7 Reasons to Work From a Coworking Space in Houston
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More and more people are working from home than ever before. There’s no denying that it’s easy to slip downstairs in the morning and get right to work while you’re still in your pajamas, but working from home is hard too. From loneliness to fewer job opportunities, working from home isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
That doesn’t mean you have to get a full-time corporate job that requires you to go into the office all day, every day. Instead, consider a coworking space in Houston, Texas.
Here’s why.
Expand Your Network
Networking is important, regardless of your career. It’s one of the best ways to progress in your career in a meaningful way. Your connections can alert you to job opportunities without you having to go out there and look for them on your own. You may even hear about opportunities before they are officially available, giving you a leg-up over the competition.
Building your own network can be hard to do when you sit at home by yourself all day. In contrast, when you go to a coworking space, you’ll naturally network with others. In a large city like Houston, you’re likely to run into other people in your industry or people in adjacent industries who can help and support you in ways that you will never experience if you work from your home office all the time.
Sense of Community
A lack of community is one of the biggest losses when it comes to working from home. According to research, a lack of community is one of the root causes of burnout.
When you go to a coworking space, you get a built-in sense of community. There are others there who may have similar experiences as you. Just being around people during the workday can help you feel less lonely, and it’s highly possible that you’ll make at least one new friend at a coworking space.
You don’t have to go in every day to get the benefit of a community, either. If you’re an introverted person, strive to cowork at least a few days a week. It’s about finding a balance between community and alone time that works for you.
More Creativity and Collaboration
Collaborating with others is a great way to come up with new ideas that you wouldn’t otherwise have come up with on your own. It can increase your knowledge, make you more productive, and it’s often more fun than getting something done by yourself.
The trouble is, it’s extremely difficult to collaborate over the internet. It’s just easier to bounce ideas off of one another when you can meet in person. You’re also more likely to meet people you can actually collaborate with when you see them face-to-face.
Going to a coworking space makes collaborating a lot easier. Not only do you open yourself up to meeting other people to get creative with, you also have a built-in place to do it.
Professional Way to Meet
Want to collaborate with someone in the community? Or maybe a local business wants to work with you on a new project?
Local-based projects can be a challenge when you work from home. Meeting in your home office is unprofessional. Meeting at a local coffee shop isn’t the best place to work either, especially if you plan to meet multiple times.
A coworking space can be a great solution. In Houston, coworking spaces often include larger areas and/or additional offices that can be reserved for meetings. It makes your business seem more professional, and it gives you both a quiet space to work.
Better Work-Life Balance
The lines between our professional and private lives have blurred over the years. It’s easy for all of us, traditional workers included, to check email on our phones after hours, but the line is at its blurriest for those who work from home.
It’s easy to put in a few extra minutes on a big project when your office is just a few steps away. Before you know it, you’re constantly thinking about work because your home and work are the same place.
You can change that by going to a coworking space. It’s easier to leave work at work when it’s a physical place you go to every day.
Access to Services and Amenities
Another benefit of Houston coworking spaces is the fact that you’ll enjoy different services and amenities that come with your membership fee.
Just a few examples include:
- Reliable high-speed internet
- Access to a coffee and snack bar
- Access to health insurance and benefits
- Professional mailing address
- Professional printing
Coworking spaces are also professionally designed, furnished, cleaned, and maintained. You don’t ever have to worry about running out of toilet paper, painting, or vacuuming. It’s all professionally done for you, giving you a clean, comfortable place to work without having to be the one doing the cleaning.
Change of Scenery
Staying in one place, looking out the same window, and working alone from home is a recipe for feeling stuck. People actually rate their happiness levels lower when they have less variability in their day, and little variability is exactly what you’re going to get when you work from home.
Going to a coworking space provides you with a change of scenery. You’re in a different place surrounded by different people. It can wake up your brain to new possibilities and enhance focus, which are two great benefits if you’re trying to get some work done.
Coworking spaces also offer variability in their offices, which allows you to keep shaking things up. You can work in your own office or pick a new spot at a shared table.
Houston is a bustling city with tons of opportunities for remote workers to mix, mingle, and be creative with one another. With a coworking space, you can tap into the unlimited potential of this community while decreasing feelings of burnout, increasing productivity, and creating a better home-life balance.