over to Sonja, on why she co-works!

Don’t get me wrong! I’m incredibly grateful and have loved working from home and have long been the envy of my office-based friends. Up until recently I had successfully swanned along for well over ten years in my home office, long before we all had to bunker down (cough, covid), but one day I found myself wanting to change it up a little.

When I first started from home back in the ye old days of 2015 - I was living the remote working dream. I had two small children, and the flexibility allowed me to juggle home duties with being a model employee online. But something changed and I went searching for community.

So, why did I go searching for human connection again?

Not only did the little children get older and more independent, I also made the move to beautiful Beechworth from a busy region in NSW. After the big shift I got settled into my home office, I found myself longing for a social connection to other creatives and like-minded people. To be honest, I had never really missed working away from an office environment between the online meetings and calls to clients, but something was calling me to get back into a workspace without the hassle of changing jobs.

What made me choose somewhere here co?

I knew I would want to be local, so I fired up the Google machine and found the coworking space at Somewhere Here Co. I stalked their Instagram for a while, and after seeing the location at Mayday Hills, the sunny lunches on the lawn and yoga on Mondays it didn’t take me much to take the plunge.

My first impression
While I have visited coworking spaces before for client meetings and collaborations, I have never actually worked at a hot desk before. These last few months have been a positive and encouraging experience.

What I love about hot desking:

A clutter free desk with no distractions. For example, a particularly persistent house cat wanting to be fed, Aust post deliveries or mum calling me to have a chat when I should really be working.
Flexibility. nobody cares if I am 30 mins late or early to the space. No clock watching here!
·A chance to collaborate and network. I’ve met some great local creatives and built some genuine connections already at the space. Networking can also mean sharing what fun thing we did on the weekend, what is a great place to eat and drink at Rutherglen, or where is the best place to go if you are looking for kids’ gumboots in town.
A fresh outlook each time. Changing my seat each time I’m in has helped me break monotony, boost creativity, and provide fresh perspectives.
Quiet when I need it to be. Using the meeting rooms gives me a quiet zone focus or meet with clients away from the shared room. But the hum in the coworking room is great and just the right level to not be distracted by other conversations around you.
No hierarchy here! These strangers are the best coworkers, because we are all working independently, we are free to get on with our own work. Which is absolute bliss.
Serious productivity. Since starting at the space, I have noticed my focus has increased two-fold and I’m not the only one to notice, the boss has too – that’s why he has offered to pay half of my subscription. Happy employee = happy boss.
My daughter now has her room back. No more sharing with her annoying little brother just so mum can have a home office, this makes her very happy.

So, would I recommend a coworking space to everyone?

Absolutely 1000%, I have really found it to be the ultimate hangout spot for getting the work done while swapping a lonely home office for a vibing space full of great energy. If you have been considering joining, don’t waste another minute at home!

‘Why I don’t love working from home anymore and what I did about it’

over to Sonja, on why she co-works!

Hey hey FWA!