Coworking spaces vs coffee shops - which actually kills your productivity faster?

I've been bouncing between WeWork in Bangkok and random cafes in Chiang Mai for 6 months, and I swear the coffee shop WiFi drops me mid-call every third day while coworking spaces cost me $250 a month. But I also see people in coworking spaces just chatting all afternoon instead of working. Does the structure of a dedicated desk actually help you focus, or is it just an expensive distraction?

2 comments

2 Comments

river18216d ago

Honestly, what kind of stuff are you actually working on when you're at these places? If it's coding or deep writing, I bet the coffee shop chaos messes with your flow way more than the coworking space socializing does. At least with the coworking space you can put on headphones and ignore the crypto guy, but a random barista blasting music or a table of loud tourists is impossible to tune out. Have you tried working from a hotel lobby instead? They usually have solid WiFi and nobody bothers you if you buy a drink.

black.margaret16d ago

That $250 a month is brutal. I tried a WeWork in Dallas for three months and spent half my time listening to some guy loudly selling his crypto startup instead of actually coding. Ended up back at a quiet Starbucks with a cheap drip coffee and my own hotspot.