How to be a great café regular, from the right seat to the right conversation

Café lifestyle is about everything around the cup. Where you sit. How long you stay. Whether you're the person who takes a four-top for a solo laptop session, or the one who gives the table back when the line gets long.

More people now treat cafés as offices, study halls and meeting rooms, and that's mostly a good thing. It keeps neighborhood shops busy and gives people somewhere to be that isn't home or work. It also means a few more rules are worth knowing: when to buy a second drink, how to take a call without annoying the room, and which conversations belong somewhere with a door.

This section covers café etiquette, work-from-café habits, study spots, meeting tips and the small courtesies that make regulars welcome. Our first story, on coffee shop meeting etiquette, is right below.