You can never go (work from) home again.
Coworking Member Spotlight: Morgan Gassner
Morgan was at an all too familiar crossroads. She had recently left CoCoTiv Coworking to work from home. It was going to save her money. It was going to save her time commuting. The advantages were obvious and it just made so much sense. However, this wasn’t the reality she (and many other professionals who have also gone this route) discovered. There was that moment anyone who has given “WFH” a full time chance, has experienced.
Work life and home life had collided, hard. The boundaries and roles at home began to blur, and quickly disappear. Wearing the professional hat and the parent hat separately is hard enough. Wearing them at the same time is downright impossible. She had a long term plan to move back in her home office. Within two weeks (!) she was back here with us.
There’s plenty of hidden costs associated with working from home. Some of them are financial, some of them relate to productivity, and some are harder to define. And there’s a bunch of great reasons to be a member here at CoCoTiv…
But, today we’re going to talk to Morgan about her experience and what it was specifically that brought her back to CoCoTiv. And what brought her back so quickly. Let’s get rolling with this month’s CoCoTiv Coworking Member Spotlight.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Morgan.
I’m 36 years old, married with 3 kids (6, 3, 1). I recently relocated to Charlotte, NC from Arlington, VA.
What do you do?
I work as a Senior Account Executive for a research and consulting firm – Gartner.
When did you leave CoCoTiv to try out working from home?
I worked from CoCoTiv over the summer as my family had just relocated to Charlotte and I thought it would help during the transition with the kids getting used to everything. The long-term plan was to work from a home office. I left CoCoTiv at the end of September, tried working from home for a week and was back at CoCoTiv by mid October!
And, how did that go?
It proved to be pretty tough to work from the house with the kids coming in and out, knowing that their Mom was home. There were a lot of distractions and emotions involved, for everyone. It’s hard for a 3 year old to understand.
What were the biggest challenges trying to work from, rather than in our coworking space?
There was definitely more stress and blurred lines around work life/home life.
What was it specifically brought you back to CoCoTiv? Of all the great choices out there, why us?
CoCoTiv offered a place to work that was super close to home, but provided the environment I needed to be productive and focused. It helped for my kids to see me head out the door to work and it also helped me with striking the right balance.
So that wraps up this month’s Coworking Member Spotlight here at CoCoTiv. There is a reason that home life and work life are delineated. Morgan’s story is all too familiar for many local professionals who are also parents. And, it’s not just a phenomenon for professionals who are parents. There are pitfalls and distractions associated with working from home, for anyone. CoCoTiv is proud to offer many different coworking and flexible office space options, so that members from any background or industry can find a way to thrive with us.