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Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#81

Post by pplonski86 »

emilecantin wrote: post #66
LeonM wrote: post #45

I've been a solo dev for about 7 years now, these are my findings: # Working from home ('free') Working from home is great for about 6 months, then isolation kicks in and the divide between work and relaxing disappears. Given my situation (single, no kids) I quickly become very lonely. A separate in house office helps for a separation between work and not-work, as long as you have the discipline not to use your offic…

I think your specific situation has a HUGE impact on how much you'll enjoy working from home. I'm married, have 4 kids, and I never feel lonely at home. I totally get how a single guy / gal with no kids would, though. I never found any issues with dividing work / life, though. I have a dedicated office, and I believe it's a huge part of it.

I'm in the same situation. Renting small office, alone. When I need to work, I'm going to the office. Can't work from home - kids don't distinguish work hours from family hours. Having separate place for work is mental healthy.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#82

Post by hesdeadjim »

I work from home 2x a week and my coworking space the other three. I like the social contact and the feeling of energy from being around other people. And the days at home I enjoy the solitude.

If you can find a good deal on a space, there is no reason you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#83

Post by cwyers »

I have only been to one coworking space, so maybe it's not representative, but I would never go back there again. It costs more than buying enough coffee to get them to leave you alone at a Dunkin Donuts and somehow the chairs are worse. Like, I am literally paying for three things: chair, table and wifi. All of the chairs were awful. It was a mix of low-end IKEA chairs, estate sale dining room chairs and those hard plastic chairs that they have for watching the school play in the cafeteria in middle school.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#84

Post by nathan_f77 »

I work from home most of the time, because I prefer to be at home with my wife and our cat. But sometimes it's nice to sit in a cafe or a coworking space.

I also work late at night so that I have a lot of overlap with the US (I'm in Thailand.) There are plenty of 24 hour coworking spaces here, and it's very safe to walk around at night, but I just prefer to be at home.

I'd probably spend a lot more time there if I was single. And I might go more often if I was in Canada / US / South America. Then I could have normal working hours at a coworking space and go home in the evening. I might also try to hire some people in the US to handle support and sales for my startup during business hours, and then I could work normal hours in Thailand, and I would spend more time at coworking spaces.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#86

Post by undecisive »

krageon wrote: post #69
foldor wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the grandparent comment was in regards to people in your home treating you as if you were "at home". This means your kids/spouse would ask you to do something for them that they wouldn't do if you were "at work". I can agree with him though, that if you're working from home, you need to be able to tell people that no, you can't unload the dishwasher, you're "at work".

One of my parents did this for years, so going purely from experience it's a matter of good communication: When I'm in my study, I am at work. Do not go in there or disturb me unless the house is on fire. Problem solved. I don't really get why a lot of people feel this is an insurmountable obstacle. Surely being able to outline your boundaries and people keeping to them is a core component of a healthy relationship?

Yeah, from personal experience, I spent two years working remotely from home, then a year in a co-working space with colleagues. It wasn't until I then went back to remote working that my wife finally started to 'get' these boundaries - mostly when I started musing about renting a co-working space!

I'm not a very assertive person. She is a very assertive person. That really doesn't help.

Some people think boundaries are for everyone else. (It didn't help that her mum has always worked from home, and rarely enforced any boundaries.) And at the time, the only desk space was in the middle of a main thoroughfare in the flat.

But yes, totally agree. Those years where there were no boundaries were some of the most stressful of my life. The usual inferiority complex, coupled with thinking "I would get so much more done if I wasn't constantly interrupted" is enough to send you crazy or end relationships.

We survived though. It still isn't always plain sailing, but mostly it's better. I have my own little office space, away from the day-to-day world. And mostly I can keep my door open, and know I'm unlikely to be disturbed.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#87

Post by vorpalhex »

sinnet11 wrote: post #85

Anybody think there is a real benefit to finding like minded/same focus freelancers or remote workers and getting together to work in a coffee spot or co working space?

> a real benefit to finding like minded/same focus freelancers or remote workers

Absolutely yes, whether through chance meetings, networking events (ugh) or just common interests and meeting naturally.

Unfortunately most of the coworking spaces I've been at made bringing guests (and more than one) for more than an hour or two kind of a pain - which is fair, that seems like an abuse of the space.

I have had a lot of luck with hosting "Hack Nights" in my living room. I tell everyone to bring something to work on, and I provide food and beer/wine/tea/coffee. I've had people show up with their music synths and work on composing while someone else works on their drawing, and someone else codes. It's reasonably productive time and people who need help or opinions can easily seek them out from others at the same time.

The hack night concept works nicely because there's no pressure to work on the thing you're known for. If you're a genius programmer from 9-5, there's no reason you can't bring your scifi writing setup to work on instead. You still get to be a resource for others, while not just extending your own work day.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#88

Post by big_youth »

swah wrote: post #73
LeonM wrote: post #45

I've been a solo dev for about 7 years now, these are my findings: # Working from home ('free') Working from home is great for about 6 months, then isolation kicks in and the divide between work and relaxing disappears. Given my situation (single, no kids) I quickly become very lonely. A separate in house office helps for a separation between work and not-work, as long as you have the discipline not to use your offic…

So we complained about open offices back in the day, but compared to isolation, most people end up going back to a big open space with humans talking? :)

We still complain about open offices, the GP even said he has to use noise cancelling headphones.

He likes the coworking space because he is lonely and want's a social aspect in his office space.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#89

Post by robterrin »

Coworking spaces aren't about work. As a small business owner who uses a coworking space, my perspective is that it's about signaling that you are a real business with a business address. Working from home may work for freelancers or online only businesses, but the second you start signing contracts or having meetings, you need a professional space to be taken seriously.

That said, it's incredibly hard for me to get anything done in a noisy environment with no visual barriers and so many wantrepreneurs around. I like the coffee, camaraderie and event spaces, but for most days, working from home is sufficient.

Re: Ask HN: Do you enjoy working in a coworking space?

#90

Post by torben-friis »

robterrin wrote: post #89

Coworking spaces aren't about work. As a small business owner who uses a coworking space, my perspective is that it's about signaling that you are a real business with a business address. Working from home may work for freelancers or online only businesses, but the second you start signing contracts or having meetings, you need a professional space to be taken seriously. That said, it's incredibly hard for me to get…

That might depend on your business and/or location.

Employees might need to share resources, for example, as was the case when I worked in a VR-related startup with a limited amount of headsets.

For your regular webdev based business or similar, I agree with your statement though.

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