3 Foolproof Ways to Avoid Burnout at the End of the Year

Are you struggling with burnout as we come to the end of the year? I was, until very recently. I think it's pretty common, and probably one reason we look forward to the holidays—we can take a few days off without any guilt.

Burnout is an ugly monster. At the very least, it can slow us down and waste our time. At most, we can become unrecognizable. Tired, cranky, disinterested, shells of ourselves. I also struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I know that as much as I love this time of year, it has other hazards as well.

But I've got a business to run and a job to do, and I know you can relate. I only have the "luxury" of slowing down so much before everything is completely disrupted. So, what do we do? How do we cope? Do we just run headlong into the holidays, hoping that will save us? I don't think so, since most of us arrive on January 2nd's doorstep with that feeling of "needing a vacation from our vacation." 

In my past and recent experience, I think there might be a couple of other solutions we can turn to so that burnout doesn't get the best of us.

REGULAR SELF-CARE PREVENTS BURNOUT

This solution is likely the most obvious answer to you. It's tossed around a lot, especially at the beginning and end of the year. However, in last week's post from my friend, Daron, he points out that self-care is not something to be pursued when you're at the end of your rope. It's to be practiced regularly, throughout the year, so that you don't find yourself a frazzled lump of a person in the fetal position on the floor. (<-- speaking from experience)

I'm certainly not perfect at it, but here's what it looks like for me.

• Monthly massages. These actually started as a result of some back issues, so it's more of a therapeutic massage, but I get them regularly, even when I'm not having other problems.

• Travel. I love travel so much. It's life-giving to me. But since I was getting my business off the ground this year, I traveled much less than usual. And boy, did I feel it! I had the opportunity to housesit right before Thanksgiving in the North Georgia mountains for a few days, and just that short time and distance away did wonders for me.

• Retreats. My goal is to take short, quarterly retreats. For the last two years, I've taken an annual retreat in January, and will be doing so again. But this year, I decided to make them quarterly. I squeezed in two away from home this year (January and March), one in a co-working space (August), and one at home (November). All of these were extremely beneficial, and helped me refocus on work and life.

• Friends. I have amazing friends, and I'm sure you do too. But with life and work, most of them having kids, and my tendency to be a hermit, I see them far less than I'd like. However, I notice that when I do get together with friends, my days and weeks are better. So, I try and schedule to see friends a few times per month.

• Walks. I live near a beautiful trail, and I love to get out there and take a walk. Even though I usually listen to business podcasts while I walk, it still does my heart good to be in a natural setting.

These may, or may not, resonate with you. We're all different. They key is to find things you love, and make them a part of your regular schedule. The trick in executing them is to actually put them on your calendar. Good intentions only get you so far, but we often live according to our calendars.

I put my retreat dates on my calendar at the beginning of the year. I schedule my massages a month in advance. My travel is often planned weeks or months ahead too. So, prioritize your self-care throughout the year to avoid burnout at the end.

Accountability partner/peer group

I've had mentors for years, and value them immensely. But this year was the first time I've ever had an accountability partner. I can honestly say it was one of the best things I did for myself and my business this year.

You can do this one-on-one, or with a small group of people. It can be formal, or less so, according to your preferences. I began with a single partner, but we are actually expanding it to a small group of women next year, and are pretty excited about it. 

Depending on your role at your nonprofit or social enterprise, you may already have one or more co-workers that you can confide in, or collude with. That's important, for sure. However, just having someone to gripe and gossip with isn't enough. The accountability piece is vital. You need someone to encourage you, to push you to be better, and to be a sounding board when needed. 

This is especially important for those in leadership positions where there are likely less options for peer-to-peer relationships. So, having someone outside of the organization to be that person is crucial. 

Accountability partners help each other get things done. We motivate one another, and sometimes, we just listen to one another. We all have good days and bad days in lives and in business, and it's a beautiful thing to have someone to help get you through them. Sure, you also have co-workers, roommates, spouses, etc, that can do that as well, but accountability partners relate differently because they should hold a similar position or responsibilities, and have similar goals. They serve a special purpose.

