The café I work from most is a small place on the ground floor of an old office block in Shenzhen, about ten minutes' walk from my flat. I'm a freelance graphic designer, so technically I can work anywhere, and this café has become my unofficial office.
I found it by accident about two years ago. My internet at home stopped working one morning and I had a deadline, so I walked around looking for anywhere with Wi-Fi. It was the first place that had a free table and a power socket, and I've been going back ever since.
These days I'm there three or four mornings a week, usually from nine until lunchtime. I order one coffee and one pastry, plug in my laptop at the long table by the window, and work on client projects. I try to do my most creative work there, like sketching ideas for logos, and save emails and invoices for the afternoon at home.
The main reason I prefer it is that home is full of distractions. There's always washing to do or a sofa calling my name. In the café, there's a gentle background noise of conversations and the coffee machine, which I actually find helps me focus. I also think being around other people makes me feel less isolated. Freelance work can be lonely, and even though I don't talk to the other regulars much, we nod to each other, and that small human contact matters. Of course, the coffee adds up over a month, but I treat it like paying rent for a desk, and I'm much more productive there.