You Always Deserve a $6 Cup of Coffee

You hold the key to happiness in your hand.

I took on an internship at a tech startup during my senior year of college.

I didn’t have any business working at a tech company, but I needed to log 120 internship hours to graduate. What a deal, right?

I interviewed in a building about 20 minutes from campus, and in my haste, I accepted the position on the spot.

For 13 weeks, I got a taste of the post-grad work life. And like a real working adult, I was always rushing to get to work on time.

I wasn’t as put together as I am now.

Most days during my commute, I noticed the most absurd drive-thru line at the Starbucks next to the office.

“Why don’t these people make their coffee at home,” I thought as I pulled into the parking lot just shy of on time.

I didn’t understand how people had time to wait in line for 15–20 minutes for a cup of coffee when they could save time and money by brewing it at home.

I thought like this until I became a 9–5 workday zombie myself.

Now, I appreciate the experience of walking to another location for a coffee that’s only slightly better than the one I make at home. It’s not about the coffee but what it does for you.

It’s the little things that make a big difference.

$6 is chump change for a little mental stability.

Because I’m paid by the hour, my quality of life decreases as I make more money. I have to work more if I want to earn more.

All things aside, I like my job, but work is work. In fact, plenty more people make plenty more money than I do. Yet, they are way more unsatisfied than me.

Maybe they should spend $6 on a cup of coffee.

I get it. You’re set in your ways. How is buying a cup of overpriced coffee going to make you feel better?

Let’s run an experiment, shall we? How about you buy a cup of coffee for someone else. Michael I. Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School, conducted the same experiment.

He hypothesized that if one spends their money differently than they usually do, they’ll be happier with their lives. I explain how he tests his hypothesis here.

Whether you buy the coffee for yourself or someone else, somebody is benefiting. Bringing more positivity into the world is always a good deed.

The act of walking to the coffee shop is just as beneficial as the coffee itself.

I used to joke around with my mom and say that walking isn’t exercise. Then I walked to the top of the tallest mountain in the 48 contiguous states and thought otherwise.

In all seriousness, people who take 10,000 steps each day are amazing. They are amazing in a mental sort of way.

I wish I had that kind of time, but I find some for the occasional stroll to the local beanery.

There’s something about waking up with tired eyes and dragging your feet through the pavement to buy an iced matcha latte with almond milk.

A study conducted at Stanford University found that walking improves creative output by an average of 60 percent.

“Walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.” — Marily Oppezzo and Daniel L. Schwartz

Not only that but a 12-minute walk has been shown to improve self-confidence and attentiveness.

At work, taking a walk is a different kind of nirvana. It’s an opportunity to literally walk away from your responsibilities, even if for a little bit.

It’s even better when there’s a prize at the end. I would feel ashamed for overdosing on oat milk lattes at 11 am, but I’m usually in dire need of the caffeine bump.

More caffeine, please.

Funny enough, I worked on a beverage startup. We sold bottled, ready-to-drink matcha green tea, and in the end, I still love coffee.

I do limit my coffee intake, though. It makes me jittery and nervous, so I only drink 2 cups a week. It’s more of a treat during the weekends.

I’m still completely dependent on caffeine, so I usually rely on tea.

Caffeine isn’t inherently harmful unless you consider any kind of addiction a harmful one. If so, then caffeine isn’t a great thing.

But, the FDA says the average, healthy adult may safely consume 400 milligrams of caffeine per day.

Regardless, you won’t catch me drinking four cups of coffee in one sitting. I’m enough of a jittery mess after a double espresso at the local coffee shop. It’s delicious, but man, does it do a number on me.

Caffeine has its benefits, though. For work, the advantages are a given. Sometimes you just don’t get enough sleep and need to power through the workday.

For use besides work, caffeine does plenty of other neat things:

• Motivates you to work out
• Gets you through tough parts of the day
• Makes you feel warm and cozy inside
• Winds you up to write blogs like a madman

Being hopped up on caffeine is good sparingly. When you need to get things done, nothing does the job better. Sometimes a $6 latte is just what you need.

The last drop…

Like the end of a great blog post, the last sip of coffee is always the hardest to swallow.

Why must it end like this? Wait, I could get another cup.

Should I get another one?

By all means, do it. Do what you have to do to get your work done. If a coffee will make you happy, then buy one. If someone else is having an off day, buy them one too.

It’s not the coffee but the act of giving a gift that’ll make their day.

I used to be stubborn about expensive drinks. I didn’t understand why people bothered with them when they could make them from home.

Now I realize that everyone doesn’t have the time to brew coffee and sip it from home. They could replicate the coffee shop experience, but they don’t have the time.

Not only that, but after being cooped up inside my house or office for eight months, I understand the draw. Going to other places is a miniature experience.

We’ll do anything for a little happiness, even if it means shelling out more dollar bills than we can count with our fingers for an iced macchiato.

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