Note: For you introverts out there (my people!), having an accountability partner or peer group is an excellent solution for you too. They're limited in size, so not overwhelming, and we tend to function mostly inside our heads, so we need others to gain more perspective. This solution could be huge for you, so don't skip over it!

Habits/Routines

I'll be honest, this one totally snuck up on me in the past week. I would have never guessed that habits and routines could help fight burnout. And you may be skeptical as well, but hang with me.

Though I am an INFJ (with sometimes some strong emphasis on the J), I still fight the monotony of habits and routines. There are some things I still want to be flexible. In fact, have always liked freelancing for the fact that it changes. I get bored easily, so predictability isn't always my friend.

However, for the past couple of weeks I've been prepping for January. I want to get a strong start, and that means I lay the foundation now. So, I've been participating in some online business challenges to accomplish short-term goals. 

Through the posts, videos, and webinars in these challenges, the hosts have been talking about how successful people have strong morning and nighttime routines, as well as daily habits. The importance of these things is that they will carry you through when the motivation wanes.

We all start the New Year with goals and resolutions, only to wave bye bye to them a few weeks later. And that's often because we didn't build in the habits that would get us to the finish line.

So, I've been thinking a lot about this over the past week or so. When I'm not stressed and in a time crunch, I like to start my day with the Calm meditation app, 5-Minute Journal, and maybe Blinkist. But when I am stressed or feel like I have no time, I skip all of this by waking up and reaching for my phone so that I can check my email. Sound familiar?

I was on several, big deadlines prior to Thanksgiving, and I was stressed. I started feeling burnout creeping in. Luckily, I had that little trip, and that helped, but the beginning of December has been hard again.

So this week, I decided to go back to that slower morning routine that I enjoyed, even though I didn't feel like I had the time. I wasn't waiting for January. I even added in a five-minute yoga video from YouTube. And you know what? It helped my mindset and that has trickled through my day. I also looked at my Calm app, and it showed that I'd skipped all of November. Coincidence? I think not.

These sort of habits and routines also have strong ties to self-care. However, there are many other habits and routines you could choose, such as exercise, eating healthy, taking a nap, focusing on big tasks in the morning, only having meetings after lunch, checking email only twice per day, and many other things. By making any of them a regular part of your life, you are ensuring that you keep functioning and taking care of yourself and your work when times get hard. And this, friends, keeps burnout at bay.

What do you do to combat burnout? I'd love to hear!

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I'm Kristi Porter, and I started Signify to provide writing, consulting and strategy services to nonprofits and for-profit organizations with a social mission, primarily through copywriting, marketing, and business communications. I believe that cause-focused organizations like yours are the future of business. You're proof that companies can both make money and do good. And I'm here to help you get noticed and grow. When you succeed, we all win.

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How to Make Self-Care Regular and Intentional

Today's guest post comes from Daron Dickens, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and one of my bestest friends for the past 15+ years. He's one of the smartest people I know, and I credit Daron with helping me stay sane and mentally healthy (depending on who you ask, I guess).

While this is often "the most wonderful time of the year," it can also be extremely difficult for a number of reasons. I think it's hard for pretty much everyone to invest in self-care, but as we are people who value purpose over profit, I think it's even harder. There's more on the line, and getting in additional sales and donations during the holidays is a lot of pressure, especially when you're trying to filter those funds into a cause. I want your nonprofit or social enterprise to flourish, but not at the sake of your health.

So, I wanted Daron to share some practical tips for managing self-care. I hope you find them helpful!

It Wasn't In My Plan

My sophomore year in college was the first time I experienced it. I had begun my college career two years prior with a solid plan. I took AP and college classes in high school, and because of that, I had been able to enter college as a sophomore.

I had a plan, I had a mission, and I was on target.

My schedule was perfectly designed to fit the maximum allowable number of class hours per semester in order to attack my double major. All of this while working a part-time job to put myself through school, and rock a rich social life. My schedule was delicately designed with activities back to back to back. I want to let you know—I was killing it! That’s when it happened...

