Wake Up and Hear the Coffee

The office at St. Peter's has a new soundtrack: the dull roar of a coffeehouse! A friend of mine recently turned me on to this hipster version of white noise, coffitivity.com. I must admit, when I first heard about it I was skeptical; how long would it take for me to go insane with this thing rolling in the background? Would I get the jitters, or just crave java all day?

I emailed the link to my work account, and clicked on it as soon as I powered up my computer. Astonishingly, I've had it going almost constantly ever since! There is something oddly comforting about the clattering, chattering din of a desktop cafe; I'm starting to wonder how I ever got anything done without it! True, a hot cup of coffee on hand at all times enhances the experience, but is unnecessary. According to Coffitivity, research shows "it's pretty hard to be creative in a quiet space. And a loud workplace can be frustrating and distracting. But, the mix of calm and commotion in an environment like a coffee house is proven to be just what you need to get those creative juices flowing!"

I truly believe it has helped my creativity; I've had an especially productive week that ended with my cleaning my desk to an unprecedented degree. However, I think there is room for improvement. I wrote to the Coffitivity team and asked them to incorporate more actual "coffeehouse" noise into the mix, such as milk being steamed, beans being ground, orders being called out, texts being sent and received, laptops powering up, etc. I wonder if they'll write me back? In the meantime, I'll stay tuned. Maybe all of a sudden I'll hear someone head out for a smoke and know they're working on keeping it real!