Personal essays
Making the next pot before you need it
A cup of coffee
I met friends for coffee last week at Nervous Dog.
They had gotten there early and were already enjoying coffee and pastry.
I headed inside. For a change, there was no line.
“What can I get you?” one of the three workers asked.
I ordered what I always order there - a small cup of single origin. Drip so that there’s not waiting.
I don’t need something fancy that needs the espresso machine or steamed milk. Just a small cup of whatever you’re brewing today.
That day they were brewing Sumatran.
He rang up my order and turned to the big urn of single origin coffee.
He looked back and said, “I’m sorry we’re out. I’ll need to make more.”
“That’s ok, I said, how about the house instead?”
I don’t know what their house coffee is but I’ve had it before and it will do.
This time he didn’t even turn to check. “We’re out of that too. I’ll need to brew a fresh pot.”
“Decaf?” I suggested.
Nope. That too was empty.
“I can make you an Americano,” he said.
“That’s ok. I’m not in a rush. I’ll come back in in five to ten minutes once the Sumatran is ready.”
Coffee
About ten minutes later I was outside chatting with my friends.
It was one of those beautiful mornings we get this time of year in Cleveland. Sunny with a light breeze. Warm but not too warm. Cool but not too cool. Just perfect.
There was a pause in the conversation and I excused myself to get the coffee.
I was just starting to get up - and my age that takes a moment - when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
It was a “you can stay seated” hand on my shoulder.
So I did. And I looked around and the guy I’d bought the coffee from had come out with a large cup of freshly-brewed Sumatran coffee.
“I couldn’t remember what size you ordered,” he said.
“It was a small, I’ll come in and make up the difference when we’re finished.”
He shook his head no.
It was the, “this one’s on the house” shaking of the head.
I thanked him.
I wasn’t in a rush.
I’m never in a rush when I stop for coffee.
But neither were any of the other people on the patio. Some of them hadn’t been as nice to him as I had been.
Quadrant 2
This is a silly story about coffee and waiting ten minutes for a cup to be brewed while I catch up with friends.
On the other hand, it’s a story about a coffee shop that had been so focused on serving the customers in line that they’d let three urns of coffee run out without replenishing any of them.
It’s tempting to let the things that demand out attention capture our attention.
Our phone rings, we answer it.
New text message. We stop to read the message and often answer it.
We spend our lives on what Covey classified as the urgent but not important items.
Life goes so much smoother when we take a moment for the things that are important but aren’t urgent.
Perhaps serving the customers in line is both urgent and important - but if serving these customers are both urgent and important, than so is serving the next customers.
Taking a minute - really a minute - to start the next urn of coffee brewing, will inconvenience the customer in front of you by one minute but it saves the future customer ten minutes while waiting for the pot to brew.
I don’t know if you needed to hear it, but this experience reminded me I need to be more deliberate about what I do and make sure that I’m working ahead.
I’m in California now for Apple’s conference having so many meetings.
So many meetings.
I’m trying to figure out what work I should do now to prepare for the books I’m going to want to write, the classes I’m going to want to teach, and the presentations I’m going to want to give.
The wrong time to learn this stuff is on the way to the conference.
Brew the coffee now.
Take the time to do the work that is important but not yet urgent.
Essay from Dim Sum Thinking Newsletter 220. Read the rest of the Newsletter or subscribe