Something unexpected.

What was that unexpected thing? Well, it’s actually incidental to the story. It’s not what happened, it’s the fact that it was unexpected. That’s all it took. I was kicking butt and taking names. Everything was working perfectly. It only took one unexpected thing, a bump in the road with no way to see it coming or prepare, to set the whole thing on fire. But more about the fire in a minute.

As I said, I was in my sophomore year in college and killing it when the unexpected happened. Way back, when people didn’t have their own personal computers, there was an ancient center where everyone would gather: The Computer Lab. This was a place I knew well, especially as I worked on a particular project for my Intro to Psychology class.

For this particular class our entire grade rested on one project that was due the last day of class. The assignment was to put together a book filled with our typed notes from the class, three book reviews in the field, our philosophy of a health family, and four essays from a list of topics. It was quite an undertaking, and took the whole semester to complete.

The only problem was some "Jimmy Jack" (my word for idiot) loaded a computer virus onto the computers in the lab which turned words into random symbols from the oldest document you’d opened to the newest. So most of my book was destroyed by the end of the semester before I discovered it. I had to do the whole thing over.

I was taking summer school (I told you I was killing it), upping the hours of my job for the summer, and living across the street with my roommate’s family. Now I had to fit in time to go to the computer lab to redo the massive project per my teacher’s extension.

Each day, I would go to class from 8:00 a.m. until noon, eat my lunch from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m., slave over the computer in the lab from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m., come home to change for work from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m., then go to my job from 4:00 until about 10:30 p.m. It was that schedule that finally did me in.

My Wake-Up Call

It happened when I came home to change for work after the computer lab. I “woke up” to find myself sitting on the bed with my face four inches from a blank wall—just staring at it. I looked at the clock and realized that I’d been like that for about half an hour. I was late for work. I couldn’t even remember sitting on the bed, but there I was, a walking zombie. My brain was done.

That was the first time my brain hijacked my body, but it certainly wasn’t the last time. This is the natural result of not investing in self-care. As my friend, Hal Runkel, wrote in his book, ScreamFree Parenting:

“If you do not take intentional retreats, you will take unintentional escapes.”

It’s just how your brain works. A retreat is something that you do intentionally. It’s a backing up and regrouping so that you can go and fight again another day. An escape is completely disengaging. The problem with an escape is everything that you escaped from is still waiting on you when you return. Rather than being recharged and ready to go fight again, you’re in the exact same spot that you started.

 

A Little About Retreats

Many of us, especially those who are self-employed or in cause-focused organizations, have trouble even thinking about taking a retreat, let alone identifying when they’re needed. Instead of retreating, we go on vacation, completely exhausted. If this vacation actually involved rest, we might be able to get back, but only to zero.

I’m here to help. I'll start with the most important foundational factor: how to determine you need a retreat.

It's not when you're exhausted.

It is not when you are stressed beyond the norm.

It is not even after a big project.

All of those depend on the environment and the situation you are in. To truly utilize self-care, it must not be dependent on your situation. Situations change wildly, your health should not.

It’s the major problem with finding time to care for ourselves . . . there is never time. There will always be more things to do than time to do them in. Unexpected things are not unexpected because they happen routinely.

Here's a simple framework for you to implement essential self-care so that you can take intentional retreats rather than finding yourself staring at a wall for half an hour in an unintentional escape.

Most of us do not have unlimited resources, whether that is time, energy, or other resources like money. So, it’s important to think in terms of a realistic lifestyle. You don’t have to think about a three-month unpaid sabbatical or that perfect vacation on the beach. Everything you do for self-care doesn’t have to be the same. Obviously, different activities provide different amounts of rest and recuperation. The only practical way to work in your normal schedule is by spreading out elements of self-care strategically. We call this “Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly.”

WEEKLY

This is something that you do each week that is low-key and low maintenance, but life-giving. It’s not limited to only once a week, but it needs to happen at least once a week. This can be as simple as working out, getting a massage, or just lounging on the couch watching football or your favorite HGTV show. This is the time you’re going to give yourself permission to rest and to renew on a small scale each week. Whatever that looks like to you.

