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Coworking Conundrums – A Guide to Coworking Space in Singapore

Singapore’s coworking phenomenon is as popular as other places in the Asia Pacific market.

The country is experiencing prosperity, and this prosperity is very evident in a commercial real estate market whose office rents are still very high.

As an alternative to high rents, coworking has become one of the ways in which businesses in the country can afford to lease space in some of the more affluent areas in the city.

However, when one peers into any of these workspaces, it is very easy to make the assumption that these offices are doubling as a hangout for young professionals. Images of people huddled around hot desks and people lounging in the space’s cafés would definitely lead to this assumption.

In fact, a lot of work gets done under the auspices of the coworking space. The coworking space is the one place professionals can work, even with the dilemmas of working in a shared office.

Photo by Scott Winterroth on Unsplash

Keep reading to learn how you can overcome a few problems associated with coworking with ease to ensure you stay on track to your goals.

The Entertainers

The coworking space by nature of its organisation is designed to promote community interaction among its professionals. The problem is your coworking mates have taken networking to a new level by making the entire day devoted to socialising and interrupting each other’s work. If your hot desking mates are not chit-chatting about industry talk and people, they are interfering with their work and yours.

Let’s not talk about the playlist that circulates every morning to make sure everyone contributes to the vibe in the space. Throw in the lunchtime cues to head to the café, even when you have loads of work to complete, and every morning you find yourself trying to find a way to divorce yourself from your crew. By mid-afternoon, you set your work aside, to be done in the privacy of your home office, and consign yourself to sticking with the gang.

One way to avoid being distracted by your coworking mates’ inability to settle down and work is to politely and firmly explain the import of your work and your time constraints. Then, establish boundaries. On your own, establish a routine for when you are in the office and stick to it, regardless of what the gang is doing. Alternatively, go into the office a few hours later, and this will give you the chance to work and to interact with your coworking mates.

Space Hoarding

Every day you sit at the same desk without fail. It gives you security and comfort, and you are able to get a lot done just by being seated in the hot desk overlooking the coworking space’s community garden. However, currently, you and another coworker have been engaging in somewhat of a silent tug-o-war over this same seat with you losing because living in those government residences in the province places you some distance from your coworking space and you are never the first to arrive.

In exchange for that particular seat and the emotional drama that goes with it, consider renting a dedicated desk, which will give you first dibs on your favourite seat. While your rent will go up, and in some cases considerably, you totally avoid stressing yourself out about getting to work to beat out the competition. Furthermore, the dedicated desk provides you with privacy, something you rarely get when working at the hot desk.

Coworking Comfortably

While coworking presents professionals with all sorts of opportunities, it is shared space. The problems associated with sharing space while respecting boundaries are bound to arise. Ultimately, though, your coworking community should be a base of support not a source of aggravation.

Featured image via chuttersnap on Unsplash