Why you should consider switching your home office for a co-working space

Home office or co-working space… now that is the question

For some people, working at home in your jarmies sounds like the best thing ever… and it is really cool… for the most part. If you speak to “work from homers” however, a common downside that they bring up is that it gets really lonely. Another of the common points on the ‘cons’ list is that it can also be difficult to knuckle down and get to work when you’re only commuting from your bed to the office desk you have set up… especially when you pass the couch along the way. At the other side of the spectrum – some don’t have a problem knuckling down, but without clear-cut office hours, there’s no automatic switch-off come 5pm and work can easily spill into one’s family time.

For a long time, freelancers and flexi timers looking to get away from the mundane walls of their home office have turned to coffee shops as an alternative. The problem is they don’t always have the printers, plug points and other facilities you need to get the job done. And sometimes the noise… and chocolate cake can be a bit distracting!

Enter the flexible co-working space: a lease-free, fully equipped office where you can rent work space via tailor-made super flexible packages to suit your business needs.

As a growing trend in South Africa, these shared offices bring together diverse groups of freelancers, remote workers, and other independent professionals in a creative atmosphere.

“Running your own business is no small feat,” says Geoff Edeling, Director of Flexispace, a homegrown South African co-working solution. “That is why we like to offer our tenants hassle-free, flexible office solutions so that they can focus on running their business – while we run the rest.”

Flexispace have positioned their co-working offices as a hotel for office tenants. With their no-lease policy, you can rent an office daily, weekly or monthly. And because they are in the hospitality business, you can focus on your business while they take care of everything else.

If the uncapped fibre Wi-Fi, backup generator and unlimited bean-to-cup coffee they offer aren’t enough to nab you, research conducted by Harvard Business Review shows that co-working offices actually help workers thrive.

A recent study shows that people who use co-working spaces report levels of thriving that approach an average of 6 on a 7-point scale, which is at least a point higher than the average for employees who do their jobs in regular offices.

Making use of shared offices also helps you to get into a routine, which is important when it comes to productivity.

Reinette Oelofsen-Muller, owner of Wire Giraffe, who rents a space at the Houghton Flexispace, believes that one of the biggest advantages of working in a co-working office is the network that you tap into. “You come across like-minded people and it is like a community,” she says.

If you work from home and find yourself lacking inspiration or a sense of routine or community, go check out your nearest Flexispace, book yourself a hot desk for a few hours and enjoy some coffee while you work – you might just decide to go back the next day, and the next…

To find out more about co-working spaces offered by Flexispace visit: https://www.flexispace.net.za.

Source: bizcommunity.com