 

MONTHLY

This is something that might be a little more involved. This might be something that you would need to hire a babysitter for if you have kids or schedule further in advance. It’s something that might take a whole day or many hours. This might be the date night with your spouse. This might be going to an event that brings life to you like a concert or a movie opening or a church event. This is more high-maintenance than weekly, but not a break-the-bank kind of activity. This is something that you could do very easily within your budget but only in a monthly timeframe.

 

QUARTLY

This is where you’re going to go all out. This doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive, but it is going to be a lot more involved than something you can do on a weekly basis. This might be a retreat, conference, a staycation where you go somewhere void of electronics, or just simply a weekend without the kids where you give yourself permission to completely veg out the whole weekend.

 

Final Self-Care Tips

There is one pothole here that you want to avoid. The name of the game on your quarterly event is to RENEW. Often people use this time to do something exciting or fun that they have always wanted to do. This is how we often do a vacation. If you're anything like me, I often need a vacation to recoup from the vacation! So, be careful that your objective is relaxation and recuperation. That is the win.

This is something that you’re probably going to have to plan well in advance and, like I said, you’re only able to do once-in-a-while. Most likely you won’t do the same thing each quarter. The different quarters just give you four, different types of things that you can do once a year. This will give you plenty of time to plan and to budget both your time and money.

Now the hard part: actually planning things out. I find that many people think this is a great idea, but they spend all of their time thinking about what they want to do quarterly. My advice is to get out your calendar and reserve the time for these breaks right now. It will force you to plan things out rather than keep waiting until the time magically appears, or you think of the perfect activity.

The time will not magically appear. This is something that you have to value just as much as your work, your family, or your personal health. If you do, self-care can be the thing that is not an ER to your crisis, but the apple a day that will keep the doctor away in the first place.

PS: If you haven't read them yet, Daron also recommends Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung and Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. I totally second both of these!

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Daron Dickens is a Marriage and Family Therapist who has practiced for 18 years. He also previously served as a pastor for 20 years. He lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, with his wife, Margaret, and his sons, Truman and Carter. He loves pie, reading, coffee, and everything baseball.

You can find him on:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Instagram

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I'm Kristi Porter, and I started Signify to provide writing, consulting and strategy services to nonprofits and for-profit organizations with a social mission, primarily through copywriting, marketing, and business communications. I believe that cause-focused organizations like yours are the future of business. You're proof that companies can both make money and do good. And I'm here to help you get noticed and grow. When you succeed, we all win.

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The Two Most Significant Investments I Made This Year

The last couple of weeks we've been talking about end-of-year budgeting, looking ahead to 2018, and some wise places to consider spending some of that hard-earned cash. Those decisions aren't easy, but sometimes they totally pay off.

First, we compared social media scheduling tools. It's only been a couple of weeks, but I'm already seeing a good ROI from Smarterqueue! Then, last week, we talked about the pros and cons of co-working spaces for those of us in nontraditional office environments. It's a hot topic in my corner of the world, and may be in yours as well.

This week, as we wrap up this series, and November, I wanted to discuss the two most significant investments I've made in my business this year. They may just surprise you, especially considering one of them is free!

Getting Accountability

If asked in a job interview—yes, I would describe myself as a self-starter. I've always been a pretty determined person, full of hopes, goals, and dreams, and the initiative to pursue them. So, working from home as a solopreneur was not a problem. I've had friends who said they'd get distracted easily or never get anything done, and yes, that does occasionally happen. But, for the most part, I'm good at checking things off my list. (And I love checking things off my list!)

However, I think there are times when a little accountability can benefit us all. It's certainly worked for successful programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Weight Watchers, and many others. Even the most motivated of us need a little extra skin in the game from time-to-time.

So, this summer, the opportunity to have an "accountabilabuddy" presented itself, and I jumped at it!

