Learn me: co-working

I switched over to remote working a few months back. I miss going into an office, so I'm thinking about signing up for a co-working service. I toured a few last week, and its now decision time. I don't know how I'll like it in actual practice.

Pricing has me inclined to favor straight co-working. I have no plans to pay for a dedicated desk or dedicated office.

I'm mature enough to forgo a super expensive option on the 84th floor of Sears Tower.

Right now, I'm split between:

$99/mo for the nicest spot and only 10 visits a month, but one floor above a gym I can join for $50/mo.

$129/mo for a less nice, slightly more crowded, but still very nice spot and unlimited use, but no strong attachment to a gym, so I'd have to make a second stop.

In both cases, no early termination penalty, but 30 days notice is required, so I'm in for two months minimum. 

Anyone else do this? Any advice on what is and isn't important, what to avoid, what to consider?

Sears Tower?  Is that north of Comiskey Park?

No, I'll be curious to see what you decide and how you like it. I work from home 2 days per, in the office the other 3 days. 

I don't think I'd think being full-time at home, it's nice to go into the office and talk to your co-workers and such

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

What am I gonna do, call it Willis?

In reply to Mike :

No. It will always be the Sears Tower and the Rosemont Horizon to me. 

My dad still calls Bakers Square - Poppin Fresh Pies.  

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So you pay to go work at a spot on occasion a few times a month?

Why not just find a local cafe? Or on occasion go in to your work's office?

I don't have any suggestions I'm just curious to see how it turns out.  Back when I worked from home I would go and work in a cafe every now and then for a couple of hours but towards the end I had a really nice home office set-up and there was no reason to leave.  I'd probably do the 10 visits a month because I suspect 2 days a week would be plenty for me to go in somewhere.

I've worked from home for the past 6 years. I end up going to the client's site a handful of days a month and am amazed how much lost productivity happens by being there instead of working remotely.

For me, working from home is great and I would never consider paying someone to have a place to work just to get out of the house. I would use the money to make your home office a better place.

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to Mike :

No. It will always be the Sears Tower and the Rosemont Horizon to me. 

My dad still calls Bakers Square - Poppin Fresh Pies.  

Man, I miss bakers square and village inn.

In reply to T.J. :

Same here. I don’t miss people at all. Hell, it wasn’t until I took the trash out the other night that I realized I’d not even stepped outside for almost 24-hours. I’m 100% happy being a hermit and left alone. 

T.J. said:

I've worked from home for the past 6 years. I end up going to the client's site a handful of days a month and am amazed how much lost productivity happens by being there instead of working remotely.

For me, working from home is great and I would never consider paying someone to have a place to work just to get out of the house. I would use the money to make your home office a better place.

I'm in the same boat as TJ, but only started working from home last year. I definitely don't miss having to leave home to complete work I can do more efficiently on my own, but I understand that not everyone feels that way. 

Do you know what aspect(s) of going into the office you're missing? For me, I miss working on a more powerful computer with multiple better monitors, so I'm going to address that in my home office. 

My work gives me a laptop and a VPN in order to work from home if need be.

All of the locations I manage and people I deal with are in other states.

Our director doesn't like it when we work from home.

I would absolutely love to WFH 3-4 days out of the week.

I'm working from home about 60% of the time now. My commute recently became horrendous with construction, and both of my monitors at home are larger than the largest monitor at work. And it is quiet. And I don't actually work with anyone at my location. 

Besides that, with the calls that I conduct, being in my home office (guest bedroom) is way better than being in a cubicle. 

But I'm an introvert.I don't need the interaction. 

FuzzWuzzy said:

So you pay to go work at a spot on occasion a few times a month?

Why not just find a local cafe? Or on occasion go in to your work's office?

This is kind of my reaction too. I understand needing the interaction. I'm pretty social, and I enjoy talking to coworkers during the day - well some of them. Being in a basement lab can be pretty quiet some days, and I'll go get a cup of coffee upstairs that I don't want just stretch my legs and shoot the breeze a little.

But I can't see paying for the priveledge. I think I'd look for other local options too. Parks, cafes, etc. 

It's an interesting idea, though, I didn't realize that was a thing...

Oh, don't forget about your train ticket. You're looking at $40 or $125 a month, depending on if you go 10 ride or monthly pass. And depending on where it is, you may want a CTA pass as well. 

Personally I'd go to a library or coffee shop. Actually, there were a few times that I had to drive my wife to work and I'd just work out of the Friendly Coffee Lounge, pretty sure it was on Roosevelt either at Harlem or Oak Park. A little loud, IIRC, but coffee was decent. Usually there was someone else picking away at their laptop too. 

Here's an example of why a desk somewhere in a professional setting might be better than "home office" or coffee shop.    

Mike said:

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

What am I gonna do, call it Willis?

What sort of amenities do these co-working places offer?

Large format printers?  Tip-top MFPs?  Good free coffee?  Comfy desk that is "yours" with lockable storage?  A chair that isn't full of a stranger's farts? PO box and mail hold service?  Secretaries/admins to make coffee and do paperwork/build manuals or whatever the heck you need help with?

Who is paying for this?  You or your employer?  Are you self employed work from home or an employee working from home?

I get the reason to want a place that isnt home, but it seems like a lot of cheddar.  The amenities must be good.

John Welsh said:

Here's an example of why a desk somewhere in a professional setting might be better than "home office" or coffee shop.    

 

Next time I have to schedule a live web interview on a major network I'll keep that in mind.

What other clubs can you be a member of for $120/month? 

I suddenly want to win the lottery just so I can join one of these co-worker things and be the guy in the office that never seems to do any work but is happy to distract all the other people, stand around the coffee maker, and talk people into taking 2 hour, 3 cocktail lunches. 

I want to be a professional bad influence.

In reply to ultraclyde :

I spent 14 years in the cell phone business. I was always amazed that people in the phone biz didn't bother to mute their line. Or, maybe didn't know how. 

My life will be complete if I never again have to be on a conf call with a barking dog in the background via an unattended line from someone who wasn't even speaking at that time. 

In reply to ultraclyde :

We have monthly data security training that consists of watching a ~5min vid & answering a couple questions. It’s always the same characters in the vid & one is “bad judgement” - a shaggy dude in his bathrobe & PJs who’s always trying to get people to take the easy/lazy way out. It sounds like you should bring his character to life. 

That sounds like the software support tech I had to work with recently...it sounded like he was at an amusement park. There was all sorts of background noises, music, at one point I heard an engine revving...so weird.

The maker space I was part of here in Ann Arbor took on some extra square footage and offered it as a co-working space.  Their monthly fee is $250.

It was meant to appeal to very small start-ups that were producing physical “things” that wanted a central location for operations, without the risk of taking on a long term lease for big $$$.

Anyway, maybe info for comparison’s sake.  Link to AHA! membership fees and benefits.