Remote Working

Last Tuesday morning I woke up at 7.30, removed my eye mask and earplugs, enjoyed a bowl of Coco Pops, caught a Tube train to London Bridge, walked into an office block on the river front (which, with its glass and polished aluminium, looked like something out of Spooks), and, rejecting offers of coffee and muffins, began work.

In case anyone is wondering why I’m divulging such banal details about my smug working life, I should explain that things aren’t normally like this. If you have ever been to The Times’ office, you’ll know it is more EastEnders than Spooks, while my home office is like something out of Porridge. I was actually spending Tuesday morning working at the “Business Lounge”, described by its operator, Regus, as “a new concept for the on-the-go businessperson”, but perhaps more simply conveyed as an alternative to working in coffee shops when between home and work.

Is it better than Starbucks? Well, the colour scheme is certainly less vomit-inducing. And you do not feel the need to drink yourself into insomnia with coffee, or eat your own bodyweight in muffins to retain the moral right to a seat. Meanwhile, some might say the £15 entry fee is worth paying just to avoid having to listen to Paul McCartney’s new album.

Indeed, there only seem to be two downsides: (1) unlike Starbucks, there is not a Regus Business Lounge on every corner; and (2) it is not noisy enough. But before I explain the second point, some context about remote working, a subject I consider myself to be an expert on, having spent the past four years doing it.

Read atTimes Online