Jen Gordon and I met through a mutual friend, and hit it off immediately over breakfast. A few minutes into our conversation, she told me that she'd read my website and wanted to hire me for her launch. However, after talking about her skills and knowledge, I knew I could benefit from her expertise as well. So, I proposed that we meet twice a month for three months to exchange insights that would help us both build our businesses.

That three months is still going strong six months later! It has been the absolute, best, hands-down decision I made in my business this year. We are each flying solo, so we act as sounding boards for each other, share what we're learning, offer suggestions, and hold each other accountable for deadlines both big and small. 

It's very unstructured for the most part, but we each leave with our action steps that we'll be responsible for at our next meeting. And we check in with each other throughout the month as needed.

This summer I did a two-part series about "working ON your business, rather than IN your business" because it's just so darn easy to get "admined" to death by all the little things that need to happen. So, it can be really difficult to maintain vision for large goals and initiatives at your organization. Having Jen around helps me get the small things done, while staying focused on the big picture—and she's there to ask me about both.

I would highly encourage you to find someone that you can develop this relationship with. Much like a mentor, these people don't often fall from the sky. But they are certainly worth the search!

Even if you're at a larger nonprofit or social enterprise, I still think having an accountability partner could be really beneficial. If you lead a team, you can still use peer-to-peer feedback. And it's good to have someone that will let you vent and be yourself, which you may not get when you lead a team, or an organization. Plus, an outside perspective is always helpful, because we often don't see our work as clearly as someone from the outside. 

If I could give you any advice as you start thinking about the New Year, I would tell you to find an accountability partner. Think about it, and someone may come to mind. Or ask around to friends, family, or even in Facebook Groups. And be patient if it takes some time. You'll get so much out of this relationship, and it will be worth the time and effort it may take to find him or her!

 

Getting Help

Despite my best efforts, I just can't do it all. I don't have the time, skills, or experience needed to accomplish every task on my plate. And, while helpful, endless hours of research on Google may not be the best use of my time. So, once-in-a-while, I have to ask for help. (And I have a really hard time asking for help.)

Over the past year, that's mostly been in hiring others to do some of the things that I'm less capable of doing or don't have time for. Yes, there may absolutely be times when you can get someone to help you for free, like a volunteer or intern, or even by bartering, which is also essentially what Jen Gordon and I do in our accountability partnership.

However, sometimes you just have to suck it up and pay someone. Yes, those decisions are harder for some of us than others, but I don't think they should ever be off-limits. Why? Because hiring someone, even in a short-term capacity, can:

• free up your time,

• potentially create something better than you could've created on your own,

• expand your network,

• increase your knowledge,

• provide that much-needed outside perspective,

• and let you focus on the things that need your personal attention.

Those bullets are part of the speech I give to my clients, but I occasionally have to give it to myself as well. :)

The two, big areas that I've paid for additional help this year are in graphics and managing my social media accounts. Mad+Dusty beautifully executed my branding and design, and on several occasions, I've also hired them to help out with smaller projects. One of the cooler things they've done for me is create templates in Canva that I can use again and again. (Ex: social media and testimonials) That way, the "short-term" project has some staying power, and allows me to build on what they've done professionally. So, consider an option like that when you need some graphics help. Have your designers create some templates, or at least some simple designs you can mimic when you don't have the ability to hire them for every little project that comes along.

And hiring someone to manage my social media just wasn't on my radar six months ago because it was something I already knew how to do. I'd never call myself a social media expert, but I feel pretty comfortable with it, and even give advice to clients about the subject. 

But the truth was that it just took too much of my time. And we all know that time is money! I needed to do more writing, finding clients, and taking care of tasks that genuinely required my attention. Social media just didn't fit the bill. So, this month, I've been in a 30-day experiment to see what my friend Jen Wilder could do with my channels. (I know a lot of talented Jens. :) Additionally, I've had her set up my social media scheduling tool, Smarterqueue. Again, something I knew I could do, but my time was better spent elsewhere. And it's been another great investment!

 

Your Turn

I can honestly say that these two items were the best investments I've made this year for Signify. They're allowing me to grow and scale, and setting the stage for a better 2018. I would also recommend the same types of investments for you.

