I thought a coworking space in Chiang Mai was a waste of cash, but it saved my project

I was working from my apartment for two months, paying about $300 a month. My friend kept pushing me to try Punspace, which was another $150. I finally gave in last week, thinking it was just for fancy coffee and Instagram. The first day, I got stuck on a client report. The guy next to me, a UX designer from Germany, saw me struggling and asked a couple questions. In 20 minutes, he showed me a data viz tool I'd never heard of that cut my work time in half. I learned that for me, the value isn't the desk or wifi, it's the random conversations that fix problems I didn't even know I had. What's one thing you've learned from a stranger in a shared workspace?

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan.jason2d ago

That part about random conversations fixing problems is so true. It's never the official networking that helps. I once spent three days trying to fix a weird bug in my code. I was muttering about it in a cafe part of a co-working spot, and the barista overheard. She said her brother had the same issue and told me the fix. It was a one line change. A barista. How are you supposed to plan for that?

lily_cooper1d ago

It's a nice story, but I've found the opposite. The best fixes for my work problems come from my crew, because they're the ones in the trenches with me. We have a system for talking through issues at the end of the day. Relying on random luck seems like a great way to stay stuck. What happens when no one at the cafe has the answer?

the_brian1d ago

So the real career advice is just complain loudly in public?