5 Reasons To Work From A Co-Working Space

Over the past year and a half, we have all entered an unprecedented shift in our working lives… Working from home. For some, it has always been the norm so no shift has been made in their working lifestyle. But for the masses the isolation became tedious. 
I am writing to those who may not want to go back to the office but also become tired of their makeshift home office. To those who are unsure of their options and for those who no longer wish to work from home and are looking for new, inspiring places to work. Why use a co-working space?
When you work in a co-working space, you get the obvious benefits of working with others and the networking opportunities that that brings. In my experience, this has been collaboration, the rewarding satisfaction of doing your best work and seeing parts of London that can easily be missed due to it not being a part of your daily routine. Within this blog, I will be exploring a few reasons that make working from co-working spaces worthwhile.

Benefits of co-working

Improved networking opportunities

Now for many, i.e., Me, the term networking can initiate social anxiety. But we can’t live in that forever. Co-working allows us to step out of our comfort zone and meet like-minded individuals. Being in a co-working space means that you are constantly surrounded by people who have similar goals and aspirations. Think about it, the same way you would go to a co-working space to unlock new thinking someone also went for the same or similar agenda. And you can be surrounded by 30-100+individuals with the same drive determination and desire to create a better future. Even that excites me!

Most members of coworking spaces attend events such as meetups, workshops, and conferences. By going to a coworking space you are opening the door to new opportunities and a new circle of people with who you can discuss your goals as well as link you to people who can assist you in making those goals happen. Therefore, it becomes easier to find business partners, employees and customers for your business at a coworking space, because someone you met at the coworking space knows someone who knows someone who knows someone it’s a never-ending circle of network building!

Increased productivity

When you’re surrounded by other people getting stuff done in a professional environment, it pushes you to focus. Everyone is in their zone when in a co-working space. As soon as you enter you are also challenged to find your flow as those around you have. Less intimidating and more encouraging. Because the majority of those working in the space are working flexibly you can see the balance they have when approaching their work. They are open to talking to their neighbour, having a lunch chat with someone they’ve just met or even sharing what they are working with, with colleagues or friends. It’s a more social working environment. This will make you increase your productivity and motivation to get more work done. A survey has shown that those who spend time at coworking spaces tend to be more productive than those who sit at home all day. This is because when working from home you are easily distracted to maintain your home than you are at work. As soon as you make the effort to work from a shared office space it removes the potential for distraction and increases your desire to focus on your work.

It’s cost-effective

Who doesn’t love a bargain?! I know I sure do. Working from a shared office whether it is as an individual, or a team is super cost-effective! You only pay for the time you need it for! Unlike the traditional office, shared offices only require you to pay for time using the hot desk or meeting room. When you work from a coworking space, you get lots of perks and amenities which means it can easily be cheaper than working from acafé or renting your own private office. Only pay for the time that you require a space.

In addition to this, when using a co-working space you get access to amenities. In a co-working space, you get access to all the resources that the members have. This includes things such as fax machines, printers and even whiteboards, TVs, monitors, COFFEE! With FlowSpace you can acquire free coffee from any space you go to. This eliminates the hassle and cost attached to acquiring your additional equipment and the cost of buying coffees every 30 minutes.

Flexibility

Co-working spaces open the door to greater flexibility and control over your workday. For instance, if you wanted a team meet, you are getting tired of zoom, and want a space where you can collaborate face to face and share ideas without your network cutting your speech and your teammates only hearing half of your ideas. Booking a co-working space with a meeting room would be a great solution. You get to determine the day, time, location, and length of your working day. You can avoid the overwhelmingness of rush hour by going to a space local to your home or choosing to travel at less demanding hours.

Co-working spaces allow for flexible working hours meaning that you do not have to go into an office every single day. You do not have to go to work every day. Working at FlowSpace we love the hybrid approach to working! Days where we are in our desired shared office space and days we work from home or whatever environment we desire. The beauty of co-working is the flexibility that it offers. It enables a work-life balance that the traditional approach to work struggles to offer.

Improve mental health and wellness

After Covid, lots of people have had to get comfortable with working from home. And that denial of human interaction had a major impact on the mental health of the masses. The inability to separate what is meant to be the comfort of your home and your place of work, for me, was a difficult experience. Coworking spaces tend to have fewer distractions than working at home. The new environment, natural lighting and design accommodated for working presents a more pleasant experience for the worker. As well as that shared office space gives us the opportunity to see people every day. These“water-cooler” interactions are important for your self-esteem and feeling positive about your work. The community co-working spaces offer is amazing. An example that comes to mind is morocco bound in Bermondsey. The culture not just offers a space to work but a community to be a part of. From books to bands to beer morocco bound cater the avid reader to the avid drinker (lol) but all jokes aside they have created a community of people with similar and differing interests!

Co-working doesn’t just tackle getting work done but making sure work is done with ease.