glace
Your partner works from home and you’ve just about had enough. He/she hangs out during the day in pyjamas with the only companions being the T.V, the fridge and the Internet when he/she is working. It’s a life of solitude. And if that wasn’t enough, when you get home you get evil looks because your partner has to work. A working day that has no end that you have just interrupted, and always just at the wrong moment (anyway, that’s what it feels like from the reaction you get whenever you step into “the office”). Each day you see your partner become more and more disconnected from the outside world, sad, irritable; and you grow more concerned about him/her.
What can you do to improve this life you share? and to improve your professional and private lives? What if you gave your partner a gentle little kick in the arse by offering a superb Christmas present?: a subscription for a shared working space, a coworking space.
Coworking is a new form of shared facilities. But it’s not just about sharing costs : coworking is also about building networks among independents, networks that run on trust and collaboration. Coworking is so much more than sharing a table, a chair, an Internet connection, electricity and heating; after all, you’ve already got all that stuff at home. Coworking is the chosen solution for thousands of independent workers in Spain, Belgium and the rest of the world, for being happier at work and happier in their private life. It’s like working for a large enterprise, except your colleagues in the other departments are replaced by colleagues who work for themselves in their own sectors.
On a professional level, coworking leads to improved productivity, finding new clients, rapid team-building with other independents through various projects, meeting co-founders for the enterprise and finding investors, etc. In a coworking space, even if you’re not particularly looking to meet or be met, you instantly multiply your contacts simply through interacting with other coworkers. The more that you’re in contact with the other members, the more you are seen. The more you are in contact, the sooner you find yourself involved in discussing new projects and being recommended through word-of-mouth. This is effortless networking: One of the advantages of working in an office without the sniping and doubting of old guard colleagues.
Coworking spaces differ from business centres in that the managers dedicate their time to bringing coworkers into contact, to facilitating collaboration, discovering new possibilities and creating opportunities for “serendipity” – the fortunate chance that brings people together to their mutual profit.
On a personal level, it’s much more agreeable to work amongst other human beings: after all, we’re all social beings and (except on rare occasions) we feel better in the company of others. Coworking allows you to make a clear separation between your private and professional life through the benefit of a structure that helps you make the break between work and appreciating your home for what it should be – a place of relaxation and pleasure.
Even if all this seems too good to be true, the advantages of coworking don’t stop there.
If you want to make the life of you and your partner more agreeable, it’s just a question of creating the environment that allows you to put work on one side and lead your life together without useless obstacles. Offer yourself happiness and get rid of your partner for Christmas!
This article was originally published by Ramon Suarez in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.