Etiquette guru reveals the EXACT amount of time you can work on your laptop in a cafe without ordering a coffee – and how much extra on the clock buying food gets you

You’ve been working on your laptop in a café all wrong.

Tut tut.

How? By spending far too long tapping away without ordering a coffee. 

Etiquette expert William Hanson, in a viral TikTok video with one million views, explains that the maximum amount of time you should work on your laptop in a café without ordering anything is 45 minutes.  

The duke of decorum says in the video: ‘There isn’t a particular set rule – although as a guide I would say 45 minutes per one coffee is absolutely the limit.

Etiquette expert William Hanson, in a viral TikTok video, explains that the maximum amount of time you should work on your laptop in a café without ordering anything is 45 minutes. He says: ‘Remember, cafes are there for socialising, not necessarily as an extension of your workspace’

‘If you are just going in [to a cafe] for a solitary sandwich and a chat with a friend and have been at the table for over an hour, you have failed as a polite human,’ remarked William

‘But I suggest you use courtesy and common sense.

‘Remember cafes are there for socialising, not necessarily as an extension of your workspace.’

If you’re a café-patron-in-waiting and you notice a laptop user hogging a table, should one confront said hogger?

William’s new book, Just Good Manners (Penguin Random House), is out on September 12

William told MailOnline separately: ‘It’s often better to speak directly with the staff. They can then make the call as to whether to move the table-hoggers on, or find you somewhere else to sit, or do nothing.

‘You can then choose not to patronise that cafe again, should you be so annoyed.’

Is it reasonable for café owners to demand that laptop users purchase more than a coffee if they are on the table for longer than 45 minutes?

William said: ‘There isn’t much of a way to police this, and cafe owners are probably – if it’s a good cafe – too busy serving customers to keep exact tabs on who’s been there and for how long. This should be the responsibility of the individual to self-police and not hog a table during busy periods.’

Does the 45-minute rule apply in general – to those without laptops as well?

William declared: ‘Yes. If you are just going in for a solitary sandwich and a chat with a friend and have been at the table for over an hour, you have failed as a polite human.

‘The exception to this would be if the cafe is very quiet and there are many empty tables. But if you notice people looking for tables who have just arrived, then it is time to pack up your baguette wrapper and leave.’

How much extra time does buying food get you?

‘Twenty minutes,’ said William.

For more from Mr Hanson visit his TikTok profile. His new book, Just Good Manners (Penguin Random House), is out on September 12. It is billed as ‘a witty and authoritative guide to British etiquette’, with William sharing ‘his definitive guidance on how to charm and delight those around you in every situation with idiosyncratic authority’.