Why would yet another coworking office open in Budapest?
That’s the question you’ll probably ask yourself (and rightfully so) when you stumble upon our website and find out that yet another coworking space has opened in the Hungarian capital.
Alright then but why did we open?
As a freelancer I worked a lot both from home and from coffee shops.
I mean of course, why would you ever even want to leave your comfy home? Want to do some laid back work? Let me get cosy on the couch! Need to get some paperwork done? No worries, let’s sit in at “home workstation alfa” (name of my home office desk).
The only thing I need to do is wake up, smash the alarm clock, shower, munch on the cereals for 2 minutes, and I’m already working! Bye bye public transport! No more smelly trips to the other side of the city, no more overcrowded places, no more rush hour!
But as the days, weeks, and even months passed by, I started feeling more and more like in a (admittedly great but still) prison cell, more like in my cosy home. So what should I do? – I asked myself trying to put some first person text in this article.
Of course! Let’s head to the super chill coffee shop, that has great wifi, and amazing coffee (once I found it – finding THE place took some time and effort but it was worth it)! Who needs more than that? I just walk there, sit at my usual spot (if available), sip on the drink of gods (coffee obviously), and I can get going.
Is this where the story ends? That would not make sense right?
How can I be unsatisfied? I have great coffee, and good wifi, in a place that isn’t a tourist filled starbucks! What else do I need? Thinking about it, the daily dose of my miracle drink at this place isn’t as cost efficient as I initially thought. Plus, I don’t really feel comfortable leaving my things laying around on the table while going to the loo (which greatly limited my water consumption). I mean should I rent an office? Alone? Does that make sense? It would be weird sitting there all alone all day right?
Oh no, how dumb can I be? I should go to a coworking office! There’s plenty in the city!
Really? Are you proud of figuring out the obvious thing to do? You know that WeWork is in the papers EVERY DAY right?
You’re right, coworking is the obvious solution, and I’m kind of dumb not thinking about going to a coworking office before. But then I went. I went and went and went and went. To a ton of places. I was a “digital nomad” (hate the word though) for a while and this lead me to go to a ton of coworking offices both in Hungary and abroad.
There are a ton of different coworking offices in (abroad and in Budapest too), and I tried a lot of them out. They were great actually! Meeting with new people (99% of whom are really interesting and great to talk with), going to work in a cosy place that has coffee, but where you don’t feel so scared to leave your things lying around on the table while going to the bathroom was great!
Okay now, everything is great, you’re having fun blabbing around, but you still haven’t told us why you opened your own place then? What is your dark secret?
Sure thing, sorry about that! So the thing is, that while overall the experience was nice, and I really liked many of the coworking places I went to, I was feeling like there was something missing.
Now it may be that it is my lack of luck, or that for some reason I only went to places that were like this, but after going to these coworking offices for some time, all of them started to feel more like a coffee shop with many acquaintances and friends meeting up there every day.
The place is nice, you grab a coffee with friends, talk about your work, plans, ideas, and your day, but after some time it hits you. Why did I even come to a coworking office in the first place? I think it was because I wanted to be somewhere where I could focus on my work more than at home (where cuddling my dog would distract me way too much) and more than in a coffee shop (where my bladder would start causing me problems quite rapidly).
And while the coworking places where I stayed for a bit of time started feeling like super cosy coffee shops where you gather with friends all day long, it wasn’t really fulfilling the goal I had initially set out for myself. It was actually steering me away from it (though I admit, it was doing so in a manner that I could forgive myself for more that binge-ing on a new series), as I wasn’t getting more productive, but rather less productive.
I wanted to go someplace where I would have a bit less noise, where I could focus more on my tasks, and get the work done more efficiently, so that later on I would enjoy meeting friends away from my work desk, and not have a to-do list getting longer by the day hanging over my head. Obviously I wanted to find a place that would not require me to win the lottery to be able to afford it. Oh and it should still be a bit cosy and quite comfortable too, I want to enjoy going there not hating it!
But am I the only person in this city that would love to go to such a place?
If I’d enjoy such a place, there must be other people that would like that too. I mean we’re all unique and everything, but this probably isn’t something weird enough that I’m having a unique need for it!
So if I didn’t find a coworking office in Budapest, where I can work from, that is comfortable, quite calm (trying to avoid the noise of espresso machines or the commotion that comes with lunchtime in the coworking offices), that has great wifi, is accessible 24/7, doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and is close to everything in the city, why not make it?
And so this is the logical process that ended up igniting the launch of The Other WorkSpace.
We opened our doors less than a 2 minutes walk from the Lehet tér metro station on line 3, and we put together a coworking office that focuses on helping you get tasks off of your to-do list, not add more to it or hold you back from achieving your goals! We want you to be able to work without losing track of your tasks or focus, all the while being in a comfortable and cosy environment.
I am still going out to work from coffee shops once in a while, when I feel like it, but I know that I’ll always have my spot at The Other WorkSpace, in case I need to get some work done!
Something else! Don’t be fooled by our focus on efficiency and our concern for concentration, we aren’t operating a library or a monastery. You can come and go as you please, and if you just feel like watching your favorite show from the office one day, you won’t get detention from the teacher (just don’t forget to bring your headphones and popcorn).
Now that ends our story. Congratulations on making it till then end! If you made it this far, feel free to message us, let’s schedule a visit of the offices, and you can grab your own spot in a flash!
I found out that coffee shop could have a quite different meaning, though I’m pretty sure you understand that I am talking about cafés, not something else!