Coworking vs Working From Home
Coworking Vs Working From Home
The world of work has never been more flexible, with a vast number of options now available to the average worker. Whether you are considering renting a hot desk office space or you’re happiest working at home, the possibilities are endless when it comes to where, when and how to work.
More than half of businesses with their own office space plan to downsize by 2025, leaving many workers with big decisions to make about how to work and where to base themselves. Whilst working from home is ideal for those with space, equipment, and a calm environment, it’s certainly not for everyone.
Let’s take a look at some of the advantages of both working from home and working from coworking office spaces in cities as diverse as London, Manchester and Birmingham.
Advantages Of Working From Home
Whilst some companies have always offered a degree of flexibility regarding Working from home, it was the Covid 19 pandemic that really brought this way of working to the world’s attention.
Working from home refers to exactly this. Carrying out your day-to-day work from the comfort of your home - whether that sees you setting up at the kitchen table or having a home office tucked away in a quiet spot.
So why work from home? Here are 3 commonly cited advantages of working from home:
Convenience
For some people, there’s no beating the convenience of being at home 24/7. Some convenient benefits include:
- more time to rest with a later wake up time
- eating home cooked healthy food throughout the day
- Helping with childcare such as picking up your kids from school
- Spending more time together as a family or with a partner
Also many people enjoy the convenience of being able to ‘get things done’ - you can load the dishwasher between work calls or schedule the day around a parcel delivery that you’ve been expecting.
Less Commuting Time
With your office right there within your home, your morning and afternoon/evening commute simply becomes nonexistent. Working from home means you can gain back hours of time each week that would have been spent travelling to and from work.
A reduced or eliminated commute time could also result in a financial saving too. You can use the time saved to put in extra hours, or you can enjoy not spending out on rail tickets, bus passes and fuel costs.
Home Comforts
Working from home can be an appealing option when it’s the middle of winter and you’re reluctant to go outside on a cold, dark morning. Equally in the middle of the summer, you might be able to sit in the garden and work at your computer.
The home comforts that you enjoy in your leisure time will be ever present when you work from home. For those who don’t enjoy an office environment and prefer working alone in familiar surroundings, working from home may suit your needs.
Advantages Of Coworking Space
Coworking spaces have increased hugely in popularity as companies offer more and more remote and hybrid structures of working. Although the idea of working remotely is ideal for some workers, others may lack the space or facilities to make it happen on their own.
There’s so much choice on offer when it comes to coworking spaces - from a hot desk office space where you’ll pack your things up each day and find a new spot when you return, to a fixed longer-term option at a coworking space.
Want to know more about the advantages of coworking spaces? Check out the list below:
A Change Of Environment
Being at home 24/7 is not an attractive option for everyone. If you live in a shared house with flat mates or have young children who are at home all day it simply wouldn’t be productive to be working from home all week.
Getting out to a new environment will not only help you focus and retain a healthier work/life balance, but it will also enable you to fully separate your work and home life. For some people, the routine of leaving the house and going to another location to work is extremely helpful for their creativity, output, and mental health.
High Quality Facilities
Office spaces in major cities are generally designed with high quality facilities - from video conferencing rooms available to rent, to access to printers and tea and coffee machines.
For some people working on a remote or hybrid basis, purchasing all the equipment required to do their role successfully would be both expensive and inconvenient.
Networking Opportunities
Coworking spaces mean that you’re exposed to other people on a daily basis, and they’ll be a steady stream of people with similar or complementary skill sets to you.
You might get chatting as you wait for a lift to arrive or start discussing a project you’re working on with someone working close by to you - either way, networking opportunities will almost certainly arise.
Sense Of Community
There’s been significant research to show that working from home can dramatically increase feelings of isolation and loneliness. For people who live alone, spending both the working week and weekends on their own could be detrimental to mental health.
Coworking spaces can offer a real sense of community. Often groups will naturally form within a coworking space and you may find people with similar interests or those wanting to get involved with socialising after work or playing sports together.
Coworking Space vs Working From Home: Conclusion
Deciding whether a coworking space or working from home is best for you can feel a little overwhelming. It may be useful to consider that there is also the option of hot desk which can be seen as a great compromise with less commitment.
Try considering your individual needs and specific personal circumstances when you’re deciding whether to work from home, commit to a coworking space, or find a hot desk within a coworking space that you can use on an adhoc basis.
Flexible Working Opportunities With Spacepool
At Spacepool we’ve got you covered. Whatever your working needs, get in touch with us and let us guide you through some of the amazing office spaces we have. Our flexible working opportunities allow you to rent office spaces for as little as one day so speak to us now and let’s get things moving.