Find someone that can hold you accountable, and return the favor. And hire out some of the tasks that need to come off your plate for whatever reason. 

And did you catch the other take-away? Both of these were experiments. We all feel a lot more comfortable taking risks when they have an end date. With Jen Gordon, we were only testing the waters for three months. We reassessed, and both agreed that we wanted to continue.

With Jen Wilder, it's been so fantastic learning from her, seeing her in action, and having her set up SmarterQueue. Right now, I just don't have the cash to pay her as an ongoing contractor, but you'd better believe I'll have some more experiments for her in the future!

What's your action step? Or what were your best investments this year? I'd love to hear!

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I'm Kristi Porter, and I started Signify to provide writing, consulting and strategy services to nonprofits and for-profit organizations with a social mission, primarily through copywriting, marketing and business communications. I believe that cause-focused organizations like yours are the future of business. You're proof that companies can both make money and do good. And I'm here to help you get noticed and grow. When you succeed, we all win.

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Should you invest in a co-working space?

As November comes to a close, many of you, like me, are probably already thinking about your budget for the New Year. You're looking at where you can cut back, where you can expand, and where you're sitting pretty.

For small businesses and solopreneurs, I don't think it's ever an easy decision to spend money. But, if we are going to grow and scale, I do think we need to take calculated risks, and that can sometimes mean forking over some hard-earned cash.

Last week I compared 13 social media scheduling tools, and ended up choosing SmarterQueue for Signify. I think it will be a great, long-term asset, and in fact, I've already seen some traction on social media, including receiving my first client lead from Twitter. Not too shabby!

This week, I want to talk about co-working spaces. They seem to be a big topic of conversation in my circles, and many of you may be trying to decide if it's time to invest in one for your nonprofit or social enterprise as well. So, I'll lay out some of the pros and cons for you to consider.

With the growing freelance economy and the shift of traditional companies offering work from home solutions or alternative environments, co-working spaces are all the rage. Here in Atlanta, we seem to have a couple dozen of them, and I feel like I hear about another one every month.

They are incredibly appealing if you're looking for a completely separate space to work, free of home distractions like laundry and Netflix. But, of course, their perks do come at a cost—literally.

This summer, I decided to try out Roam here in the ATL. I shelled out the money for a 30-day experiment because it was something I was really curious about, and wanted some first-hand experience. After reading the websites of about a dozen potential spaces, I chose Roam because it was the closest to me, a friend also had a membership there and liked it, and they were running a summer special. I've also been talking to other friends who utilize these alterna-offices to get their feedback. 

The Pros

• Getting out of the house. While I am an introvert who loves working from home, I know I need to be intentional about getting out of the house. But it must be especially hard for extroverts who crave in-person interaction with others. Being around the energy of a co-working space can actually be a good fit for both.

• Meeting space. Sure, there are coffee shops everywhere, and they've served many of us very well, but sometimes you just need a private space to talk with your people or a potential client/donor/customer. At places like Roam, their meeting spaces even have A/V equipment so you can present like a pro.

• Dedicated office space. Maybe you just need a couple feet of desk space, or maybe you need a lock and key for yourself or your little team. Many co-working venues rent dedicated office space, and some even have printers, fax machines, mail boxes, and other benefits that come with more traditional office environments.

• Event space. When you need event space for just a few people, or maybe up to a couple hundred, it can be extremely difficult to find. Co-working spaces help fill that gap, and also give you a little more personality than a hotel ballroom.

• Collaboration. As I mentioned, I chose Roam because I had a friend who was already a member. So, it was fun to plan which days we could work together, bounce ideas off of each other, and make believe we had someone else on our team.

• Networking. If you're on the hunt for new customers, donors, or even sponsors or partners, there are often regular networking events at co-working spaces.

• Other events. Depending on the venue, they may even offer pitch or feedback sessions, bring in guest speakers, celebrate holidays, or offer other opportunities to get to know your co-working neighbors and enjoy the environment.

