CoworkCafe

I’ve mentioned before that my home office is in the loft of my townhouse, and it gets ridiculously hot up there during the summer, so I’ve been working from coffee shops and libraries a lot more than usual recently….when I’m in town, at least.

Automattic gives me an allowance to rent a coworking space, but all of the ones I’ve looked at in the area are way too expensive, especially for the fact that all I’m looking for is a place to sit with my laptop.  And I don’t really want/need a “real” office anyway, I actually like the atmosphere at coffee shops and find it easy to get work done.  But there’s no guarantee when I leave my house that there will actually be a seat for me there.  More than once I’ve gone in, discovered it’s a packed house, and walked out…after buying a coffee because I didn’t want to look like a weirdo.

Today I visited a place that solves that problem – http://www.coworkcafe.com/

It’s a dedicated coworking space in the back of a coffee shop.  So I get the coffee shop atmosphere along with a guaranteed seat (near a power outlet too!), as well as additional niceties like access to a printer and private areas for the rare occasion when I need to do a voice or video call.  The WiFi was blazing fast, too.  I forgot to grab a screenshot while I was there, but https://fast.com reported it around 90Mbps down, same as I have at home.  And as a bonus, included in the monthly cost is a $50 credit for coffee/food.

The downside is that it’s a full 25-30 minute drive from my house, which would make it the second longest commute I’ve ever had (the longest was when I lived in Philly and worked in King of Prussia…I-76 is the worst).  While I’m not excited about that part, it does give me more opportunity to listen to podcasts.  And there’s a lot more going on in that area as far as places where I can get lunch if I decide not to eat at the cafe.

So I think I’ll sign up at least for the next few months until the average temperature in my loft drops somewhere below the boiling point.