My coworking adventure has lead me to discover an unforeseen, unexpected and understated benefit. Work ethic.
This is a term, or phrase, tossed around fairly haphazardly — in most cases it’s used to diplomatically point out your laziness. Fair enough. But feeling like you want to work —having the internal and external forces that spark some fire in the belly — can determine whether you slack, or git ‘er done.
Freelancers often clash with dastardly villains like “Procrastination” and “Morning”.
For many creative freelancers I talk to, especially us writers, the biggest challenge of the day can be gettin’ yer ass in gear. Procrastination can be kryptonite to us super scribes. (Sure, on occasion, it can actually be part of the creative process.) Minimizing this effect can be a challenge if you’re sitting around in your pajamas. This is where I’ve found coworking to be the proverbial amphetamine to perk up and get rolling.
I’ll be honest, I hate the morning. I suck at them. And, don’t get me wrong, I’ll use my freelance freedom to better coincide with the tendencies of my hypothalamus (…I saved you the googling). But, surrounding yourself with self-driven people helps you rise and shine at a non-student hour and gives you a certain psychological boost that caffeine, unfortunately, can’t.
This is the realm of the up-start. Even looking around my CoMotion On King surroundings, there’s some on-the-fly social media planning happening, a discussion about pulling off a video shoot…and that’s just within earshot. That is energy. And you can feed off of it. It doesn’t seem to matter what’s happening, it’s more that something is happening. You’re working among ‘peers’ — whether you actually know them or not. And not unlike at the gym or on the track, human nature pushes you to keep pace.
Although I haven’t read anything in the CoMotion handbook that specifically states you can’t show up in your pajamas and drift into the vortex of hilarious youtube videos for a few hours, it definitely would be awkward. As a species, we like to avoid awkwardness. When combined with coworking, this evolutionary detail opens the door to some pretty productive days for the freelancer.
