Every Monday I write a new blog post for one of my two blogs. I publish a new post every Sunday, so I like to get an early start each week and get another post done.
That’s in spite of the fact that I already have a reserve of several completed posts. If I get sick or go on a vacation, I don’t have to worry about having nothing to publish. My “theme of the day” for Mondays is to write a new post.
About two months ago, I started the practice of leaving home to write a post. I researched local coffee shops in Apple Maps (the find nearby function) and found a few likely prospects.
My partner enjoys coming with me as well. As I research and write, she enjoys a coffee drink and reads, listens to music, or surfs the web. About 11:45 we’ll leave the coffee shop and have our weekly “date lunch.” During our lunch, I focus on her thoughts and what’s going on in her life, and we talk about our joint plans.
Coffee Shop Day Preparations
During the weeks prior to a coffee shop Monday, I collect blog post topics in a Craft document I’ve set up. As I encounter resources and have thoughts about the topic, I’ll add links, or add bullet point notes of things I want to cover in the article.
A day or two prior to when I will be writing on the topic, I review my resources, do more research if appropriate, and open a new mind map document in MindNode. I transfer my bullet points to the mind map, add new points I want to cover, and organize them with headings.
This preparation makes writing the post easy. When I sit down to begin writing I already know what I’m going to write and how it will be organized.
Coffee Shop Day Tools
I always bring a number of tools with me for coffee shop day:
- My 14” MacBook Pro. It’s lightning fast, not too heavy, and has a good-sized screen with crisp and clear text.
- Prescription computer glasses. I bought these about a year ago, and they have been a game changer! No more tilting my head to see through the right bifocal lens.
- A pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 35 noise-canceling headphones. While a little background noise doesn’t disturb me when I’m focused on writing, sometimes a loud group comes in that does disturb my concentration.
- AirPods 3. Sometimes I want to listen to music, but don’t want to wear the big Bose over-the-ear headphones.
- My Logitech G305 mouse and dongle. I’ve never cared for the way the Apple Mouse feels in my hand, and I don’t like using the MacBook Pro’s built-in trackpad for selecting text.
When I’m ready to begin writing, I run the one-and-only Apple Shortcut I’ve written. It places my writing app, Ulysses, on the left half of the screen and my mind mapping app, MindNode, on the right half of the screen. As I write I can stay on track by easily referencing my mind map.
Coffee Shop Day Wrap-Up
After I finish writing the post, I look over my mind map to make sure I didn’t leave anything out. If I did, I go back and add any missing sections.
I run the grammar and spelling check built into Ulysses. I also use the basic function of Grammarly. I do a first edit of the blog post, and send a PDF to my partner to proofread and make any suggestions.
Following another edit, after we get home, I publish the post to WordPress out of Ulysses. In WordPress, I add some formatting, select a featured image, set the SEO keywords and article summary, and set a scheduled date of publication. As the date approaches for the post to be published, I do another edit.
Consider Taking a Coffee Shop Day
Having a coffee shop day has become something my partner and I look forward to every week. We alternate the coffee shops we go to, trying a new shop every couple of weeks.
It gets me out of the house and acts as a way for me to focus on writing a blog post. It brings some variety and pleasure into my life at the same time as accomplishing my work.
If you haven’t tried a coffee shop day as a way of getting your creative work done, I’d encourage you to do so. It’s a nice way to mix productivity and pleasure.