I’d been toying with the idea of joining a coworking space or finding an office outside of my home office for some time.

While working from home is amazing- I’m surrounded by my things, my cats, and there are reminders of Anna everywhere (that make me wish she was home from work), it was becoming a bit distracting with what felt like never ending dishes, laundry, and cats (always with the cats).

My home office is flooded with morning light. It’s bright and beautiful from sunrise until about 1 or 2 pm (depending on the time of year), but then a shadow casts over it just like distractions on my brain.

It was time for a change. At the beginning of the year I switched my afternoon routine to include a workout around this afternoon lull time. It was a chance for me to work on myself, get out of the house, and take a brain break.

The gym I go to is in the Cannery plaza, a nearly 100 year old historic cannery, close to where I live in Midtown, Sacramento. I had already gotten into the habit of going to the gym multiple times a week, and then I found out that the Urban Hive’s new location was in the same plaza I had been going to almost daily. The Urban Hive is a coworking space designed for small businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, consultants, and more.

In March, I photographed and attended the monthly mixer for The Blog Bloc. I arrived early so I could check out the space and see the amazing art on display. I knew I wanted to become a member at this beautiful place, especially since I was already by it all the time and I knew I could fit it into my routine. I just had to get married first!

Anna and I got married in April. The next Blog Bloc event I attended was at the Urban hive in May, so I signed up that evening! It has now been a month since my membership begun, and I just wanted to write about how thankful I am to this place. I’ve gotten loads done in the last month, have been working on my blog, networking, and carving chunks out of my day to work on my beloved photo business. I usually come 2-3 times a week for about 3 hours at a time. I get a chance to brainstorm, write, blog, review my work, plan, and so much more. The break from my home office has been quite refreshing. It’s actually nice to miss my home and my cats for a change!

Lesson learned: sometimes you just need to get out of the house or change your environment to get inspired. From experience, it works! Plus, the Urban Hive has beautiful art, is a light filled space, plus there’s unlimited coffee and spa water. I even found the secret stash of snacks which is helpful when I forget to bring something.

I’m still going to the gym too! I’ve been riding my bike instead of driving. It feels great to work on myself. I just needed to carve out some extra time to do so, and it’s been worth every second.

Here’s what I’ve done here in the last month, thanks to this wonderful space:

Attended:

The Blog Bloc May Mixer

Creative Mornings in May

Published 5 blog posts:

- Reasons to print your photos!

- Temple Coffee with Sac Urban Homes

- Reasons to hire a professional photographer

- Portrait Session Guide

- Katie and Christopher’s Wedding!

Posted:

66 Instagram posts (not all posted at the hive, but plenty of them!)

Met with:

Kachet of The Kachet Life

Erica of Fit Crawl

Witnessed:

Gale Hart’s Splintered show

Upcoming/This week:

The Blog Bloc is on Wednesday

Creative Mornings is on Friday!

Excited to see where inspiration (and distraction) takes me this month, what I accomplish at the hive, and meet some more creative folks in the community!

Disclaimer: distractions are still real! I just spent the last 20 minutes looking at Pete Davidson’s (from SNL’s) Instagram, but that’s life, lol. Sometimes you’ve gotta put your phone in airplane mode and just keep writing.

Hope your week is off to a great start, and that you are enjoying my weekly posts! See you soon!

Blog

Posts tagged with coworking

Urban Jungle at The Urban Hive

One Month at the Urban Hive