My name is Sam and I’m obsessed with coworking. It’s a strange thing, really, to be obsessed with a concept like sitting in a room and working together. I view it as a little more complex than that, so let’s see if i can shed some light on why I keep telling people about it, why I’m currently living in Prague, why I’m sitting in Locus Workspace as i write this, and why I’m in graduate school (they’re all related, I promise).
During my time as a substitute high school teacher I had a 4 month block where I was writing full-time. Each morning I would wake up in the complete joy of having control over my work schedule and would happily skip to the local Starbucks. At least, for the first week or so. Then, I noticed myself thinking in the morning, “Crap. Where am I going to work today? The library is too quiet and the wi-fi sucks. I don’t feel like buying coffee all day to justify the 8 hours I’m likely to spend in Starbucks. And the last thing I want to do is sit in my crappy apartment by myself.” There had to be a place where I could go where other people would be working on interesting projects, where I could feel free to talk to other people and not receive the death glare of a librarian. Free coffee wouldn’t hurt, either. I eventually realized that such a concept existed and it was called coworking.
Fast forward a couple months and I’m going to graduate school to study positive developmental psychology. My focus is on understanding what it means to optimally develop. How can people fulfill their potential, utilize their strengths, learn to be engaged with what they’re doing, etc. I want to figure out ways for people to achieve high levels of well-being and psychological health. A huge part of that psychological well-being is determined by our work. The work we do, the way we do it, the people we do it with, the meaning we place on it — it’s all incredibly important. To that end, coworking as a concept fascinates me because it can be so much more than just a place to rent a desk and crank out some work. Getting passionate, intelligent, and motivated people together and then not doing anything with that human potential seems like a missed opportunity. How can coworking and coworking spaces help their members become healthier? How can it help them feel better about their work? How can it affect the way they think about and approach their work? On an even grander scale, what effect might coworking spaces have in the communities in which they’re situated? Can coworking spaces become hubs of something greater than just a shared workspace? Big, but exciting, questions.
I think coworking is the beginning of something big in terms of how people work and how we can work better. It has ramifications far beyond shared desks and an Internet connection. For that reason, I jumped at the opportunity when Will invited me to Locus Workspace this summer. I have the opportunity to spend a few months in a top-notch coworking space learning how it’s run, observing, bouncing ideas off of people, and developing my own plans and thoughts. This blog will serve as an outlet for this experience as I share my thoughts, observations, and general musings about coworking as viewed through the lens of a positive psychologist in training.
Feel free to share your thoughts and impressions — I’d certainly love the feedback and conversation. How can we make coworking better, together?
Sam Spurlin is an American graduate student studying the intersection between developmental and organizational psychology. He writes and coaches at SamSpurlin.com and is spending the summer in Prague working in Locus Workspace. He’ll be sharing his thoughts and observations about coworking here for the next couple of months. You can follow him on Twitter (@samspurlin) or send him an email (samspurlin AT gmail DOT com).
