Coffitivity | Blog

Block Distracting Apps and Websites with Freedom

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 12:53:43 -0500

The Other Productivity Tool You Need

You sit down to work at the computer. 45 minutes later you realize that you’ve gotten hardly anything done because you’ve been checking email, the news, your social feeds, the latest price on that phone case you want… Sound familiar?

We’re all living that reality – a constant, vast world of compelling digital distractions that continually demand our attention.

Fortunately, there’s a way to eliminate those distractions and even break your habit of succumbing to them. The answer is Freedom.

Freedom gives you complete control over digital distractions, allowing you to block specific websites, apps or the entire internet when and where you want. The Freedom platform works in sync across all your Mac, Windows iOS and Android devices.

Here are some ways to use Freedom and to get your work done without falling into the trap of digital distractions.

BLOCK WEBSITES

Whether meeting a deadline or studying – we’ve all needed a little help staying focused. This is what Freedom is most known for – blocking distracting sites. Freedom allows you to select which websites you want to block, and on which of your devices.

If you try to access a blocked site during a Freedom session, your browser will instead display a calming green screen, gently reminding you that you’ve committed to getting some work done.

BLOCK APPS

Another core feature of Freedom is the ability to block distracting apps. Determine which apps distract you (like games, email, Slack…), and add them as blocked apps to a Freedom session.

If you try to open those apps during a Freedom session they’ll be shut down instantly, so your attention never has a chance to be diverted.

BLOCK THE ENTIRE INTERNET

Sometimes it’s hard to know what distractions you need to be blocking - there are so many.

What to do? Use Freedom’s “Block All Websites” feature to essentially shut off the internet during your work session.

You can even block everything except (whitelist) if you choose, allowing yourself access to only what you need for work (including of course, Coffitivity!)

TRY FREEDOM TODAY

Freedom is free to try, and if you want to use our more powerful features, we’re including an offer code, just for Coffitivity users. Use code COFFEE for 30% off a Freedom Yearly subscription!

Updates Are Coming! Pt 1.

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 13:13:40 -0400

This is Part 1 of a multipart series where we discuss upcoming expansions and developments for Coffitivity. Learn how the community can get involved, and plug in for a chance to win some cash!

Upcoming Expansions and Developments?

There’s a lot coming but, if you’re eager to get involved right this second, take our survey now for a chance to win $25 gift card to Starbucks.

Why now?

Coffitivity has always been at most a side project for those who’ve spent any time working on it. And, while we all still have full-time jobs but, some of us are coming back to work on some deserved updates. The community has given us plenty of support over the years and we’re committed to giving ours right back.

A [Brief] Look into the Past

Before we talk about where we’re heading, we should reflect on where we’ve been. A lot has changed since we first launched Coffitivity in March of 2013. We’ve been through countless design updates. We’ve added new tracks. We even created mobile and desktop apps (RIP desktop app).

Those changes and updates could not have happened without our friends and the community chipping in. We’re incredibly fortunate to have you all in our corner. Thank you all for your support!

With all that said, we want to make it clear that change is good a thing. It’s at the heart of Coffitivity, it’s what we thrive on, and it’s time for some more.

A Plan for the Future

Okay so here’s the fun part: we’re bringing you along for the ride. No great company (or product for that matter) is built in isolation. Shoot, we even listened to the first Coffitivity track when we built the original website to test its efficacy. As such, we want and NEED you, our friends and community, to get involved. In a few steps below, we’ll show you how.

Phase 1: Research

From the roots of the company we’ve leaned against strong research and we have no plans to stop that today. We’ll be gathering our data in two ways. The first will be through this survey (Version 1). We’ll keep adding to it as we learn and want to explore new ideas and concepts. As an incentive, we’ll be offering $25 Starbucks gift cards to four selected participants.

The second method of gathering information will be through customer interviews. We’ll use the bulk of this data to inform our next direction for Coffitivity.

