Contents
Disadvantages of coworking spaces, my experiences.
After I left the office working environment and began working for myself, mostly online I soon realized the challenges of working for yourself. The biggest challenge of course was the loneliness factor.
As much as my colleagues may have driven me nuts at times, dealing with office politics and bosses not to mention clients expectations, which you can’t seem to control, the long commutes, the hours of wasted time just to show your physical presence in the office, all those things were now gone. Though, I soon realized that was quite lonely.
I had soon begun to miss those social interactions, chin wagging at the water cooler, the happy hours on Friday etc. I also started traveling quite a bit.
Although I’ve lived abroad for over 20 years, most of that time I had spent employed.
But now I was on my own, working online so I decided to try out these co-working spaces. What I discovered was that it was much better either working from home alone or if you have to be around others, to pack up your laptop and go to a cafe. Why?
Well, there are other disadvantages of working in coworking spaces. Most are open office planned environments.
I used to think working in a cubicle couldn’t get much worse, but I was wrong.
Working in an open office plan with everybody on their laptops tapping away is one huge distraction.
Not to mention people constantly walking by you etc. If you think about it and maybe it was just a little paranoia.
All you have to do is move your eyes 1 cm up, left or right and you’re looking at another person. If you’re doing that, then I’m sure other people are doing the same.
So now you have a room full of eyes that can peek at you anytime they like.
Maybe again, it’s just paranoia and harmless, but that alone is a huge distraction. Coworking spaces are actually anti-social, more than social places. Most people who work in a co-working space aren’t there to collaborate with you or others. Most people are self-absorbed into their own thing.
Nothing wrong with that of course. But if you go to a coworking space expecting to have some kind of collaborating experience, you’ll be sorely disappointed, as I was.
People are so self-absorbed in those places, it’s actually annoying. Coworking spaces do have mixers, sometimes. However, you soon find out it’s almost like high school.
It soon becomes a popularity contest. Who is the hippest, who has the most dynamic projects going on etc.
If you’re not considered part of the cool crowd, then you feel literally ostracized. people are not friendly in many coworking spaces.
Everybody wants to get to a co-working space to get work done, which is very understandable. But this also creates a misconception.
You go there expecting to meet people and talk about your projects to each other etc. but it’s mostly a very anti-social atmosphere.
There’s also a Poser element to coworking spaces. Everybody’s always trying to, it seems, to one up each other.
They do this usually by getting on their cell phones and mobile devices and have business calls.
There’s always one or two people in a co-working space who can’t leave the room in order to have a private conversation or a private business call.
They have to let everyone in the coworking space know how important they are and how important their projects are etc. It’s very annoying.
Then of course, is the cost. One of the reasons why most of us leave the typical nine to five office environment is for freedom. Not to be chained to a desk.
So it always never ceases to amaze me that people will escape their nine to five drudgery of going to the office, only to fly halfway around the world and pay for the privilege of working in an office with others.
But it’s even worse. not only are they paying for this privilege, but they don’t have the social cohesiveness that working for one company, even in an office, often provides.
They’re paying for a privilege to work in an office around complete strangers working on totally different projects, in various lines of work.
There’s no company culture, as faulty as company cultures are, that provides a cohesiveness in any coworking environment.
Coworking spaces are also very expensive when you think about it. And what do you get? You don’t even get your own desk.
There’s only one thing worse than an open office environment and that is “hot desking”.
If you don’t know what hot desking is, it’s basically not having your own assigned desk and just choosing where to pop your laptop and other essential items to do your work for the day. You’re allowed to sit wherever you want to, etc.
But in reality, it means you’re kind of homeless in an office environment. When you do this in a coworking space, you’re even paying for that privilege. But at least the term “hot desking” sounds cool.
I’d rather pay for a cubicle in a co-working space, than pay for the privilege of sitting in an open office “hot desking” environment.
You really don’t meet a lot of new people in coworking spaces.
Maybe if you spend a month or two and you see a few regulars and you get some eye contact at the coffee machine, perhaps you’ll meet a few new people.
But if you’re traveling and hoping to connect with others, coworking spaces are the last places I would go to.
You’re so much better off using that money and upgrading your accommodations and getting a really cool place to live in with great Wi-Fi. You can also pick out a few great cafes where you can become a regular and get to know the staff and the culture of the place that you traveled to.
These two options are far better than any coworking space I’ve been to.
Why is coworking so popular?
Coworking spaces are popular because more people are working online and freelancing.
As much as people claim to hate the office environment and the nine to five drudgery along with wasted commuting times, etc. they still can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that they do admittedly like an office environment.
So in order to compensate for a lack of an office along with having colleagues to work with, they pay for the privilege to use a coworking space.
However, as I’ve gone over above, coworking spaces definitely lack the cohesiveness and social atmosphere that working for a great company often provides their employees. Whether their employees admit it or and appreciate it is a different matter.
But when you begin working for yourself freelancing and you don’t have an office etc., you soon appreciate those facts of the office life that you’ve left behind. You do miss them, which is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of coworking spaces.
Better alternatives to coworking spaces.
They are much better alternatives to coworking spaces. For example, having a designated workspace in your apartment or house.
Save the money you would spend on a coworking space and get yourself a great desk and chair, perhaps an espresso machine etc. create your own working space at home.
If you’re an expat like me and spend most of your time abroad, then use that extra money you can be saving on a coworking space and get a much nicer apartment or house. Why?
Because you’ll probably be spending much more time inside than you will outside. So it will be well worth saving that money you would spend on a coworking space on a great flat.
Also coworking spaces will disappoint you since you’re not going to be meeting the kinds of people and having the experiences that you had hoped to get from one. Additionally, another alternative would be to pick a great local cafe.
One of the beauties of traveling is trying out new restaurants, pubs and cafes. Find a few neighborhood cafes and make one or two your regular spots with your laptop.
Most cafes in most parts of the world do have Wi-Fi and it’s free. Although the Wi-Fi connections might not be that great, you could always use the 4G on your cell phone device and tether it to your laptop, if there’s a lapse in internet connectivity.
By choosing one or two regular cafes and becoming a regular you’ll get to know the staff.
There’ll be other people that visit those same cafes who become regulars as well and you may get to know them too.
Furthermore, what’s so great about a café is that there’s no pretentiousness about working in a cafe.
There are no posers trying to show off on how much of a big shot they are with their projects. You know the types. You find them in almost every coworking space around the world.
Finally, most people in cafes are quite considerate of other patrons and will limit their time talking on their cell phones. You would be advised to do so as well.
Disadvantages of coworking spaces. Conclusions.
Despite all the overrated hubbub surrounding coworking spaces and how great they are to work at, in my opinion they are highly overrated.
There are many disadvantages of coworking spaces. All of which I went over above. Most of all, you go in thinking that a coworking space is going to replace the traditional office space you’ve just fled from, with like minded people, only to find that most seem quite unsociable, unapproachable and self-absorbed.
Some coworking spaces even seem like you’re going back to high school and popularity contests about who’s got the most going on, who’s the hippest etc.
Then you have the lack of privacy and having to pay for the privilege of working in an open office, hot desking type of environment. No thank you!
There are much better alternatives than coworking spaces. For me the two best are either working out of my home or picking out a few great coffee shops and becoming a regular, get to know the staff etc. What about you?
If you feel that co-working spaces are overrated, at least you know now, that you’re not alone.