Most of the time when we talk about coworking space benefits, we focus on businesses. Big or small, new or a hundred years old, it’s always about them. We haven’t forgotten about you, though, students! You have a valuable place in coworking spaces and there’s plenty of benefits to be found for you here. Here’s a list of the five we think are the most noteworthy.
1.) Access anytime, any hour, perfectly suited for the student sleep schedule.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been writing an essay at four in the morning knowing full well you have to turn it in at eight in the morning and the library doesn’t open until nine in the morning and you have no way to print it out. With a coworking space, you can head in anytime and get yourself a coffee and stare off into the void for however long your heart needs as the printer does the last bits of work for you. Even better, why pull an all-nighter on your couch when you can do it in a coworking space on a much nicer couch? It’s great!
2.) You’re not in on it alone, even if you are pulling an all-nighter.
Chances are, there’s somebody else in the space no matter what time you’re accessing it; all hour access is a common feature for a reason. Being in a coworking space can give you a really helpful sense of community as you struggle through it because you’re surrounded by people who either are in the same boat or who have already gotten out of it and have a goldmine of advice and motivation to keep you going.
3.) Networking!
This one is pretty typical of the coworking space benefits spiel, but really think about this one as a student. The absolute biggest barrier after you graduate is finding your first job placement. Ideally, an internship is the path most students want to take, but internships don’t grow on trees and they don’t guarantee work. A coworking space is an incredible place where you can go in and get your work done while also showing what you’re made of to a bunch of potential employers.
4.) It’s a great test run for working in a traditional office space.
Going straight from school to an office can be culture shock to the extreme. A coworking space is a middle ground between the university library and a traditional office environment. You get to experience a more productive, structured type of environment than your school’s library or sitting alone at the Ikea desk in your bedroom that you’ve had for ten years.
5.) And if nothing else, it will probably make you more productive.
This is another one of the usual talking points, but we think it’s especially potent given the due-date based nature of the student life. Students deal with crunch time all the time. Being able to keep your work time effective is a key survival tactic. Dragging your heels on an assignment versus working on it effectively can be the difference between whether or not you hand everything in on time. Or, whether or not you hand it in in time to binge Bridgerton season 2 so you can finally figure out what all the fuss is about. We see you and we’re not judging you.
Long story short, you have a place here too, students. Maybe more than anybody else as students have the highest need for connections and productivity boosts. Businesses are being paid to work, ultimately, but you’re paying to hand those assignments in. Get your money’s worth and make it worthwhile by hitting two birds with one stone.
You’ll never know until you give it a try!