Working at a recording studio is pretty cool, as you can probably imagine. I get to listen to the songs that in the future will be popular before anyone else can do it. I advise musicians and I also have a really good time with them. And although I enjoy my job, it can be demanding and exhausting sometimes for all the crew.
As in any other job, we need to make “coffee breaks” which did not necessarily mean drinking coffee but mainly. It also meant a lot of time in the hanging chair. At least personally, nothing motivates me to continue working hard like a good cup of coffee. After feeling stressed and sometimes hopeless, a sip of coffee feels like a deep breath and it gives me a fresh start. For me, coffee breaks are also an opportunity to socialize outside work. I think I never really thought about the importance of coffee breaks until recently. But they are not perfect, I also noticed some disadvantages.
Every time we took these breaks meant spending money, and not only on coffee but also on pastries or something to accompany the coffee with. One day I was talking with my friends about an article that one of them read. It was about why people cannot save money and as incredible as it sounded, these “coffee breaks” have such a big impact in our pocket. I couldn’t believe it, I mean, those innocent coffee breaks could really cost that much?
I was determined to find that out. So, I kept track of my coffee break expenses for one week and it was actually more than I expected. When I calculated my monthly expenses, I was shocked! I seriously had no idea that I was spending that much only on coffee and crap. It also made me think about how much sugar I was eating during those coffee breaks. The DJs and singers were especially bad. For some reason, it seems singing and DJing both require a lot of coffee. I guess it makes sense for the DJs, since most of them have to stay up all night DJing music in a club on their turntables. The singers don’t, but most of the ones who come here do go to a lot of late night karaoke sessions.
I wondered what I could buy with that money if I decided to invest it better. Giving up coffee wasn’t an option, not for me, nor for the rest of the crew. I knew that we would not work well without it. Besides, I never thought it was something bad, on the contrary, coffee breaks almost allowed the creativity to keep flowing. That was when I started to consider buying an actual espresso machine, not a coffee machine, we had one but the quality of coffee didn’t convince us. I wanted something that could give us the same coffee quality that we were already used to.
It was a tough decision but, in the end, I think I made the correct choice. I bought the Cuisinart DGB-700BC espresso machine and grinder for our studio. In the beginning, it seemed like I was spending my money on something uncertain. I had to keep reminding myself that it was going to be an investment and it was totally worth it! This espresso machine has changed our recording studio so much. We don’t spend time going out to grab a coffee, we save much more money and we eat less crap. Needless to say that our productivity has increased as well.