Rant: I thought coworking memberships were a total waste until I ran the numbers

I run a small dev shop out of my house in Pflugerville. For two years I told myself it was fine. Saved on rent, right. But my productivity kept slipping and I blamed everything else. Last month I added up how much I spent on coffee shops and random coffee. It came to like $340. Plus the time lost finding tables and bad WiFi. A basic coworking spot near the Domain costs $250 a month. I tried it for three weeks and my commit count doubled. Now I feel dumb for not doing it sooner. Has anyone else found that spending a little on space actually saves you money in the long run?

3 comments

3 Comments

victor_robinson1mo ago

Respectfully gonna push back a little here. I tried a coworking space for a few months and found the noise and open layout actually hurt my focus more than working from home. Ended up spending more on coffee because the in-house stuff was terrible and overpriced. Your mileage may vary but for me the $250 could have gone toward a good noise cancelling headset and a nicer desk setup at home.

the_jennifer1mo ago

Ngl the coffee thing is real. I remember this one coworking spot I tried for a week that had a "gourmet" espresso machine but nobody ever cleaned it. One day I took a sip and it tasted like burnt rubber and old milk. I ended up driving 10 minutes to a Starbucks every afternoon. Plus the quiet zones thing is hit or miss too. The one at my place had signs everywhere saying "shh quiet area" but people would still take loud zoom calls right at their desks.

paige3311mo agoMost Upvoted

Gently push back on the noise complaint though, @victor_robinson. Most coworking spots have quiet zones or phone booths you can use for focused work. I've found that picking the right spot in the space makes a huge difference. The one near the Domain has a solid quiet floor where I rarely get distracted. Totally get that not every space works for everyone, but most places let you do a free trial day to test the noise levels before committing.