Click here to take our Phase 1 Research Survey (Version 1)

Phase 2: Short-Term Updates

In the short-term during the research phase, we’ll also dedicate time to work on smaller, already known issues. We’ll also release smaller, previously requested updates to the site. This will also include things like more audio tracks! Expect those changes over the next few weeks.

Phase 3: Gain Community Feedback on Expansion Ideas

After we finish conducting the surveys and interviews, we’ll display the [anonymous] results online for review. We’ll then poll the results to determine a priority and path for growth.

Phase 4: Build and Beta Release

This one is pretty straightforward. Once we know what our next best path is, the Coffitivity team will build test products. We may even need to recruit some of the amazing community talent to lend us a hand in the process! We’ll use these MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) to test for functionality and bugs across a small group of beta testers.

Phase 5: Repeat

We hope that after these next updates, we can continue this process. for other expansions. With this type of exchange among the community, we’ll be able some pretty awesome stuff. It will definitely be a long process but, we’re looking forward to having some fun along the way!

Get involved today by taking our survey. Four lucky participants will win a $25 gift card to Starbucks.

Stay creative, y’all.
-Justin K.

The Time to Go Remote is Now

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 16:18:11 -0400

If current trends continue, it seems pretty clear that for many people around the world, freelance work is the wave of the future. Some estimate that by 2020, 50 percent of the workforce in America will be freelancers (although freelancing might not be their full-time, or their only, job).

Due to changes in technology, economics, and how we view work and careers, we live in a transitional time when it comes to labor, but whether you’re a freelancer or you work for a company like Buffer where all employees are remote, its important to consider the benefits of working remotely, as well as to explore the various tools that are making working remotely easier.

The Benefits of Working Remotely

Forbes reports that remote workers are happier, feel more valued, and feel they are more productive. The report does not go into detail about why these workers are happier or more productive, but anyone who has worked in an office environment can think of an almost endless list of things that hinder progress and leave a worker feeling dejected. There are office politics. There’s the time wasted gossiping, or having unnecessary meetings.

And then there’s the commute. Commuting times are increasing throughout the country and, not only are commutes expensive for a worker, they, according to Psychology Today, can, “cause bad moods when arriving at work and coming home, increased lateness and missed work, and worsened cognitive performance.” Worse, they take time away from family and friends, increase stress, and decrease the amount of time a worker has for things like exercise, hobbies, or other activities.

Working remotely, by contrast, saves a worker a ton of time—all you have to do is roll out of bed and open up your laptop. You don’t even have to leave your bed if you don’t want to. You don’t even have to change out of your pajamas, unless you’re a freelancer who is going to Skype with a new client. Or a remote worker who has a video meeting with her boss.

Technology is Making Remote Work Easier

One potential pitfall for remote or freelance work is a lack of communication. In a traditional office setting, if you need something from a coworker or supervisor, you can just poke your head into their office and ask for it. Fortunately, there are endless tools and apps for communicating with teams or with clients remotely. There’s Slack, Google Hangouts, and many other tools for both text and video conferencing.

There’s also technology that helps a freelance worker automate many of their tasks, schedule emails or social media posts in advance, or work from anywhere in the world.

As technology continues to advance, and WiFi signals continue to be available at nearly every cafe, or public library, or sometimes in entire cities, the need for face-to-face meetings can be easily replaced, just as snail mail is not nearly as efficient as email.

Working Remotely is Fun

Okay, maybe it’s not as fun as going to see your favorite band, or out to a great restaurant, or whatever it is you like to do with your free time, but its more fun than putting on uncomfortable clothes, fighting through traffic, and sitting in a cubicle.

When you work remotely, you can do things your way. Maybe that means blasting your favorite album (or using Coffitivity) while you work, or taking a break to cook a delicious breakfast, or stopping every 45 minutes to do some push-ups or play the piano or drink your fourteenth cup of coffee. No one will think you are crazy for any of this, because you are free to do what you need to do to be productive.

And, if you’re a freelancer, when your work ends, it ends. There’s no need to sit around looking busy when you aren’t busy. If you’re finished all the work you need to do in a day in three hours, you don’t need to waste another five or six in the office just because everyone has to be there from 9-to-5.

