Should I Freelance From Home or a Coworking Space?
If you’ve recently started your freelance career, you’re probably going through a whole range of feelings and emotions (the first being freedom!). However, you may be confused about exactly where you should set up your freelance workspace. While there are many benefits to working from home, there are also many downsides. When you work at home or even in a coffee shop, distractions can come in slews, and it can be easy to fall behind when you have unlimited access to your PJs and your couch. A coworking space is not only much more affordable than you think, but it is a great option for keeping freelancers on schedule. In this article, we take a look at why you should consider getting your work done from a coworking space as opposed to working from home.
A Coworking Space Can Help You Form a Set Routine
When you all of a sudden have full control over when you start and stop your workday, sticking to a set routine can be difficult. The sad reality is that when you work at home, not only are you exposed to a wide variety of distractions, but those around you think that your day is completely flexible. A coworking space can not only keep distractions completely at bay but will help you form a set routine on top of it.
Writer’s Edit tells us more about how a coworking space can make all the difference in setting and sticking to a routine:
“If you’ve got enough discipline, you can definitely form a set daily routine from a home office – but if you need a little help, a coworking space might be just the thing for you. While it’s not the same as a traditional workplace, in the sense that there’s no boss waiting there for you to arrive every morning, a coworking space is still an external workspace. The mere act of getting up, getting dressed, and going there can help you settle into a more regular routine. If you’re transitioning from a ‘normal’ job to freelancing and finding it too hard to establish a work routine at home, perhaps try a week at a coworking space to see if it suits you better.”
A Coworking Space Allows You To Work Among Others
It cannot be denied that working at home can get lonely. And let’s face it, one of the only reasons why you enjoyed working outside of the home in the first place was for those social interactions. A coworking space allows you to get in some of that social time during the day, with a mutual understanding that you’re all there to get work done.
The Conversation explains why coworking can give you that social support you need during the day, without simply becoming a distraction:
“Coworking also allows freelancers to work among others, even if not with them, in other words, to “work alone together”. What started in 2005 in San Francisco by a software developer who wanted “the freedom and independence of working for myself along with the structure and community of working with others”, is now a multi-billion dollar industry.”
Coworking Gives You More Job Control
Last but not least, coworking gives you more job control. What do we mean by this? It means that you have the option to choose whether or not you would be more productive at home on any given day, or if you wish to utilize your coworking space.
Harvard Business Review tells us more about why simply having the option of a coworking space gives you more control over your workday:
“They have more job control. Coworking spaces are normally accessible 24/7. People can decide whether to put in a long day when they have a deadline or want to show progress, or can decide to take a long break in the middle of the day to go to the gym. They can choose whether they want to work in a quiet space so they can focus, or in a more collaborative space with shared tables where interaction is encouraged. They can even decide to work from home, without repercussions, if they need to meet a repairperson or deal with a family member’s needs.”
Now that you know why renting out a co-working space can make all the difference to your freelance career, check out our co-working space here and claim your desk.