A host of companies has stepped in to cater to this segment of the population by offering freelancers and entrepreneurs the amenities of an office: conference rooms, a reception desk to welcome clients, unlimited quantities of freshly brewed coffee. In doing so, these coworking organizations wind up at the vanguard of a movement of people who are prioritizing finding meaningful work, building community, and challenging conventional business practices.

Coworking spaces — where freelancers, entrepreneurs, and other independent workers pay a fee to share a workspace and benefit from working in the presence of one another — are hot. More than 160,000 people worldwide are members of over 3,000 coworking spaces, according to a recent report by DeskMag.com and Emergent Research, up from just 20,000 workers in 500 spaces in 2010.

Traditionally, society forces us to choose between working at home for ourselves or working at an office for a company. If we work at a traditional 9 to 5 company job, we get community and structure, but lose freedom and the ability to control our own lives. If we work for ourselves at home, we gain independence but suffer loneliness and bad habits from not being surrounded by a work community.

Coworking is a solution to this problem. In coworking, independent writers, programmers, and creators come together in community a few days a week.