Of course, as a freelancer, you also have to drum up more work for yourself, so you can’t slack off or you’ll find yourself without enough clients to pay the bills.

Cost of Living

Working remotely has another benefit: You can choose where you live. Your clients might be in Manhattan or San Francisco, but, if you don’t want to be, you don’t have to (and you don’t have to pay the exorbitant rents there, either). That means you can control your cost of living. When all you need is an internet connection to get your work done, you can live almost anywhere. Check out this list of the cheapest cities to work remotely in—you might be surprised at how little you need to make to cover your housing costs and basic living expenses in some of the biggest cities in the world.

Control Your Own Destiny

By working remotely, especially as a freelancer, you have the ability to generate numerous streams of income. If you have 20 clients, it doesn’t hurt so badly when you lose one—you still have money coming in from the other 19, but if you’re employed traditionally, if you lose your job, you lose all of your income.

Not only is working as a freelancer a way to control how many sources of income you have, you can also have different types of income. You can design websites in the morning, write copy in the afternoon, and go out gigging with your cover band at night. And all of those things can make you money.

If you work remotely for a company, you, of course, don’t want to “double dip.” You shouldn’t be working on personal projects or on your side business while you’re on the company’s time. But, by working remotely, depending on the type of job you have, you can still increase the amount of time you have for your personal projects by cutting out commutes, or finishing your projects as efficiently as possible.

The fact is, remote work is here to stay and more and more companies and individuals are taking the leap. If you’re sick of the traditional office environment, maybe it’s time to start your own freelance business, or look for a job that allows for remote work. Who knows where you will end up?

By John Arthur

“John Arthur is a writer and musician. His band is called The Deafening Colors.”

Freelance Isn’t Free

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 09:56:10 -0400

We recently posted about the steps you can take to minimize late payments and avoid nonpayment from flakey clients. Our friends at the Freelancers Union have been thinking about the same issues and over the past year, they’ve been pushing for new legislation in New York City protecting freelancers and providing recourse if you end up in a bad client situation. The time for a vote is just around the corner and we all have a chance to do our part in making sure the Freelance Isn’t Free Act is passed! For all of our NYC freelancers, this is one of the most important steps you can take to make sure you don’t get stiffed again. Even if you’re not in NYC, this legislation is still super important as it could serve as a model for YOUR city and others across the globe.

We read through the act itself and you can do the same [here]. (It’s totally worth the read if you’re kinda nerdy and like this stuff like we do.) If you’re NOT like us, that probably good and exactly why we pulled a couple points we really dig and wanted to share.

1) Any person or company who hires a freelance working must execute a written contract detailing the scope of work being performed, payment method, and when payment is due.

2) Payment in full will be required within 30 days of the completion of the project or of the payment due date, whichever is later.

3) If there is a breach of the above terms, the bill could be enforced by the Office of Labor Standards or such entity as the mayor may designate - freelancers would no longer be left to fend for themselves!

How can you help?

-Sign this petition to show your support for the Freelance Isn’t Free Act.

-You can read more about the legislation at The New York City Councilhere or here on the Freelancer’s Union blog.

-Share with your friends, peers, and colleagues so this bill actually gets the support it needs to make all of our lives better.

A guest post by Painless1099.

Read more from them here: http://blog.painless1099.com/

The Art of Procrastination

Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:01:11 -0400

I’m the king of procrastination. Seriously, I’m the worst. I somehow manage to spend 100x more energy not doing something than a fraction of the same energy starting said thing. It makes no sense, but I have an incredible knack for talking myself out of getting moving on a project. If this sounds like you, I assure you, we’re a lot alike. For me, it’s starting that’s the hard part and unfortunately, what I’ve found is that there’s no trick for getting going. The reality is, you have to just dive in. Prolific advice, right? I’m pretty much the Shia Labeouf of doing important shit. Just do it. Really though, I think what’s important here is reminding myself that often times the work I push off isn’t actually that hard. While there’s no magic pill for getting into a project, I have found a couple tricks that help get over the hurdle and allow me to settle in on work that I’m less than enthused about.

