Jelly!

Today I went to my first Jelly! Jelly is a co-working event where freelancers take their laptops and go along to work for the day alongside other people. I've been feeling a bit unmotivated and stuck in a rut lately, so I thought perhaps a change of location and a bit of contact with other freelancers might perk me up.

So how did my first Jelly go? Well, here are a few of the pros and cons:

Pros:

• It was fun having something in my diary to look forward to and break up the week.
• I got to 'dress up' a bit - I didn't want to go over the top, but went for a favourite shirt with my jeans instead of one of the usual pile of t-shirts.
• It was very cool to walk to work for a change. It was a beautiful autumn morning and I got to walk through an area of town I don't normally go to.
• I did get on with quite a bit of work without all the usual distractions.
  
• It was nice to meet new people, although that was rather limited by the fact that no one else turned up ...

Cons:

• Sadly, it turned out to be just me and Penny, the event organiser, so not quite the sociable, buzzy atmosphere I'd hoped for! Although Penny was really nice, it did feel a bit awkward sitting in a big empty room with just one other person.
• I had to transfer a load of stuff onto my laptop which I don't generally use to work on and I couldn't take with me the big set of proofs I'm working with at the moment.
  
• Because of all my health issues, I'm used to my careful desk set-up, with comfy chair, monitor at the correct height etc., so working on my laptop at not quite the right height, on a rather uncomfortable chair in a slightly chilly room wasn't ideal. Wilder St Studio where the event took place is a multi-functional space, used as a dance studio, rehearsal space, etc. and although it's nice and bright, it's probably not quite my idea of a comfy workspace.
  

I felt a bit too self-conscious to take any photos myself, so this one's from the Wilder St website.

• I'm also used to breaking up my working day, taking regular breaks and pottering about the house doing stuff when I'm not at my desk. So sitting in front of my laptop for 3 hours straight felt a bit odd. I certainly couldn't have managed a whole day of it, thus, I gave up at lunchtime and excused myself.

Overall, although today's event probably wasn't quite what I'd hoped for, I still like the idea of co-working. I'll definitely keep an eye open for similar events in the future and I'll give it another go.