• Marketplace
  • Resources
  • Business Directory
  • Events
  • Advertise
  • Brand Pulse
  • Publish a Press Release
  • Get the Newsletter
  • Contact
  • About Us
The FUTURE OF WORK® since 2003
Allwork.Space
No Result
View All Result
Subscribe
  • More
    • Columnists
      • Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
      • Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
      • Angela Howard – Culture Expert
      • Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
      • Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
    • Get the Newsletter
    • Events
    • Advertise With Us
    • Publish a Press Release
    • Brand PulseNew
    • Partner Portal
  • Latest News
  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Work-life
  • Career Growth
  • Tech
  • Design
  • Workforce
  • Coworking
  • CRE
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Columnists
      • Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
      • Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
      • Angela Howard – Culture Expert
      • Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
      • Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
    • Get the Newsletter
    • Events
    • Advertise With Us
    • Publish a Press Release
    • Brand PulseNew
    • Partner Portal
  • Latest News
  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Work-life
  • Career Growth
  • Tech
  • Design
  • Workforce
  • Coworking
  • CRE
  • Podcast
No Result
View All Result
Subscribe
Allwork.Space
No Result
View All Result
Advertisements
Kube Suite - TL
Home Business

Confessions Of A Digital Nomad: How I Became The Worst Type Of Coworker

Robert KroppbyRobert Kropp
September 21, 2018
in Business
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
CDN  worst coworker

Is community all that important for those who are too busy? Robert Kropp shares his thoughts on it after an incredibly overloaded and hard Summer

  • Digital nomad Robert Kropp opens up about how an increased workload affected his coworking habits.
  • Robert admits to becoming the worst type of coworker, one that doesn’t socialize and mingle with others. 
  • He poses the question on whether there is something operators should do if they notice members become too absorbed in their worlds and isolated from others. 

I am sitting in a small flat in Manchester, England. I am reflecting on the fact that I believe I became what I consider to be the worst type of coworker. This is happening just as I am getting ready to explore coworking spaces throughout the UK. In fact, GCUC UK is coming up next week in London. I figure it’s about time I take a closer look at my working and coworking habits of this Summer.

First off, what exactly does it mean to be the worst  type of coworker?

Advertisements
Maximize Flexible Space Revenue

Let me draw it for you:

I, Robert,  was working in a coworking space in Paris for a day and I think–no, I know– I did not say a single word to anyone in the space. I showed up, paid for the day, had call after call, and then I left.

Advertisements
Yardi Kube automates flex and coworking operations

Core to the coworking brand promise and deep in the foundation of its original development is the idea of community, comradery, and collaboration. At least this is the reason why I started traveling and writing about coworking spaces around the world in the first place.

However, I had never experienced my workload multiplying by double and even triple at times as it happened this Summer. Aren’t earning a living and building successful companies that last important things? This got me thinking: is community all that important for people that are too busy?

While the amount of work I needed to do increased to unprecedented levels, so did my feeling that I had no time for breaks, for food, for chit chat, or anything that was not necessary for meeting the needs of clients and deadlines.

Here’s how my usual work day started to look. Grab a cup of coffee, shut the door, put headphones in, and get lost in my computer for the next 10 to 12 hours while intermittently drinking my coffee or water.

Advertisements
Maximize Flexible Space Revenue

More often than not, I would take a break and look up only to notice that I was the only person remaining in the space.

I became the one thing and person that I don’t like in coworking spaces. I became the person that is always ‘busy’, too preoccupied to say hello, or too stressed to take 2 minutes to chat with someone while making (and drinking) a coffee.

How many people had given me their time in the beginning? How many people have I not gotten to know because I was too busy or didn’t take the time to introduce myself?

As I started to notice that I had been doing this all Summer, I began to think about how many people experience this same feeling and whether it was a good or bad thing.

More stories for you

IWG Expands In Budapest With Two New Flexible Office Locations

IWG Expands In Budapest With Two New Flexible Office Locations

3 days ago
WeWork India Continues Rapid Expansion With 200,000 Sq Ft Portfolio Addition

WeWork India Continues Rapid Expansion With 200,000 Sq Ft Portfolio Addition

3 days ago
ClassPass And WeWork Partner To Provide New On Demand Access to Workplace And Wellness Offerings

ClassPass And WeWork Partner To Provide New On Demand Access to Workplace And Wellness Offerings

3 days ago
Why Full Occupancy Is No Longer A Flexible Workspace Bragging Point

Why Full Occupancy Is No Longer A Flexible Workspace Bragging Point

3 days ago

Is it all that bad and a problem to be this type of coworker?