Find people who hold you accountable

Shoutout to my longtime partner and professional slave driver, Justin. He’s a bully when I’m behind on work, and rightfully so. We’ve been working together for years at this point and have developed a rhythm and a friendship that allows him to push me through some of my blocks - especially because my blocks can become blockers for him and that’s one of his all-time biggest pet peeves. Having someone with high expectations of you getting projects moving is a great way to keep you honest. Whether you lean on clients or collaborators, partners or peers, having folks in your corner to hold you to your schedule so they don’t get behind is a blessing in disguise. Trust me, I have to remind myself constantly when I have Justin breathing down my neck to finish a post or edit a document. Pressure is good!

Embrace good distractions

A shameless Coffitivity plug and basically Exhibit A of “getting high on your own supply” here, but whatever. We literally built Coffitivity to be able to work better and I’m an avid user of the platform on the daily. As you might have read, the science behind Coffitivity says being a tiny bit distracted gets your creative juices flowing. I’m a firm believer and an advocate of having that coffee shop chatter in the background of my work day. Even on the go, I plug in with our mobile app and it keeps me focused on the train, in a cab, or simply when I don’t have wifi in one of those bougie “we don’t want you to be productive” cafes in Williamsburg.

Minimize bad distractions

Recently, I’ve taken to putting my phone and laptop on Do Not Disturb while I’m in the middle of a project. This is pretty hard to do given how things happen on the fly in the world of freelancing and/or startups that we need to keep up with. That said, cutting down on how frequently you’re checking in on the outside world can help you maximize your efficiency at work. For writing, tools like Blankslate.io are great gems for a minimal, distraction-free writing experience. Techniques like Pomodoro can help establish a cadence for blocking out the world, while still scheduling regular intervals to check in on clients, kids, and the casserole in the over on occasion.

Good (affordable) gear helps

I love my headphones. Hard stop. Seriously, without headphones I wouldn’t be able to get a lick of work done. As it turns out the rest of our team is in the same boat. At time of writing, we have 4 pairs of Sony headphones, 1 set of Bose, some generic Apple headphones, and Matt has a $500 pair of Sennheiser Momentum Bluetooth Wireless Over-Ear Headset with NFC because he’s a showoff and likes nice things. Regardless of the price point of your gear, make sure you have good, functional gear so you can do quick, efficient work when it matters. Along those lines, I’ll also recommend considering going analog if you hit a block. One of the best ways for me to get a move on a project is to sketch or do prewriting in my Moleskine Cahier Journal. Whether you’re a digital or analog kinda guy/gal, good gear is worth investing in (as long as it doesn’t break the bank).

Find the right tunes

Ya boy loves some Explosions in the Sky or This Will Destroy You. My partner Matt, on the other hand, loves his jazz or showtunes (for whatever reason). To each, his own, of course. Just make sure to find the right jams (or lack thereof) for you so you can dig in when you don’t want to work, but have to. Currently I have a few shared Spotify playlists with friends that allows us to kill two birds with one stone - we stay connected, but we also stay head down in the middle of the workday. It’s great! On that front, keep an eye out for a few updates on the music side of things from the crew here at Coffitivity. We’ll be curating a few playlists like this one over the coming months with some new music we really dig for plugging into work or jammin’ out during your breaks.

–
Shoutout to Justin, the Coffitivity app, Sony, Blankslate.io, and This Will Destroy You for making this post possible. If it weren’t for them, I’d still be watching Will Ferrell cat videos.

Stay creative,
-a

The Importance of Coffee Pot Design

Fri, 05 Aug 2016 09:41:02 -0400

Design by Freepik

I’ve recently been working on-site for a client, and I could not understand why the coffee pot was always empty. Sure, there are plenty of people in the office who drink coffee, albeit at a moderate pace in comparison to my constant need to mainline it, but somehow there never seemed to be any brewed in the nice, stainless steel pots.

While I consider myself a team player, having to brew an entire pot (four whole minutes of my day) nearly every time I want a caffeine fix seems excessive.

