The real trick is learning to balance both, not pretending the work doesn't exist.

wadejenkins12d ago

Wait, @gibson.troy, if you're supposed to balance both, how do you actually do that without giving yourself a half-assed version of both? I've tried the whole "laptop on the corner of the table" thing and it just felt worse. You're technically present but your brain's still answering emails and it makes everyone feel like they're bothering you. That's the trap I fell into - I thought I was balancing it but I was really just doing a bad job at two things at once. The laptop at home thing forced me to actually decide what I was doing that night instead of pretending I could do everything.