Over the past few years, our collective relationship with work and office culture has drastically changed. One thing seems apparent: according to recent surveys, remote and hybrid work trends have staying power.

Flexible working arrangements can offer many benefits to workers: reduced commute time, helping people find more time for work-life balance, could even enable parents to stay in the workforce, and more. Many employers can see real benefits, too. According to a recent FlexJobs survey, 63% of working professionals are even willing to take a pay cut to work remotely — which can create new opportunities for companies looking to recruit top talent.

But there are some unsolved challenges with flexible work, too.  People may struggle with loneliness, burnout, detachment, distractions, and lack of engagement.  

A Batch 34 company, Focused Space, decided to address these challenges head-on, helping to build a new playbook for the future of remote and hybrid work along the way.

Focused Space enhances productivity through community-focused strategies like group accountability and “body doubling,” akin to group fitness classes. This approach helps users dedicate time between meetings for deep work, long-term projects, and tasks they might be avoiding. Key features include facilitated morning planning sessions to set goals, identify challenges, and track progress, as well as deep work sessions for uninterrupted focus.

The Focused Space Teams product supports remote and hybrid teams by keeping them connected, aligned on priorities, and high-performing. It offers visibility into team members' schedules, goal sharing, and fostering personal connections. Teams are encouraged to celebrate collective wins and build momentum together.

Additionally, Focused Space provides self-guided productivity tools, guided work sessions, and educational content on topics like mental health, developed by specialized session hosts and in partnership with their network of coaches and therapists.

The founding team — Nodira Khoussainova, Alexis Hope, and Justin Trobec — are a highly technical and design-oriented team with a shared passion for productivity, mindfulness, and customer-centric product development:

Nodira Khoussanova, the CEO, has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Washington. She co-founded Streamlit, which was sold to Snowflake for $800M, and worked at Twitter as a Software Engineer. Her extensive background in productivity, mindfulness, and joyful work practices led her to create Focused Space.

Alexis Hope, the Chief Product Officer, holds a PhD from MIT and has worked as a researcher and designer at the MIT Media Lab and Meta. She has designed various technologies, from creative learning software for kids, to low-cost ultrasound machines. Alexis is passionate about designing tools that help people find joy, learn self-compassion, and unlock their confidence and creativity.

Justin Trobec, the CTO, has a strong background in data science and engineering. He spent ten years at Twitter and seven years at Microsoft. Justin loves thinking holistically about product design and engineering and deeply values team and relationship building.

We believe the remote and hybrid work trend is here to stay, with many companies utilizing those models. According to FlexJobs, 51% of knowledge workers would prefer to work in a remote or hybrid arrangement, and a new KPMG survey found that nearly half of U.S. CEOs expect a remote/hybrid future. (This result is a notable decrease from of last year’s survey where 62% had expected a full return to office five days a week.)

According to co-founder, Alexis Hope, “The market for remote work solutions is also growing rapidly. Rising rates of ADHD and the increase in solopreneurship, as well as freelancing, all of these trends drive demand for solutions that help individuals manage their work-life balance and stay productive.” Not to mention, the global remote workforce is projected to be 70 percent of all workers by 2025 driven by a number of factors, including the increasing popularity of telecommuting, the rise of the gig economy, and the growing number of businesses that are adopting a remote-first or hybrid work model.

Focused Space looks to address the challenges of the future of remote and hybrid work with their productivity tool.

You can learn more about Focused Space at: https://www.focused.space/.

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