Co-working vs. working from home

There are many pros and cons to be considered when getting the balance right between home working and using a shared space. Things like the right desk set up, limiting home distractions, and ensuring work-life balance are vital to a successful day of working from home. If you use a coworking space, location is everything – a short commute is always ideal and of course, the cost! Money is on everyone’s mind and getting your work space right for you on a budget is essential.

The Pros and Cons

For some people working from home is great. You may prefer the quiet solitude of working from home surrounded by the comforts of your home environment; you are free to make as many phone calls as you like without the worry of being overheard or disturbing others or you might prefer not to have to get out of your PJs! 

More generally, people just love the flexibility of working from home. The extra time with family members and friends, time to exercise, time to do things of your choosing – the reasons are undisputed otherwise hybrid working would have disappeared post covid. 

However, it’s not for everyone. You are constantly surrounded by your personal life when working from home. You only have to have been disturbed by next door’s builders or the arrival of an Amazon package; distracted by the pile of washing, or ‘accidentally’ watching 40 minutes of ‘Homes under the Hammer’ when you were supposed to be preparing a presentation. We’re hearing from a lot of people who used to be really happy working from home now saying they’re looking for a change of scenery in a coworking space in order to regain the work-life balance.

Whilst private company office space allows you to meet with fellow employees to discuss projects and focus; coworking spaces feed your social side, many of our members benefit from making new friends or simply working alongside like minded individuals. Coworking spaces will also provide a great opportunity to grow your business through networking, meeting clients, generating leads.

The top 5 reasons our clients prefer to work from HomeWork:

1. Being immersed in a community. People love being around other people – to chat to, socialise with, ask for help or advice, bounce ideas off, learn from, share light bulb moments with, be creative with. Being a member of HomeWork generates a real sense of belonging
   
2. Maintaining a work-life balance with professional and personal separation, whilst maintaining all the lovely work from home flexibility benefits. 60-70% of our clients live within a 10 minute walk of home so they can easily pop home for the washing machine man! 
   
3. Increased productivity – over half (53%) of our members said ‘inspiration from the environment and people around me helps me stay focused on growing my business and meeting my goals’ was the biggest benefit when working from a professional coworking space.* 
   
4. The opportunity to grow their business through networking opportunities and generate leads from referrals. There are a lot of small and growing businesses in our community facing exactly the same challenges. Similarly we have a lot of diverse businesses whose services provide the solutions to those challenges! 
   
5. Having a professional space to meet colleagues and clients – our meeting rooms are perfect for hosting business meetings, and our cafe or breakout spaces are perfect for more casual catch ups, we also offer a superb cup of coffee! 

*Survey completed by HomeWork, in December 2022.

Whether you’re searching for a shared office space or your own private space, we have various flexible options for coworking memberships which will provide a productive and professional environment.