Once the initial grumbling wore off, my curiosity took over. I watched from outside the kitchen to understand what was going on. People were coming in, filling up their cups and mugs and then heading back to work. It all seemed so normal.

Then it happened. A fellow came in, poured a few sips out of the pot, and the coffee stopped flowing. I put my head down, not wanting my observation to influence the outcome of his behavior. He casually looked around, replaced the pot, and walked out.

An offender! I thought. Surely this is the culprit for this pot. Every pot in the building must have it’s analogous bad actor who leaves the pot empty and slinks out, unobserved.

After a couple more days of observation, I confirmed the behavioral pattern. The coffee runs out mid-cup, and even with others present, the empty pot victim would casually slide the pot back, un-refilled.

The humanity! What about this particular place made these seemingly wonderful people such heathens, unable to abide by the cardinal rule of “You kill it, you fill it?”

The answer was in the coffee pot itself. You see, unlike the pots of yore, those plastic-ringed diner staples with crusty grounds burned to the bottom, these pots have class. They’re high-tech, insulated stainless steel with pour tops, so you can brew the coffee into them without ever having to open the pot.

Did this level of coddling somehow dull the empathy of these otherwise great people? Were the pots too fancy or difficult for the average person to operate? I portend the answer to these is no. It is the simple fact that the pots are opaque that is to blame.

In a traditional clear-pot kitchen, the offense of leaving an empty pot is a giant middle finger to the rest of your colleagues, marking you as a person who has little regard for human life.

In a kitchen with opaque coffee pots, the social order breaks down. The fear of being seen in your transgression is next to zero, as you can always have the defense of not being able to tell how empty the pot is, and even if someone sees you commit your heinous act, they have to confront you directly.

With a clear-pot you both know what has to be done.

A guest post by Charles Merritt.

View the original and read more here: https://medium.com/@charlestm/the-importance-of-coffee-pot-design-6832dab69b7d#.wagdcz75y

Freelance Hacks: Tax Tips for Self-Employment

Wed, 27 Jul 2016 16:09:25 -0400

Being self-employed is hard, plain and simple. Finding clients, managing expectations, keeping track of time and appointments, and then actually getting work done is a handful. And, of course, when tax season rolls around you have to deal with the hassle of getting 1099 taxes filed. Sorting through receipts and praying you don’t get blindsided by a bigger bill than you expected is fun, right? Not! Tax season should be just as easy for someone who’s self-employed as it is for people with a W-2 job, which is why we put together this short list of things to help avoid a tax nightmare.

1) Stay on top of your quarterly payments.

One of the messiest parts of self-employment is not having an employer automatically withholding Social Security and Medicare taxes for you. On top of that, the IRS requires you to make estimated quarterly payments for these taxes, which means you’ll need to play accordingly. If you owe over $1,000 and don’t make these payments, you could be charged penalties. The best part about paying quarterlies is getting Uncle Sam’s cash out of your bank account so you’re not tempted to spend it because there’s nothing worse than having to stroke a check on tax day that you don’t have the money for. Make sure you mark your calendar for the quarterly estimate filing dates - which can be found here.

2) You can always file an extension if you’re behind.

If you’re feeling behind the 8 Ball even with a few extra days, make sure to file an extension for your personal taxes (super easy to do through most tax software). You can also head to the IRS FreeFile page for a run down of options to file your extension for free. Remember, as of 1/1/16, the IRS has the power to revoke or deny your passport in certain cases of unpaid taxes, so use the extra few days to take a look while you still have time!

3) Keep track of your expenses.

If you’re self-employed, you have ample opportunities to take tax deductions. Anything including your home office, mileage driving, meetings, coffees with clients, and the water bottles you keep stocked in your Uber can be written off if you’re prudent about keeping records of these expenditures. Fortunately there are some great options out there for tracking expenses. Check out QuickBooks Self-Employed or Xero Tax Touch for a great way to categorize expenditures for clients. MileIQ can help you log mileage and 99Deductions can help you understand what you can expense. While you’re at it, take a look at Hurdlr, a holistic finance app for freelancers built by 99Deductions. With so much awesome technology at our fingertips, there’s no reason to get behind on expenses over the year! This will make all the difference in driving down your total end of the year tax obligation.

