Our generation is blessed to live in the time when work can be done remotely. That’s why more and more young professionals get unshackled from the stuffy office environment and move to cozy and homey coworking spaces. Another popular trend is to have an “anywhere office” by swapping a traditional workstation for a seat in a coffee shop. Let’s compare which setting is better: a café or a coworking space.

Pros and Cons of Working in Coffee Shops

The smell of roasted coffee will invigorate you and inspire to work more productively. A beautiful layout, tasty coffee and pastry add to the positive experience. Compared to work from home, you can immerse yourself in the working mood and get distracted only by the need for a coffee refill or a loud neighbor (the latter can be quite annoying). That’s about the advantages.

The downsides of working at a coffee shop include:

· Unstable and/or unsecured internet connection.

· Lack of safety. You might go to the bathroom and would need to make a difficult choice: either step out with your gadgets unattended or shuffle to the toilet with all of your belongings.

· Imperfect logistics. When coming to a coffee shop, you cannot be sure that you will get a table with a power outlet nearby.

· Freelancer-unfriendly places. Not every coffee shop is happy to have customers who take seats for hours on end. In case after a few hours of work you are treated with a fierce glare, that means you found yourself in such a place. Unless you are ready to consume a gallon of latte followed by a dozen panini sandwiches to justify your time spent there, we advise you to steer clear of such venues.

Advantages of Working at Coworking Spaces

The main advantage of working in shared offices is motivation. Your productivity raises when you are surrounded by the like-minded people with whom you share a common objective - get your work done.

Another positive aspect of coworking is a variety of workstation options: from floating desks to dedicated offices. You may even be able to work weekends or late evening shifts only – whatever floats your boat and suits your budget.

Every self-respecting coworking space offers lightning-fast WiFi and high-quality roasted coffee. Sometimes you also get beer on tap, snacks and occasional breakfasts included.

Such office appliances as printers, paper and telephone booths with VoIP are also available.

Last but not least, coworking gives you a valuable chance to establish contacts and find potential clients, service providers or strategic partners. You also can attend seminars, exciting social events or yoga classes.

On the downside, you may be distracted from work by a chatterbox nearby or a social event that takes place behind the wall. Another thing to consider is a monthly payment for the service. Be sure you’ve got a stable source of income and are able to pay for a coworking space.

Considering the points above coworking spaces make for a better work environment than coffee shops because they offer more flexibility, safety, productivity-boosting aspects, and convenience.