How Can I Get Work Done In A Coworking Space?

Here are 11 helpful tips to improve productivity in a coworking space:

1. Keep yourself accountable

To prevent you from achieving your goals for the day, it is easy to allow the distractions when you are in a coworking space. This is where self-discipline is important. Write down the tasks for the day, check them off as you complete them (which is nothing more satisfying) and don't let yourself go home without completing them all (unless your mind is too tired and can’t think anymore).

2. Make the work meaningful

When you are doing something that leads to the end product, the job is easier to do. Often, understanding why the work you do is important, makes it less laborious to do it. This results in an end result that is quicker and of better quality. You'll always have some things to do that's less fun (like administration), but knowing the intent behind it makes it easier to do.

3. Break regularly

The brain is an organ that is only able to take so much abuse at once. The optimum time-work ratio, according to this scientific study, is 52 minutes of rough, productive and efficient work, with a 17-minute break in between. The point, then? Find what's best for you, and apply the ratio theory. A break does not necessarily mean a nap under your desk for 20 minutes or a dry cleaning pick up. It will do to just get up to stretch or walk around for a few moments.

4. Foster the right kind of engagement

Working in a room with many people with a variety of skills and talents is all good and just simply engaging with them for the sake of talking or procrastinating in a coworking space does more harm than good for efficiency.

The commitment should be positive and advantageous for your project or the team as you work. Otherwise, it's just a question of wasting time, stopping the other individual from doing their job and hurting those who share the same room and want to be successful. It's important to have good ties with your coworking space squad, but there's a time and place to develop a friendship.

5. Reward yourself for good work

By rewarding yourself when you complete a task or reach a specific milestone, you become more motivated and productive at work. You know yourself best, so if you're a coffee nut, treat yourself with a delicious chai latte with skimmed milk and a hint of caramel! Instead of reheating your favorite coffee for the past 3 hours, it will make the day feel a little more worth it. You deserve to reward yourself for accomplishing your task, that will motivate you to keep going and just do your best.

6. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

It's also very easy to distract yourself from non-trivial tasks, and the day is a waste. In a coworking space atmosphere, it is important to practice some time management skills. Making a general plan for the day, or the week, provides guidance for your day. A little bit of structure can go a long way for you.

7. Defeat Procrastination

A coworking space can contribute to procrastination, being an open, and social environment. And quite frankly, in any work environment procrastination is an issue, whether you are a student, postponing research for the topic you hate.

8. Avoid monotony

Boredom is a productivity killer. It may not be the environment that becomes monotonous in this case but the work. Keep your day versatile to avoid falling into a boring routine that never takes advantage of any constructive breaks or engagements.

9. Keep your workspace clean and tidy.

There's nothing more demotivating than having to work in an untidy space on the verge of an avalanche with mounds of papers and the dustbin overflowing with balls of paper. And, Midnight snack wrappers from the previous night when you played your work catch up won't help either! A clean, open space is an inviting space one wants to work in.

10. Use technology to your advantage

There are hundreds of apps and websites out there, designed to make one’s life easier and to save you some time. Download the apps that will help you to be more efficient and effective.

11. Take care of yourself

Lack of sleep leads to issues of concentration, it promotes a negative attitude towards one's job and eventually, it takes longer to do basic things that wouldn't be a fresh mind problem. Moreover, it is incredible what endorphin injection can do for productivity and creativity. In a gym session go for a jog or work and one will see an improvement in one's productivity levels in a coworking space.