4) Find a great accountant.

Finding a good accountant will pay off in the long run, literally. Knowing what you can write off as a business expense makes all the difference when it comes to driving down your overall tax bill. Working with the right accountant or software will make sure that you aren’t overpaying at the end of the year. For instance, CPAforFreelancers is a phenomenal resource for anybody who is self-employed (not just for freelancers as the name might suggest). You can hire them to take care of actually filing your taxes for you. Brass Taxes is another great site for all of your tax needs. They even have a price estimator on the homepage to help you calculate if working with them fits your budget. If you’re a little more tech inclined, check out BotKeeper, an “AI” bookkeeper for your small business.

5) Make sure to save 30% for taxes.

Saving is hard — no surprise here. Even if you’re meticulous about your expenses, you’re still expected to pay quarterly estimated taxes on roughly 30% of your self-employment income, which means you need to be keeping an eye on not only how much you earn, but how much you set aside for Uncle Sam. The good news is we’ve created a solution so that you can focus on your work and we can save your money for you. Painless1099 is a smart bank account that automates tax withholding from each payment of 1099 income you receive. With a Painless1099 account, all you have to do is connect your direct deposit or invoicing tool (like Quickbooks Invoicing, Freshbooks, or Harvest) to your new smart savings account and input a few tidbits of information about your tax status. Once you’re setup, Painless will watch for 1099 income, separate taxes based on your tax status, and pass your spendable cash along to your personal checking account. We get it, you’re busy as a freelancer, which is why we made it easy to be prepare for tax season. All in all, tax season doesn’t have to be stressful. The beauty of staying on top of your 1099 taxes is that you can treat April as if it’s just another month. If you’re ever looking for more tips on being self-employed, you can talk to our team on the chat portal on our home page. Keep in mind we’re offering free lifetime withholding for our awesome beta users, so go sign up for Painless1099 today!

—

Dear Reader,

This is meant as a guide, not professional financial or tax advice. If you have any questions about your taxes or your deductions, hire an accountant or ask a tax professional.

Love,

Painless1099’s Lawyers

#workwhereyouwant

Wed, 24 Feb 2016 12:59:14 -0500

#workwhereyouwant

1099 taxes don't have to be hard.

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 09:51:53 -0400

To our freelancers and 1099er friends - now there’s a better way to save for tax season!

First off, congrats. You made it through tax season 2015! Hopefully you came out unscathed, but if you’re anything like us, taxes were a nightmare. Trust us, we get it. Which is why over the past few months we’ve been building Painless1099 to solve the headache of 1099 taxes for people like you and us!

Painless1099 is the first automated tax withholding for 1099 hustlers. Think: freelance creatives, 1099 contractors, on-demand drivers, you name it - anyone who collects a 1099 and has to pay Uncle Sam throughout the year. We’re talking about people like you and people like the team here at Coffitivity!

Painless1099 is the simplest way to save for your quarterly taxes so you can worry less about your tax bill from 1099 income and focus more on doing the work you know and love. With a Painless1099 bank account, you can direct all of your client billing to your new, smart withholding account and count on us to do the rest! We separate what you should set aside for taxes and we’ll send your remaining cash directly to your personal checking account. No hassle, no headache; you’ll be squared away with enough cash saved to pay taxes on time every time. The best part - Painless1099 is completely free to use!

We’re opening up the first few Painless1099 accounts today just for our Coffitivity family and we’d love for you to check out the platform, get signed up, and start saving for Tax Day 2016 today!

Pop over to Painless1099.com to get started and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop a line to hello@painless1099.com! And of course, if you think of someone you know who needs a Painless1099 account, don’t forget to share this with them.

We’re stoked to having you using Painless1099 and can’t wait to make your taxes a little easier this year!

