It’s that time of year .. The Christmas break is over and everyone is getting back to what they do best. By the sound of it, the vast majority of people in Ireland had a miserable Christmas. Between the bad weather, the lack of water and the countries transport grinding to a halt Christmas was bound to be a bit colorful for you in some way or another!
That said, everyone I’ve talked to seems to think 2011 will be a good year.. or at least better than last year. With all the doom and gloom over the last while, its nice to hear people being so up beat. I have a great feeling about this year!
Before Christmas, I had the pleasure of joining a new coworking space in Dublin called . The Amworks space has been up and running for about a year now, so its been around a while. If you haven’t heard of the coworking concept before you should pop over to . Its a bit like an office share but on steroids (not in a sweaty body builder way).
I previously had the pleasure of being involved in the Mount Street coworking space run by the guys at . I left Mount Street after a couple of the guys I had become friends with emigrated. I hung in there for a while but It didn’t have the same vibe for me when they left. Most of the people that are in Mount Street love the place. To top it all off I had a change of direction last year when I decided to take a full time role with a company. It turns out that it didn’t really work out as we weren’t the right fit for each other. I’m glad that I took the role as it put me back on the right course in terms of what I want to do in life. I think this was the jolt in the arm that I needed to look at life in a new light!
So I found my self back doing my own thing again. Its like nothing had really changed, except now I was busier than ever. When I moved apartment last year, we went for a two bedroom apartment in a central location. My plan was to use the extra bedroom as my office and justify the extra cost of a nicer place that way.
It turns out that I found myself back in a situation that I have found myself in time and time again. Anyone who works for themselves will tell you, when you are starting out, one of the toughest things about working for yourself is the sense of isolation. Unless your out on the road all day, chatting with people or something like that you tend to feel the walls are closing in. If your in more of a desk bound situation, its much more difficult to get your social kicks from work.
So I decided to go back to coworking again and Alan from was keen to have me in the space. So far it’s been a breath of fresh air. The space is fantastic, the people are both passionate and inspiring and the undercurrent is buzzing. If you want to check it out, pop into one of the casual working events called Jelly that they run every few weeks. There is one this Friday 10am-6:30.. its totally free to attend .
