If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever. – David Letterman
Did you know that the total number of US daily coffee drinkers is 100 million and the total average money spent on coffee each year by a coffee drinker is $164.71? The statistics given in this link http://www.statisticbrain.com/coffee-drinking-statistics/ say so.
I have been a coffee drinker whole my life and I am an ardent fan of the classic Filter Coffee. I didn’t care much about the history of coffee until one day, in training, I was asked to speak about a topic of my choice in the next two minutes. I googled and learnt quite a bit about coffee. One interesting fact was that Coffee Break was promoted by Pan American Coffee Bureau first in 1952. I doubt if they ever thought about the greater importance of Coffee Breaks at workplace.
A coffee break first thing in the morning not just helps one in recovering from sleepiness but also gives a chance to meet few important people in the Organizational ladder. It is common that everyone takes a coffee before they start the day’s work. So you are chances of striking a conversation with significant decision makers in the organization is more.
You are stressed out due to work overload, tight deadlines and long hours of continuous work. And you have seen only the tip of the iceberg and that could be very demotivating. All you need is a quick coffee break with your teammates/friends to reignite the fire and keep rolling. A Coffee break is like a lamp lit in a dark room. It helps you see the light!
You are bored. You don’t have much work. You have already accomplished all the tasks that you are supposed to and your plate is empty. You hit the coffee machine, have a chat with people and sometimes you get the best idea when you are near the coffee machine. With all possibilities you would have found the best thing that you should be working on for next few weeks.
Coffee is a language in itself. – Jackie Chan
A quick coffee break with colleagues/team after an hour from lunch time will shake you up from the food coma and help you start concentrating on work. To shoot an arrow, you have to pull the bowstring back. To save good few hours, there is no harm in wasting ten minutes in the break area.
You are frustrated and angry with your manager who does not support you. You are being blamed for what is not your mistake. You are fuming. You need to vent out. Call your buddy, go for a coffee break and get peace of mind.
You are sad. You have to settle a personal issue over the phone and it can’t wait. Get a coffee, find a table and sort it out.
You have a one to one with your manager or his/her manager. Take a coffee break, make it informal and make it more personal than a formality.
You and your colleague are brainstorming about a new design. Statistics say that better designs are arrived at coffee table than in a conference room. (Alright, I made that up)
Most importantly, you have insider information about office politics that would help you score few brownie points among your close colleagues. You can even think about how it will impact you and decide on the necessary actions steps.
As you saw, a coffee break is not such a bad thing at all. It does more good than bad. Just make sure that you don’t take the coffee breaks for all the above reasons every single day.
“We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup.” – Jerry Seinfeld
Pointless & Prosaic 