Month: October 2023

In today’s lightning-paced world, maintaining a stress-free work life can feel as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster. Striking the right balance between work and life can sometimes feel as mysterious as the search for the Holy Grail. We all yearn to conquer our careers while cherishing precious moments with family, nurturing our hobbies, preserving our sanity and still enjoy some personal Zen. Lucky for us, there are some essential techniques that can truly turn the tables. Let’s dive into these secrets to achieving that work-life nirvana, spiced up with a dash of humor and real-world wisdom.

The very first technique which you can start with is:

• Prioritizing Your Tasks: One of the primary sources of stress at work is feeling overwhelmed by a never-ending to-do list.

Industry expert John Wooden once said, “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

In other words, tackle the important tasks first! Identify your MVP tasks, the Most Valuable Priorities and focus on completing them first. This approach will help you stay organized and reduce anxiety about uncompleted work. You’ll be amazed at how this can declutter your mental space.

• Time Management: Remember the words of Napoleon Hill, “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”

So you will think I can do ‘this work’ later thinking that your calendar is not full, but are you sure you did all your yesterday’s work. So to avoid your boss’s anger, utilize the tools available like calendars and to-do lists – to master your day and complete your work efficiently. And don’t forget those little “me” breaks. They’re like tiny life vests in the workday ocean.

• Effective Communication: Picture this; You, the wise senior, are waiting for your junior colleagues to initiate a chat. But they’re not shy; they’re just awaiting your conversational overture.Be the conversation maestro! Open, transparent discussions can work wonders, tearing down the walls of tension and eliminating misunderstandings.

• Healthy Work-Life Balance: Like Goldilocks, aim for that “just right” balance. Coworking spaces with flexible hours can be your secret sauce. They provide the freedom to dodge the shackles of overwork and make time for family, hobbies, and well, life’s little pleasures.

• Learn to Say No: When your plate’s as full as a Thanksgiving feast, channel your inner Marie Kondo and say, “No, thank you” to extra tasks. While overcommitting only leads to stress overload. To keep your sanity intact, learn to say NO cause Overcommitting is like filling your stress backpack with boulders and it’s high time for a lighter load.

• Technology: Einstein humorously remarked,  “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

It’s time to catch up!  Embrace tech and supercharge your workflow. Coworking spaces, equipped with cutting-edge tech perks, can turn your work routine into a joyride, making your work life a breeze.

• Regular Breaks are vital: Breaks are your secret weapon. A brisk stroll, a five-minute meditation session, or even a quick chat with a coworker can work wonders which refreshes  your mind and helps you to enhance your focus on your work. Co-working spaces typically have cozy corners for your mind-refreshing pit stops. So find these spaces which typically offer communal areas where you can take these well-deserved breaks.

• Take Care of Your Well-Being: In Winston Churchill’s profound words,

“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.”

So, give yourself some love. Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and a restful night’s sleep are your trusted allies in the epic battle against stress. Remember to give yourself some love. Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and a good night’s sleep are your allies in this epic battle against stress.

The post-Covid economic recovery is witnessing accelerated adoption of flex spaces/co-working spaces. The blend of workforce and economic variables is fuelling new trends. The rise of the gig economy, the start-up ecosystem, the great resignation, work-from-home, hybrid working, rebalancing of the global supply chains, ample credit supply and the economic recovery are presenting newer opportunities for the Coworking industry to be innovative and explore new niches with more relatable services. 

Coworking is a norm now. The flex spaces ecosystem and government regulation are fast catching up with the emerging trends for offering innovative products. The demand-side pressure from the workforce is seeking an increasingly demanding hybrid and hyper-flexible work culture from businesses. Each industry and community segment is demanding unique experiences and spaces, industry-specific resources, more often with a sustainability theme and embeds unique community-focused value-added services. Coworking companies offering managed office spaces are increasingly meeting the demands of their industry-specific clients.

