In search of a "third place"

There is no escape now. It killed it. The shift towards "working from home" - while super convenient, and in most cases "logical" - killed the only, last remaining bit of mental freedom, for many of us.

Mute the notifications, stash the laptop, shut the workspace door. Still, the constant, lingering presence of work remains.

The best - or rather most popular - advice these days is to introduce a "ritual", when you are switching from "work mode" to "home mode", to make the mental shift, moving away from work related thoughts.

While this may work, there is still the burden, the physical continuity of being and remaining in the same space all week long.

Families are divided. The kids and wife arriving home late every day from school and from the workplace, by Friday evening they are all exhausted: no way to initiate a program for the weekend.

Me? staying at home all week long, the first thing I want to do on the weekend is to simply get away!

The question is: where to?

The "anchors" of community life

There are a few main characteristics to call a place an ideal "third place".

• Open and inviting. You don’t need an invitation or appointment, and you can come and go as you please.
• Comfortable and informal. You feel that you belong there.
• Convenient. It’s close enough to visit often, ideally right in your own neighborhood.
• Unpretentious. Everyone is on the same level, there’s nothing fancy or fragile, and it’s not expensive.

So, what are all these places?

• Cafes, bars, clubs, pubs. Possibly the most straightforward choices, though some contradicts the main criteria: you are "encouraged" to spend, so being present there is not free in the classic sense, some are invite only.
• Libraries. Still going strong, though they lost their popularity and also, these place don't actively encourage conversations and connections.
• Gyms. Possibly the most popular among a dedicated group of people.
• Bookstores. Maybe in the US? I don't have any significant positive experience about them here in Europe.
• Parks. A good option, though it depends on the weather and season.
• Theaters. Similar to libraries, with the addition of having a common event.
• Malls and shopping centers. Very common, though seemingly an anti-pattern, if you think about the social aspect of it.
• Hackerspaces, makerspaces, open labs. A very interesting angle, more on these in an upcoming separate post... ;)
• Creative public spaces. For the lack of a better term I call them like this. A good example is a place which hosts small live concerts, art exhibitions, team gatherings, often officially listed as an "open house".

Events vs "just being" there

Let's distinguish places which are event oriented, bringing together like minded people around a specific topic or topics within a given time frame.

An ideal "third place" is a place which also allows you to "just be" there.

No commitment of any kind - except for accepting and following the basic house rules, of course.

"Just being" there - as an initial step - encourages learning more about the space, about the accepted behaviors, about the culture of the place.

It's all very much tied to an individual's personality, I guess.

For me, the closest to an ideal "third place" is a hackerspace of some sort, where technology meets art.

More about this in a follow-up post! :)

What's your take?