Now more than ever, we are seeing people take on more of an entrepreneurial mindset, flying as a freelancer, or taking the leap of starting a new business, and the first thought that pops into most people’s heads is to work from home.
After all, home is FREE, comfy (aka PJ’s all day), food is plentiful and there is no need to interact with humans! For those exact reasons, I am flying the flag for the alternative.
While at first, it may be ‘fun’ to sleep in, eat breakfast at your computer and stay in your trackies all day, after a while, it all becomes mundane and let’s be honest – you get lazy and so easily distracted!
Even if your spare room is now your office, it’s still within your home. The place where the dishes pile high, the laundry basket is bottomless, and the interruptions are plentiful with snack requests, homework help or ‘shitty day at work’ stories from your loved ones. So exactly HOW beneficial is working from home?
A survey conducted by Buffer showed that loneliness (21%), lack of collaboration or communicating (21%) and distractions at home (16%) are the biggest struggles of remote workers.
So how do you take advantage of flexible working conditions and still be productive and most importantly happy? Well, join a co-working community of course!
Coworking gives you the same flexibilities that working from home does. No set working hours, come and go as you please with no one “time checking” or monitoring your workload, the dress code is far less formal than your traditional office spaces(but also a step up from your worn down pj’s) and the odd scroll through social media isn’t frowned upon.
However, there is so much more to this phenomenon.
It’s not so much what it is, but how it makes you feel. It’s a place full of like-minded business people who are actually pretty cool human beings! People you can ask for advice and problem solve with, grab a cuppa or brainstorm with. After all, these people are or have been in your shoes at some point.
Collaboration is one of the most common things that occur in a coworking space. Other businesses within the space may need your expertise with a project and vice versa.
One of many examples is Chris from Chris Gray Photomedia, who has this to say about co-working.
“For me (as a photographer), the best thing about co-working is the opportunities for collaboration. I have had the privilege of working with and photographing fellow co-workers for their businesses and made many more connections with potential clients through co-working. It has opened me up to new and different work that I wouldn’t have found on my own! Co-working has helped me stretch and grow my business. It’s so exciting being exposed to all these opportunities and people – you never know what’s going to come up!”
Chris also happens to have led our branding and design studio, White River Design, to their web developer – Daniel, Chris’s brother. WRD would not have met Daniel unless Chris was co-working with us. Opportunities that would have been lost for many if Chris worked from home.
When the service is so flexible and the risk is so low, why not give it a go? Truly, what is there to lose?
No contacts, no minimum terms – the only way you will really understand how your business and your sanity will benefit is to experience it for yourself, so come on in – grab a coffee, a desk, and #getshitdone!