Work From Home Coworkers
There are many issues endured by businesspeople, entrepreneurs and remote workers who are attempting to establish their company, complete their work, or run their business from the kitchen table while working from home (WFH) instead of using a private office, virtual office, or shared space (coworking).
Not the least of which is their “coworkers”. And by coworkers I mean the fellow inhabitants of their abode – their partner, spouse or roommate; their darling children; or their family cat or dog (or iguana for that matter.)
REMOTE WORK CHALLENGES
The challenge most often take two forms for entrepreneurs: Interruptions and noise.
Interruptions.
You know when you get in the zone? Creativity is flowing, your spreadsheets are filling themselves out, emails and productivity are flying out of your computer. But then, someone or something interrupts that flow.
Early on in my work-from-home life I had an office in our basement where I would sit at my desktop computer while creating and running programs that would produce spreadsheets full of not-very-interesting investment data. The program took quite some time to run (like 30 minutes – an eternity now) and I would watch it diligently to make sure there were no problems. I also had an 18-month-old child who would sometimes wander in to see what his dad was up to. And would inevitably push the computer’s reset button that would in turn re-boot the entire system, and wipe out my program and results in the meantime. There were words said.
And those special, precious moments while more infrequent (and interruptive) can sometimes pale in comparison to the what seems like nearly constant phone calls, emails, “Dad, can you take me to practice?”, cat walking across the keyboard, let the dog out – let the dog in, and various other non-work-oriented interruptions.
Noise
See above. But also include landscapers, garbage trucks, delivery people, vacuums, televisions, music, neighborhood kids, misbehaving kids, barking dogs, etc. The list is endless and not conducive to professional, productive work. Especially when so much of our meetings are not conducted virtually over Zoom, Teams, etc.
SOLUTIONS AND COWORKING
What to do, what to do?
Well, what I did was find alternative work solutions. I rented conference rooms from attorneys and shared workspaces for meetings. I used coworking (we didn’t even know that word back then) shared space to have a quiet, professional space to work. And eventually I got my own private office in a shared workspace/coworking/executive suites provider that would allow me to have a professional office that I could call my own without all the associated expenses and responsibilities of a stand-alone place.
And there are many other alternatives as well – libraries, subletting space from a professional that has space or an empty room, flex-space, temporary or part-time offices from shared workspaces, and dedicated desks in coworking providers. There’s probably many more, but you get the idea.
While my child survived the more-than-once rebooting of my computer, don’t take the chance. Explore other opportunities and arrangements that can provide you the professional, productive space you deserve.
At Office Evolution Phoenix, we provide virtual office, coworking, and flex office private office solutions at our shared office center. We offer meeting rooms, private offices, hot desking in a shared workspace coworking lounge, a shared reception, a business address, and virtual receptionist services. We have many options and price points, and all terms are flexible. Plus, you become part of a community of like-minded professionals.
Whether you live in Phoenix, Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe, Guadalupe, Mesa, Laveen, Maricopa or Casa Grande or other communities nearby in Maricopa County, OR you just arrived at Sky Harbor Airport and need a place to meet or work, choosing Office Evolution Phoenix will help you be more professional, productive, and profitable.