Coworking for Food Start-ups

Based in Amsterdam, The Kitchen Republic blends kitchens with offices and event venues. They help start-ups with professional kitchen space, the right connections within the industry, event and office space and access to the largest community of food entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. They provide access to top-of-the-line day kitchen rentals, Coworking office space, plug-and-play scale-up units, and fully equipped start-up commercial kitchens through their Coworking for chefs. 

Based in Chicago, The Hatchery Chicago is a non-profit food and beverage incubator committed to assisting regional business owners in starting and expanding prosperous enterprises. They encourage local food and beverage entrepreneurs, nurture local employment possibilities, and boost local economies through their state-of-the-art commercial cooking facilities, comprehensive entrepreneurship curriculum, and partnerships with corporate sponsors and foundations. The Hatchery offers storage, Coworking, and kitchen solutions. This food and beverage business incubator is housed in a brand-new 67,000-square-foot production facility that also features a thriving community of food entrepreneurs, shared and private kitchen spaces, cold/dry/freezer storage, loading/receiving docks, food truck servicing, Coworking space, meeting rooms, and event space meeting the needs for those in catering, baking, CPG products, meal kits, and a food truck businesses.

Coworking for Creative Spaces

Green Spaces, a co-working collective helps communities by giving artists, companies, and solopreneurs the tools and reasonably priced space they need to collaborate, develop, and stand up for their causes. Their spaces are designed for both collaborative conversations and quiet corners. They provide sustainably designed conference rooms, and fully equipped 130 sq ft of premium space for photographers, videographers and small businesses to work on their creative projects. They also provide exhibition halls to showcase creative work, photo shoots and corporate events. For enterprises, non-profits, remote employees, and sole proprietors, Green Spaces acts as a conduit and collective. Through philanthropic partnerships Green Spaces helps overlooked artists grow who can then in turn help others, creating a social contract for a sustainable cycle of empowerment. The future lies in creating bespoke Coworking environments for professionals. 

Coliving and Coworking

Companies such as Selina’s focused tourism sector serve ultra-niche segments of travellers. They built their offerings on the needs of globe travellers, forever travellers, break-takers, surfers and staycaters. Their destination-focused Coliving and Coworking spaces are offered at urban centres to the depths of the Amazon Jungle. The range of their product offerings is diverse and intricate embedding local cultures, cuisines, local activities and other bespoke solutions. Their placement wonderfully captures the concept of the ecosystem, where one can live, dine, work, surf, explore, and develop a stronger sense of connectedness to the outside world. These businesses are sustainable as maximum revenue is retained in the local economies. 

The trend is moving towards industry/community-specific Coworking spaces. Some of these industries are highly regulated such as the Pharmaceutical industry. The government policy and regulators must act swiftly to encompass market dynamics while Coworking operators also need to adhere to industry compliances. One such co-working environment for medical professionals has been introduced by Aartas CliniShare, a first-of-its-kind. The venture offers a fully digitalized and paperless environment, equipped with cutting-edge technologies and competent personnel for assistance. They offer all super specialities under one roof. Their venture boasts of a growth rate surpassing 20% month-over-month covering physician enrolments, patient traffic, pharmacy sales, and net revenue.

My Branch Services, a Narayan Bhargava Group company offers shared, managed and virtual office spaces spread across 70+ locations across 60+ cities in India. We partner with our clients in growth and aiding their cost-efficient expansions. We also offer legal and compliance services, manpower solutions and audit services to our clients. Essentially, we offer an ecosystem of business solutions to our clients.

The Coworking market is vibrant and ever-evolving with flexible working stock expected to cross 80 million sq. ft. by the end of 2025 in India. The Coworking operators, investors and property developers must increasingly collaborate to co-create innovative business models, carve out brand partnerships and create ecosystems inclusive of local context to meet diverse market needs. The governments must remove any policy vacuum while adopting a forward-looking policy framework and regulators must create viable and supportive legal frameworks to manage the markets. The evolution of the Coworking business and operating models such as propco-opco moving to revenue sharing amplified with brand partnerships for value-added services. The future of Coworking seems exciting.

Let’s Cowork. Cooperate. Cocreate.