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Co-working & Co-living – Recipe for a perfect work-life balance

74% of co-working space users in India reportedly prefer this revolutionary style of working and thousands of co-working spaces sprout up every year.

OfficingNow 6 Stories

Tuesday June 13, 2017 , 3 min Read

Co-working has been doing the rounds for quite some time now. With more than 74% of co-working space users in India reportedly preferring this revolutionary style of working and thousands of co-working spaces sprouting up every year, there seems to be no stagnation in its likeability. The second important factor for its popularity, first being cost-effectiveness, is the perfect blend that it offers – office-like professional ambience and amenities and home-like comfort and flexibility. Being a loyal customer, and now the owner of a leading co-working space, OfficingNow, I’d like to personally thank the brain behind it.

And following the innovation in work-style trends, co-working spaces are now also offering co-living to the users. So, you don’t just have a cool workspace, but also a comfortable bed to nap and sleep for as long as you want to and can stay! Such places are like heaven for freelancers, entrepreneurs and similar “digital nomads” who book them for their “working holiday”. Housed in locations that are far away from everyday distractions and obligations, these co-working and co-living spaces extend a peaceful and creatively stimulating environment to its co-inhabitants – just what the professionals on their working getaways require. Thus, such spaces are rightly called as co-working retreats.

This wonderful concept was initiated by Surf Office in 2013, when they set shop on the beautiful beach of Spain’s Gran Canaria plain out of love for surfing, laid-back beach lifestyle, and remote working. Surf Office offers a desk, a bed and a lively community far from the city noises at just € 65 a day. Today they have offices in Barcelona and Malaga in Spain, and Lisbon and Madeira in Portugal and all of these offer special packages to corporate team building outings.

Following suit in 2014 was SunDesk in the surf village of Taghazout, Morocco. SunDesk offers hot desks, standing desks, a closed door meeting room plus a roof-top, sea view, cushioned seating along with a comfortable bed at € 32 a day. In order to keep the spirit of co-living alive, SunDesk lays a spread of healthy Moroccan breakfast included in the room cost. If you own offices with such creative culture and learn all about marketing them.

This type of working holiday retreats is becoming increasingly popular with both – independent workers like freelancers, students, entrepreneurs and home workers looking for a zero-distraction and idea inspiring workspace, as well as with big companies looking for newer ways and fresher locations to work on building and developing their team camaraderie. And more than anything else, internet availability has made it all possible. Fast network connectivity and ease of accessing and sharing information from and to any part of the world has sparked this innovation called co-working, giving rise to digital nomads.

Many more co-working retreats have since been launched in Mexico, Thailand, and Indonesia. Coboat – a co-working and co-living space provider – has taken it a step ahead and offers spaces on rent aboard a boat off the Canary Islands. For € 1180 a week, Coboat has desk spaces, talks and mentoring sessions, fast WiFi, and activities like snorkeling and dolphin watching, all while touring around the island. Now this one’s a retreat in true sense!