• Food and drink. A lot of co-working spaces have coffee bars, food, or delivery options, which makes it even more convenient to spend the day there. And a few places even provide snacks and drinks, which is a super nice perk. I certainly took advantage of the sparkling water on tap at Roam!

• And depending on the space, you may also get guest passes, after hours access, and gifts included in your membership.

 

The Cons

Really, I think the biggest con for any of us would be the cost. All the features above have to sound pretty enticing regardless, but it's just a matter of making it work for your budget.

And think about it, you will not only have to pay for the membership, but your costs may further increase if you purchase food or coffee while being out all day, or frequent nearby restaurants for meals. I typically only work at a coffee shop or restaurant one day a week, so during my experiment, I certainly spent a lot more on coffee and eating out than normal.

However, money isn't the only factor. Keep reading!

Other Considerations

Co-working spaces seem to take on the personalities of their founders. I hadn't thought about that before my experiment, but it makes sense, doesn't it? Your personality likely dictates the culture at your nonprofit or social enterprise, whether it's an army of one or many. Roam was started by business people, so you definitely get that vibe and those are the kind of people you'll often find there. That's also why you'll see a lot of meeting space at Roam, like an abundance of conference rooms and a large event space.

However, a friend of mine who is a graphic designer works out of a co-working space designed by, and for, creatives. So, that is reflected in the layout, the events offered, amenities, etc. Neither of these "types" of co-working spaces is good or bad, but you may be drawn to one or another. Or just because one space doesn't work for you doesn't mean you won't love another.

 

Evaluate the ROI of Investing in a Co-Working Space

There are a lot of positives that come with co-working spaces, and you may be tempted to stop reading and start Googling to find your nearest option. However, outside of the budget factor, we still haven't really considered the ROI, or return on investment. So, before you start recalculating your budget, let's take a hard, last look.

• Is it a need or a want? If it's going to be financially hard for you to shell out the cash, you need to really decide if this is a need or want. Even if it won't be too much strain on your budget, you should still decide if this is the best place to put that money, or if it would be better spent some place else.

• Will you be more productive there? This was one of the chief reasons I decided to do my 30-day experiment. It would've been a financial sacrifice for me, but if I could get more work done there, it would be worth it.

• Do you need meeting or office space? If you hold regular meetings, it may be a great investment for you. No one likes sitting next to large groups of people at Starbucks, especially if they are attempting some sort of presentation.

• Do you want the extra benefits, like networking or events? Depending on your organization, this may be a terrific way for you to find new partners, donors, or customers.

 

My Conclusion

In the end, for me it was a luxury, not a necessity. The shine wore off after about two weeks. Then it become more of a gym membership—I went because I was paying for it. But it wasn't because I didn't like it. I just found another way to confirm that I like working at home . . . and not brushing my hair if I didn't have to.

I also wasn't any more productive. I worked longer hours, again, because I was paying to be there, but I don't think I would've kept up that pace long-term.

If you're still on the fence, or want to take the next step, most co-working spaces I've seen offer day passes. So, this is a terrific, low risk way to check one (or more) out. Even if you don't see it listed on their website, reach out and ask. Some also offer seasonal discounts or special offers, so be sure to follow your favorites on social media or hop on their email list to take advantage of the next opportunity to stretch your budget a little further.

And even for people like me who decide not to pursue it right now, we can still utilize day passes now and again, or even rent the meeting rooms, if needed. Overall, I am a huge fan of these spaces, and love seeing exciting, new options like this for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small businesses. 

Have you tried a co-working space? What did you think?

PS: Next week, we'll talk about the two most significant investments I've made in my business this year, and why you should consider doing the same. And if you didn't get the chance to read my comparison of 13 social media scheduling tools, check it out here.

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I'm Kristi Porter, and I started Signify to provide writing, consulting and strategy services to nonprofits and for-profit organizations with a social mission, primarily through copywriting, marketing and business communications. I believe that cause-focused organizations like yours are the future of business. You're proof that companies can both make money and do good. And I'm here to help you get noticed and grow. When you succeed, we all win.

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