Working from home is great…sometimes

Freedom!

When a person starts a new position or job that allows them to work from home an immediate jolt of excitement about the expected freedom. The mind immediately wanders to being able to sleeping in, walking the dog a few times a day, and quietly disappearing from email for a few hours to have tacos with a friend. How awesome! Plus, the benefits are backed from legitimate academic research with studies from Stanford showing that teleworkers are 13% more productive when working from home. Win for the worker -Win for the company.  Case closed. Start scheduling taco dates. (Don’t mic. Walk off. )

Hello?

The benefits of working are incredibly appealing to being less stress form commutes, having fewer sick days, flexibility, and increased leisure time. Sadly it’s not all sunshine and roses (dang!) and the drawbacks start to show themselves after a few weeks with a sense of isolation (No, Ellen can’t hear you), anxiety about the separation of work and personal space (that’s not a book shelf anymore but a filling cabinet) ,  and constant distractions of laundry and family running in and out. The good news is that coworking allows remote workers to eat their cake and have it too.

Sometimes is enough.

Creative Density has tiered coworking plans designed for remote home workers that enjoy working from home…sometimes. Many remote workers use a coworking space two or three days a week to be part of a professional community that offers them a chance to share ideas and work through unexpected work problems.

Beyond the social benefit coworking starts to build that wall between the home and work life that gives the kids back their kitchen table for arts and crafts versus work  reports and excel print outs.

Try coworking. You and your family just might like it. Schedule a free day at Creative Density in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood.

Tags: corporate workers, coworking, denver, remote workers

Video: Coworking is….

What’s coworking? Coworkers and community managers from around the world gathered in Austin to let us know.

A Support System: Casually Learn New Skills While Coworking

One of coworking’s greatest strengths is the diversity of thought and perspective that happens when people come together to work. Since I started coworking two years I’ve learned some vital new skills like updating websites, making accurate financial projections, and understanding how certain online ad systems work that have made my businesses run more efficiently. The funny thing is I never took a class or went through a tutorial, but instead casually taught myself from blog posts and general poking around online, but also learned a lot from all of the friendly and smart coworkers around me. When I got stuck on a problem or confused there was someone that was willing to explain it or show me a better alternative. This has made coworking an invaluable resource and a support system to me as a small business.

I don’t want you to think that this means people will be constantly asking everyone questions while trying to work. No, the learning just naturally happened over lunch or regular conversation, and is a major benefit when compared to working from home or the coffee shop. This learning isn’t a one-way street either, as I’ve had the opportunity to show coworkers databases I use for market research or methodologies in learning how customers. It’s a fun and rewarding way to learn and help other business grow.

I don’t know where my business would be if I wasn’t part of a coworking company, but I’m confident I wouldn’t know how to build a modern sexy website or be a spreadsheet wizard without it’s support system of learning.

-Craig Baute

This post was orginally from Creative Density Coworking in Uptown Denver. You can take advantage of their free day pass here.

Tags: coworking, creative Density, denver, support system