The Occasional Digital Nomad Detests the Corporate Office...But Finding a Good Alternative is Not Easy

Where does a white-collar worker get most of their work done? The answer these days might be obvious at first sight: somewhere with good internet connections, a reliable power outlet to charge electronic devices, as well as a comfy chair and desk that does not make hours of deskwork not stressful on the back and the hips. Logically, the more routine around this setup, the better. After all, what can be a better desk than one that has proven itself, day after day, that does not cause back pain. What is better than wireless internet that has a track record of not disconnecting spontaneously over weeks and months?

But just as humans are creatures of routine, many are also creatures of curiosity. In the littlest ways possible, they want new stimulations to make their daily grind a bit more exciting, leading to more learnings and more stories that they can share with others and write about in blogs. Changing the setting of where they do their daily work is a low-cost starting point. Without the need to radically change work content, they can still get away from the tedium of everyday life that slowly but surely reduces motivation for whatever they are working on consistently, in both professional and private spheres.

Finding a suitable new setting for work, however, is not always the easiest of tasks. Yes, many cafes offer wifi and power outlets, but a constant stream of customers coming and going makes their wifi too crowded and slow, the environment too noisy and distracting, and hoarding precious seats for hours at a time is a frowned upon behavior. Many libraries have not kept up with the digital age, providing limited space for those with laptops and a bit of ambient noise. Co-working spaces popping up around major cities are a trendy but expensive way to spend a few hours in environments not so different from corporate offices.

As such, there should still be plenty of demand for people to look for even more unique ways to spend their working hours, and plenty of businesses have come up with ideas to monetize the demand. Bathhouses combine a reliable soak with open spaces to rest up here in Japan. Business hotels with too many empty rooms during weekdays offer them up at rock-bottom prices for those willing to sit in them for days at a time. And it is making more and more sense for restaurants, with a shortage of traffic outside lunch and dinner hours, to turn themselves into cafes with more proper snacks than cafes can provide.

To stand out among the increasingly crowded field of places wooing increasingly bored workers, venues offering up alternative working spaces should shift their focus away from the hardware to the environment. After all, the cost of investing in good wifi and power outlets is not large enough to be deal-killers for an ambitious businessman. But coming up with unique decor and value proposition that excites the tired remote worker requires a bit more head-scratching. In an age when the internet and electricity are ubiquitous commodities, what should be the key differentiators from competitors?

Having a great physical setting certainly helps. As I type up this blog post, I am sitting next to a massive ceiling-to-floor window overlooking the beaches of Tokyo Bay. Gentle waves, clear blue sky, and occasional planes flying by...all are signs of prime real estate that money cannot buy in many cases. With such a view to be had, as long as there are viable options to get there and get fed, many people are willing to tolerate a bit higher cost, a bit more time to get there, and a bit slower internet. For locations not endowed with such a wonderful ocean view, efforts can be made to boost visual appeal.

Yet, all the investments in manmade gardens, planting plenty of trees, or securing appealing bodies of water do not work if the result is too many people in one place that ruin their relaxing properties. The biggest piece of a working environment, after all, is the people. Whether in a corporate office or in a shared alternative space, having too many people in one place boosts the chances of interpersonal conflicts and frayed nerves. Limiting the capacity of any space would ensure that they remain relaxing for the people who manage to get in and stick around.

Considering all such factors, building good alternative workspaces is not easy. Beautiful places with nice views cost more money than wifi or power outlets. Limiting the number of customers to maintain a relaxing atmosphere limits the amount of earnable revenue. And in a market where everyone from across different parts of the hospitality industry is trying to draw in bored workers for a few hours, analyzing the market is exceedingly difficult. But for the few places that end up following through with their unique plans, the occasional digital nomad like me would be eternally grateful.