As always, stay creative,
-the Coffitivity crew

Coffee Talk: Tommy Nicholas | blankslate.ioWelcome to the first...

Wed, 04 Mar 2015 11:02:26 -0500

Coffee Talk: Tommy Nicholas | blankslate.io

Welcome to the first edition of Coffee Talk. In this series, we get to know makers, developers, creatives, and the other generally cool people that make up our audience. We’ll get a brief rundown on what you’re working on and share it with the rest of the community.

This episode, we’re talking to our good pal Tommy Nicholas about an app called blankslate.io that he and Scott Clark have developed to help capture those quick thoughts you have while working on your laptop.

One of our favorite hacks is to set our Chrome homepage to blankslate.io. That way you can just ⌘ + T for a new tab and then ⌘ + Shift + H for a homepage you can type on.

What hacks can you guys and gals come up with?

I want to do a science fair project on something to do with coffitivity, what do u suggest. I am a freshman in HS. - an interested friend

Sat, 06 Sep 2014 20:18:50 -0400

That's a great question! Maybe you could test performance on creative tasks with people using Coffitivity vs. not using Coffitivity. For instance, you could give a random object to a group of people (a handful of people with Coffitivity in their headphones and a handful of people not plugged in) and ask them to come up with as many uses for the object as possible in a set amount of time. 10 - 15 minutes, perhaps?This would allow you to test how effective Coffitivity is in getting creative juices flowing for your test users.

We're thinking out loud of course, but this could be an interesting experiment on how distraction helps people work creatively. Let us know what you decide to do and how it goes. =)

As always, stay creative!

-a

The Power of a Day Off

Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:37:00 -0400

As we near the end of another Labor Day weekend, I took a few minutes to step back and think about why this holiday even exists in the first place. Beyond a great excuse to hang out at back yard pool parties and barbecues, all while dreading the start of another school year, I knew there had to be a practical reason for the holiday we all love here in the States. The TL;DR history lesson is that in the mid 19th century, we started the annual tradition of honoring those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.“ Just after the industrial revolution, we created a holiday to celebrate the working man’s accomplishments. In short – Labor Day is a way to celebrate our productivity.

This mini history lesson led me to a more practical realization: The go-go-go mentality that we creatives tend to embrace so dearly carves out little time for kicking back hitting refresh. Yet, the majority of our work requires us to be at the top of our game with continually fresh perspectives. These ideas seem hard to reconcile and I realize now that Labor Day (especially in 2014) has several benefits, two of which really resonated with me.

1) A day off is a great opportunity to get our feet back under us to create something even more spectacular.

There’s a prime example of this in our recent rebuild of Coffitivity.com. After an entire summer of coding, designing, rewriting code, and redesigning, we got a build that we’re proud of out to our fans. Of course we know – especially in the web world – that a build is never truly finished as there will always be bugs, tweaks, and updates. Even still, it helps so much to stop and look at a project for what’s been made rather than what it’s missing. On the evening that we finally shipped Coffitivity 3.0, we went straight to the bar. We didn’t pass go; we didn’t collect $200, we just sat and drank and not one of us mentioned the website we had just pushed live. It was a great break from a project we had been looking at constantly for longer than we care to admit. What’s even more interesting is that when we finally jumped back into the website almost an entire day later, we felt refreshed and ready to rock. Simply put, the break was re-energizing and we were better for it individually and as a team.

The second benefit of Labor Day hit me after recalling a recent series of (un)fortunate events in which I found myself stranded with no computer, iPad, cell battery, charger, or house keys. I had my wallet and my bike and the inventory ends there. After spending some time contemplating my peculiar situation, I just started riding. There was no destination, no goal in mind. I did nothing but wander and wonder why I hadn’t done more of it sooner. An hour later I stopped at one of our favorite Richmond spots for a bite to eat, and for the first time in what felt like ages, I enjoyed lunch without any work sitting in front of me. I had unknowingly forced myself to unplug and enjoy a gorgeous day free of emails, phone calls, students, or clients…and that’s when it hit me.

