Earlier this year, NOW’s Director, Roger Higman joined Wintering Well, a lottery-funded programme for wellbeing changemakers run by the Academy of Wide-hearted Living. The programme was aimed at people who work alone from home. Here he reflects on a simple, yet effective tool for connection, that he learnt in process. It’s called online coworking.
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Winter is a difficult time for me. The short days and overcast skies leave me dull, demotivated and prone to distraction. Working from home compounds the problem.
I love it that I’m close to my partner (and our cats) for the whole day. I love it that I can break from work for my morning exercise routine and later to make our evening meal. I love it that I can put the headphones on and work into the evening (like I’m doing now). I’m lucky that my job requires me to meet my colleagues online several times a week. I don’t miss the commuting at all.
But some weeks, I don’t see anyone apart from my partner for several days at a time.
Millions of people are now in a similar position. Government statistics show that 41% of workers now work from home at least part of the time and millions work from home for most of it.
Wintering Well, a lottery-funded programme from the Academy of Wide-hearted Living, was designed to help people like me, especially those who find the winter hard. It blended a weekly rythym of coaching, coworking, creativity and a supportive community, so participants felt more resourced, less alone, and steadier in both work and life. It was entirely online.
So I signed up.
To be honest, I was a poor attender. I was too keen to get working on Monday mornings to attend the meet-ups and the midweek sessions always seemed to coincide with the 1.2.1s that I’d scheduled with my team. But one thing stood out for me and drew me back again and again.
Online coworking.
It’s so simple. At 2:00 pm on a Thursday – the last day of my working week – I click on a Zoom link. There is Melissa and three or four other people – who vary from session to session. We have a brief chat: “How is your day going? What are you up to this afternoon?” Then we minimise the link, click ‘mute’ and get down to work. After an hour, Melissa checks in to see whether we need to jump around or otherwise have a break. Then we mute again and carry on. Then, after 4:00 pm, one by one, we sign off. Frequently, Melissa and I are the last to leave – and we have a little chat at the end. “That was alright, wasn’t it?” “That was great!”.
The effect is galvanising. It’s not like you’re tied to the desk. No one stops you from getting up and making a cup of tea. Yet the simple presence of real person working away in a rectangle at the top of my screen is enough to keep my concentration from wandering. Everytime, I get bored, I can look up, remind myself that in fifteen minutes or so, we’ll be having a break and I carry on. And, of course, I can put my headphones on as well.
What do I do during the session? It’s great for tasks that need sustained concentration – like writing fundraising bids. But I also find it useful for answering and deleting emails. Anything really, that needs to be done but would otherwise be a bit tedious and get left to one side.
So what do I do now that the spring has sprung and winter is over? Well, the good news is that Melissa has extended the programme for the whole year!
As she puts it herself, “Working Well is a seasonal approach to feeling connected and well, in work and life; a year-round online programme designed to support freelancers, creatives and people who work from home. Each season responds to how we naturally feel and work across the year, creating a rhythm of rest, growth, energy and reflection. You can join for a season, or stay for the full cycle.”
The sessions “offer a rhythm of weekly support to help you develop your ideas, to keep you on track and have a community around you. It’s designed to help you:
- reduce feelings of isolation
- build routines that support your wellbeing and productivity
- access calm, connection and creativity
- get practical help with the realities of freelance life
- get expert advice from our Neurodiversity champion, Sarah
- navigate spring growth with steadiness
There’s no pressure to perform, no gold stars and no need to show up in a good place”.
You can join anytime to the end of May.
Or, if a programme like this doesn’t appeal, you can try online coworking yourself – perhaps with a friend or with a work colleague from another part of the country.
It works for me!