The coffee shop that killed my overnight turnaround streak

Back in 2018 I used to work out of a specific cafe on 3rd street in Portland. They had a back table with outlets and stayed open until 2am. I could take a rush job at 10pm and have it done by dawn. Then that cafe closed down and I tried to replicate it at a 24-hour diner across town. The wifi was spotty and the booth lights flickered too much. It took me three late-night gigs to admit I was losing money on those jobs because the environment was wrong. Has anyone else had a go-to spot close down and had to totally change how they handle urgent deadlines?

3 comments

3 Comments

sanchez.ivan4d ago

dim Edison bulbs" haha those are the worst. I used to roll my eyes at people blaming lighting but now I totally get it.

pat_harris4d ago

Everything's about vibe over function now... form over substance everywhere you look.

lisas784d ago

I had a spot at this place called The Grind in Seattle that was perfect for late night deadline work until they got bought out and reopened as a bougie wine bar. The new owners put in these dim Edison bulbs that made it impossible to see my laptop screen clearly. After a week of trying to force it to work I just gave up on that whole area and switched to working from home with a solid lamp and a white noise machine.