2) Work for work’s sake makes no sense if we never take time off to appreciate what we've created.

As writers, designers, entrepreneurs, and creatives, it’s incumbent on us to celebrate the act of creation by (bear with me here), not making. Seems counter intuitive, yeah? Yet, at some point during the day I realized something: my day off represented on a grand scale the same core philosophy behind Coffitivity. The science supporting what we’ve built essentially says that we need to have a little bit of distraction to avoid focusing too much on our work at hand. With our website, coffee shop sounds provide that tiny bit of distraction to help get creative juices flowing. As it turns out, accidentally unplugging forced me enjoy a simple lunch at a coffee shop which was the perfect distraction from my daily grind. It gave me a second to breathe and think about why we built Coffitivity and continue to work on it. At the end of my day off, I felt re-inspired and more excited than ever to dive back into building a company that helps people work a little bit better and there’s definitely something to be said for that.

So, as we gear up to make the most of our Labor Day, take a second to appreciate what it really offers us. Whether your day consists of beer-filled kiddie pools and corn hole or quietly reading and relaxing, just make sure you’re actually taking time to unplug, kick back, and recharge. Tomorrow will be here before you know it and you’ll be ready to do more work worth taking a day off to celebrate.

-a

Green Screen Tuesday Recap So…this week we did what...

Thu, 31 Jul 2014 12:16:00 -0400

Green Screen Tuesday Recap

So…this week we did what we’ve appropriately named Green Screen Tuesday, which was made up on (you guessed it) this Tuesday. Pretty much we had breakfast over at Plant Zero Cafe and they have an awesome green wall right behind where we were sitting. One thing led to another and ACe ended up volunteering to have his picture taken to send out to the masses for Photoshopping. The first photo is the original and the rest are a few results from around the internet! Let us know which on is YOUR favorite.

Feel free to save the green screen picture and put your own spin on our fearless co-founder. Game on.

As always, stay creative!

-the coffitivity crew

😌☕️ #momentswithsunday #coffee

Sun, 22 Jun 2014 15:21:47 -0400

😌☕️ #momentswithsunday #coffee

Proper start to Saturday #rva (at Sub Rosa Bakery)

Sat, 14 Jun 2014 12:42:08 -0400

Proper start to Saturday #rva (at Sub Rosa Bakery)

App Crash Fixed - 6/09/14

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 12:55:43 -0400

Boom. Crisis averted. The app is no longer crashing and we’re back at cruising altitude.

We want to apologize to anyone we threw a wrench at this morning. Our bad - no coffee shop sounds is no way to start the week!

Thanks for being patient. Stay creative out there!

-a

iOS App Crash - 6/09/14

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 10:58:00 -0400

Hey Coffitivity Crew!

Bad News: We’re getting some reports of the Coffitivity iOS app crashing on load. According to everyone we’ve heard from, the issue started this morning and doesn’t allow you to open the app past the splash screen. We are, of course, working to get to the bottom of the problem and will keep everyone posted when we get back up and running!

Good News: You can still get your #sounds4work (for free of course) on the web at Coffitivity.com, on Android (just in case you’re awesome and use iPhone AND Android), on Kindle, and on Mac.

Stay plugged in and creative. We’ll holler at everyone shortly!

-a

We had a great time today catching up with our friend...

Fri, 16 May 2014 15:45:30 -0400

We had a great time today catching up with our friend @brianmcdinosaur for a guest blog post on @ledburyshirts. #entrepreneurship #creativity #style #rva

Pro tip: iced winter white tea + vanilla + lemon = a perfect...

Tue, 06 May 2014 15:51:37 -0400

Pro tip: iced winter white tea + vanilla + lemon = a perfect afternoon pick-me-up after a hectic morning #RVA #spring #teatime (at lamplighter Roasting Company)

Last night at First Fridays. The greatness that is MOB. #vcuarts...

Sat, 03 May 2014 13:10:34 -0400

Last night at First Fridays. The greatness that is MOB. #vcuarts #rva #firstfridays #middleofbroad #mob #creativity (at MOB - Middle of Broad)