I previously wrote about Working from home but finding office spaces to use, here’s an update and some questions answered.
Instead of floating around wifi-giving cafes I’ve rented a hotdesk in the CDCEA Nest for about 2 months so far. It’s worked out well, it’s only a 5 minute walk from my home but it makes such a difference getting some fresh air in order to get to my place of work. There’s another guy, a freelance architect, that is in there quite often, so it’s still quite empty.
This month I’ve been at home at bit more than in the office. It looks like this is due to a number of reasons damaging my motivation. It’s been Christmas & the end of term, from early-December the atmosphere was about going away and holidays starting. There isn’t immediate work for clients due to waiting on another freelancer (the critical path wasn’t thought about!). I should be aware of this next year, you need to embrace that the end of the year will be slow business (or feel like it) and be motivated to do portfolio-building projects or go on holiday.
When I started using the space I went to one of the PHP NE evening talks. Hosted at Post Office NE, I saw they have offices for rent but individual rooms (or perhaps 2 in a room). Someone also spoke to say they have a spare desk in their shared workspace. These options are both in Newcastle, and that seems a big step to get to work if it’s not to be part of the company I work for.
I would really like to set up a group of home-working developers/techies and rent an office together in Durham. This would allow us to have our own key and not have to pack up at 4:50pm (though that is encouraging me to start at 9am). We could also decide things like tea/milk buying rotas. I think I would need to find at least 3 other people to make it worth starting. Are there no such people living in Durham as opposed to Newcastle/Gateshead, or am I just unable to find them?
