The office is a dying phenomenon. As the world tilts towards entrepreneurship, flexible working, and the ‘gig economy’ of people working remotely on individual projects, the need to have a conventional office is dwindling.
And not many will mourn its loss!
Once you’re free of the 9-5 slog you can work wherever you choose. Gone are the days of having to trudge into the same building every day and sit at the same desk. Now you get to choose everything about your working environment, including location! Usually, all you need is a laptop and Internet connection, and you’re good to go.
As more and more people are engaging with the laptop lifestyle, there is a rapid rise of great co-working spaces popping up all over the world. Here’s a list of five great places for you to pitch up your mobile office, a million miles away from convention.
WeWork
WeWork is an ingenious company with co-working spaces located all over the world. They have raised a staggering $1.43 billion in funding which shows just how significant this trend for coworking is. The workspaces have fantastic modern interiors and feature everything you could need including lockers, screening rooms and brilliantly designed common areas (outdoors and indoors) for you to knuckle down and plough through with your project.
It also offers plenty of activities to engage yourself with during some downtime such as arcades, shuffle board decks, and foosball tables.
Hubud
Based in Bali, Hubud describes itself as a ‘community of people who are quietly changing the way we work, live and bring ourselves to the world.’ The incredible open-plan building is made of bamboo and overlooks verdant rice fields.
I spent a month in Bali last year running my business remotely and dropped into Hubud to give a talk. There’s a great diversity of people there working on a myriad of different projects, and its open, collaborative vibe means that you’ll never be short of inspiration.
Hera Hub
Based in San Diego, Hera Hub is for women only. As they say, “Many women running small businesses also juggle family life, and therefore feel an affinity with other women in the same situation. A supportive environment where women feel they easily relate to others helps get to that point in the relationship where they know, like, and trust the other person and are therefore more likely to ask for feedback or refer business.”
HeraHub is designed to be more like a spa than a co-working space – with soft lighting, fountains, candles, inspirational quotes on the walls, and relaxing music. And every Tuesday afternoon they offer chair massages.
Private Members Clubs
As an alternative to shared workspaces there are now many different private members clubs.
For a fixed annual fee you get access to gorgeous spaces for lunches, drinks, and informal meetings. Some are now including laptop areas for people to work for a few hours at a time and so blur the line with shared workspaces.
I’m a member of the Soho House chain which now has clubs all over the world and I often meet my mentorship clients at their Shoreditch House. Shoreditch House is the ultimate in opulent surroundings. Based in a converted warehouse in the heart of creative London, it features a club, spa, two restaurants and even a rooftop pool with a view of London’s skyscrapers. Like many similar clubs they also have a rich variety of talks, workshops and events which are all free for members.
Wherever you lay your laptop!
When you break free and start working for yourself, any of the above spaces could be your new office. But, the point is that you can choose where you want to work! That could be somewhere exotic and exciting abroad, it could be the local cafe with good coffee, it could be your own kitchen table, or it perhaps the local park.
This is a photo of me working on my book in Victoria Park in London, headphones plugged in, and using my iPhone as a personal WiFi hotspot.
What’s your dream location? If you could work anywhere, where would it be? Let us know in the comments – and feel free to send in photos of you ‘hard at work’.
~
In my new book Screw Work Break Free you can discover…
- How to break away from convention and start working for yourself whenever and wherever you choose.
- How to find a business idea from scratch
- How to launch something at minimal cost in 30 days
Download a free chapter here.