For some, coworking spaces might sound like a café where you just stay longer than usual. And sure, they might have a few small facilities – a coffee machine, maybe even a kitchen – but those things are just there to make life easier while working. It might sound surprising, but coworking spaces are places where a lot of actual work gets done.
Most of you are probably familiar with classic corporate offices. The football game from yesterday gets discussed first thing in the morning, coffee meetings happen all the time, the relaxation area with the PlayStation is always busy, and work meetings take an eternity. With all of that going on, even if people spend eight hours at the office – excluding the lunch break – I’m not sure how much of that time is spent on actual work.
My first day at Builders House
I arrived at Builders House a few minutes before 9:00 AM and left at 4:00 PM. In that time, I also took around 30 minutes for a lunch break. I spent almost all of my time at my laptop. The first thing I did was check emails, social media accounts, and application logs to see if anything urgent had come up. Everything was fine with my applications, so I jumped straight into development on Planaro.
In a single working session, I managed to create the analytics page, redesign the post creation form and add AI features to it, and do some testing with posting on all platforms – including Bluesky – from my local environment. On top of the development work, I was also active on social media. Right now I’m handling my own accounts alongside Planaro’s and RunningLog’s accounts, so there’s always something to post or engage with.
The peer motivation is real
I was the first to arrive in the big open space at Builders House, but all the desks were occupied soon after. Everyone has their own arrival time, but regardless of when they show up, everyone is focused on getting work done. There’s no time for the usual office distractions. That energy is contagious – when everyone around you is heads-down and productive, you naturally match that pace.
If you haven’t tried it yet, I’d strongly recommend working from a coworking space for just one day. Pay attention to how much work you actually get done compared to your usual setup. The difference might surprise you.
