But the trick with any coworking space is that it's gotta be convenient. We moved out of the city and it's just a bit too far out. But AL is great.
Also, you don't have to spend $1000/month - that's just what happens if you're not careful. I generally spend about $4-5/day - so it rounds out to about $150.
The location is definitely a factor, I was driving to a metro and then metroing in - it took between 1-1.5 hours. Then I just started driving at off peak times and it's much faster.
Of course, now that I can't get to a co-working space, I had to get way better at planning and finding good places. Now I don't waste much time.
For that matter, I think I am more productive (for now) because I can't chit-chat and get distracted as I would when I'm around people I know. All of our work is offsite and online right now, so no productivity is wasted.
The biggest trick is, if it's a 3hr commute there and back to your office (plus settling in time) you have to weight it each time whether it's worth the trip or not. But I hit the coffee shop every morning, like it's my office, and gain 2.5hrs. You just can't slack off.
I wouldn't suggest doing it forever, but if you're going to do it, that's how.
Going in: what do I absolutely need to do today? What would I like to do? How can I get it all done?
Going out: Did I reach my goals? Why/why not? What are some of the bigger issues I need to keep thinking about while working the day to day?
It's not an insignificant amount of time, but I don't find it wasteful, I easily spend that much time thinking about problems anyways, now I just am commuting at the same time!