On one hand, I believe that if you are joining a coworking space, there is an obligation and an unwritten agreement that you want to become a member of the community that adds more to a space than you take from it. This includes occasional conversations, being physically and emotionally present, and just overall being a nice. friendly person.

On the other hand, if you are in the midst of an increased workload, are having a hard time making a living, or figuring out how to overcome any other personal challenge, you need to be able to focus on that. And yet, coworking spaces are supposed to help us cope with these types of situations; it can make a world of difference on our mental and physical wellbeing.

I know that had I been in my home coworking space in Tampa, next to people I have known for a while and spent the time to become friends with, I would have been able to better manage  cope during this Summer. My stress levels would have been at a better and my productivity levels would have been much higher, just based on the fact that I have a strong support system there.

Life, work, and careers are full of seasons of good times and bad times.  A coworking space can provide the support structure to help us get through them all. It is not only a good business decision for coworking operators in the world to build and grow this type of support environment–it can help retain members–, but it is also a good ethical decision, as it can potentially help your members surpass hard times.

Advertisements
Disaster Avoidance Experts

At first, I thought that becoming this type of coworker was completely unacceptable. Now, I understand why it happened and am certain that it happens to many others around the world, whether they are working from home, a coffee shop, a coworking space, or a traditional office.

So I got to thinking.  

What can coworking spaces do to help engage members that are overwhelmed, overworked, or are generally not taking care of themselves? Is this a question about wellness or more of a general question of how members are using a space?

As I dive more into these questions, I would love to hear your feedback. You can share your thoughts with me in Facebook or Twitter.

Advertisements
Disaster Avoidance Experts
Advertisements
Subscribe to the Future of Work Newsletter
Tags: CoworkingDigital NomadsWork-life Balance
Share5Tweet3Share1
Robert Kropp

Robert Kropp

In July of 2016, I decided to go on a life journey working remotely while exploring coworking and flexible workspaces around the world. So far this journey has brought me to 25+ states, 2 provinces, 20+ countries, and 150+ workspaces globally. You can find me contributing articles to Allwork.Space, blogging at RobertKropp.com, and building a better way to distribute workspace updates through Syncaroo.com.

Other Stories Recommended For You

IWG Expands In Budapest With Two New Flexible Office Locations
News

IWG Expands In Budapest With Two New Flexible Office Locations

byAllwork.Space News Team
3 days ago

International Workplace Group (IWG) has added two new flexible office locations in Budapest, marking a calculated expansion in response to...

Read more
WeWork India Continues Rapid Expansion With 200,000 Sq Ft Portfolio Addition

WeWork India Continues Rapid Expansion With 200,000 Sq Ft Portfolio Addition

3 days ago
ClassPass And WeWork Partner To Provide New On Demand Access to Workplace And Wellness Offerings

ClassPass And WeWork Partner To Provide New On Demand Access to Workplace And Wellness Offerings

3 days ago
Why Full Occupancy Is No Longer A Flexible Workspace Bragging Point

Why Full Occupancy Is No Longer A Flexible Workspace Bragging Point

3 days ago
Advertisements
Nexudus - Tech Stack Lovers
Advertisements
Nexudus - Tech Stack Lovers

Unlock your competitive edge in tomorrow's workplace.

Join a community of forward-thinking professionals who get exclusive access to the latest news, trends, and innovations that are shaping the future of work.

©2024 Allwork.Space News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Exploring the Future Of Work® since 2003.

Advertise   Newsletters   Privacy Policy   Terms Of Use   About Us   Contact   Submit a Press Release   Brand Pulse   Podcast   Events   

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Latest News
  • Topics
    • Business
    • Leadership
    • Work-life
    • Workforce
    • Career Growth
    • Design
    • Tech
    • Coworking
    • Marketing
    • CRE
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • About Us
  • Solutions
    • Advertise | Media Kit
    • Publish a Press Release
    • Brand Pulse
Subscribe

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
-
00:00
00:00

Queue

Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00