Aged 21, and fresh out of college, I knew that getting employed at a traditional company wasn’t the path that I wanted to take in life. My name is Majd, and I’m unsure about what to do in my future. It is inevitable and unpredictable, however, I decided to take action and start working on a project that I was considering previously foray into entrepreneurship.
I had recently found out about coworking spaces where entrepreneurs and freelancers co-worked and tried to achieved their goals. At Foundersbei, a new and innovative coworking space in Beirut, I was given a free day pass to see for myself what they offer and decide if it was the right place for me. I was instantly hooked.
I didn’t care about a dedicated desk for me, because all I needed was a place to work quietly with a stable internet connection, so I took their hot desk offer.
It took me less than a week to become a bit comfortable with the other coworkers as they were the friendliest of people. One month in, I decided to write a small diary about what was happening in my daily life.
Day 1
Friday, when everyone is enthusiastic to go home and enjoy the weekend, desperation shows on the face of employees. However, that’s not the case when it comes to coworking spaces. Weirdly enough, people here seem to always have energy and dedication.
When I first got the space, Israa and Roberta were making sales calls, while Jean was recording his first podcast in the hope of creating engaging content to promote his business.
I was a bit -positively- surprised by how friendly everyone was, and getting the motivation to work really wasn’t a big issue.
I started working on my blog first, then jumped to creating Instagram posts for potential upcoming events that I was organizing.
Day 2
What a better way to start the week than with a celebration; it was coworking day. 3 hours after we started working we went shopping for beer and soft drink. Slowly, we started gathering all of the members of the space to come drink and sing together. Along with the melodies of oldies, everyone was in a good mood and re-energised and ready to continue work with more enthusiasm. After that, with the help of a sales expert, I was reaching out to potential customers using effective sales techniques. Some were receptive while others weren’t interested. This has led to some meetings in the upcoming days.
The highlight of my day would be solving the 1000-piece puzzle while listening to Bob Marley with others.
Day 3
A wise and very awake man once said: "With enough coffee, nothing is impossible". With my very non-organised sleep schedule, having coffee at the beginning of my day is a must. Perfect for socializing, it brings people together.
This morning I’ve had a really fruitful conversation with a digital artist about how I could improve my social media content with better and more attractive designs.
Then we discussed the psychology of colours and how it helps persuade people.
Again with the puzzle, it’s slowly but steadily coming together; now we’re done with the borders!!
Day 4:
As we were sitting together, Jean threw the idea of picking random controversial topics and discuss them. This was a really great idea to break the ice, as we all shared our different opinions about various taboo, and controversial topics. It was nice getting to know what each person thought about them.
After that, everyone proceeded back to their own work in their offices. I was preparing for a meeting that I had set up in a conference room in the space. It was a meeting with two other members of the space. We were brainstorming ideas about a new project that I was eager to launch.
Day 5:
One of the most important things that attracted me to the idea of coworking was work-life balance. As I was really tired, I overslept today, but guess what? I didn’t have to worry about any boss scolding me for being late. I was my own boss, and I decided my working hours. And this is the beauty of being a freelancer and an entrepreneur; not having to rely on anyone else for your success.
On a side note, I had a great time working on creating content for the website I was developing.
Finally, what attracted me the most was that the space was open 24/7 and at any time in the day I could come and pick any hot desk I wanted, and start work immediately.
Majd Nasser