Location independence challenge
I went away for a few days to the island this past week with the intent of working on a few projects. I thought of it as a sort of writer's retreat.
I want to note what worked and didn't work just so I can keep this goal of being "location independent" moving forward.
I really really missed having multiple monitors. I wasn't wild about the keyboard on the laptop, but that wasn't that much of a stickler. It was the part where I was trying to work on a spreadsheet and I needed another window open to get the numbers I was building. I *remember* that I used to work from paper, but in this case I really needed a single number from 50 different places and, besides, I didn't have a printer with me.
The lack of printer wasn't a problem, to be honest. I did need a printout at one point but I walked a mile to the library and paid them a dime for it (while my dog was tied up outside, barking.)
One of the things that DID work well was being able to take breaks to go for short walks. I almost never leave my desk once I get there at home. Not for exercise, not for meals, not to walk the dog. I'm puzzled and unhappy about that. So it's good news that I *did* get up and walk around a lot in Maine. Not too much, I didn't feel like I was overly distracted. But the dog got two nice walks a day.
A bad thing: clients perceived I was on vacation. I took a pretty picture while walking back from the store and it looked too much like I was on vacation. When I posted a picture of my family eating Sunday breakfast together I got a comment about being on vacation again. I have NEVER worked Sunday mornings, so not sure what that was about other than the sense that I'm in a beautiful place so I can't be working.
I am a bit disappointed that I didn't get the hard thing done that needed 50 pieces of data, but I did get some other reading and writing done, and made good progress on a very hard and annoying business operations issue. All in all, I felt like it was fairly successful. I doubt I would have gotten more done at home.
Another bad thing: it took about six hours to get there and about five hours to get home. That's a pretty big chunk of time. If I think I can be mildly more productive in Maine away from the phones, BUT it loses me 10 hours of work to travel, that's probably going to be a tough sell. I did listen to podcasts all the way there, though, so that could count as work time. (I listen to economics podcasts for the most part.) On the way home I had a passenger in the car so the podcasts were humor shows. (Small Boy likes "Ask Me Another".) Also, an hour of the trip there was actually sitting at the ferry terminal waiting for a boat, so I could and did get some reading done while waiting. So it wasn't a total loss.
A good news/bad news thing was not being able to take phone calls. I had a couple that would have been nice to just take - I could have cleared stuff up on the spot. On the other hand, the phone rings at least once an hour here with a spam caller. It's nice to be uninterrupted by phones. Very very nice.
I think I need to set up a docking system for my laptop in Maine where I can use two monitors again. I have the equpiment (left over from my failed business expansion), but I'm not sure where to put a desk with a couple of monitors in my small lovely cottage. Oh. Yeah. I do actually have a desk in the best bedroom, the desk facing out over the ocean. (That's the window I took this icon's picture from.) I generally give that room to guests, and we put the desk there for my husband to "write" at. (He doesn't write, be he imagines he might if he had a desk overlooking the water.) It might be unfortunate for me to take it over. But maybe I could throw the whole monitor/docking thing in the closet when people wanted the room. I'll consider that.
I want to note what worked and didn't work just so I can keep this goal of being "location independent" moving forward.
I really really missed having multiple monitors. I wasn't wild about the keyboard on the laptop, but that wasn't that much of a stickler. It was the part where I was trying to work on a spreadsheet and I needed another window open to get the numbers I was building. I *remember* that I used to work from paper, but in this case I really needed a single number from 50 different places and, besides, I didn't have a printer with me.
The lack of printer wasn't a problem, to be honest. I did need a printout at one point but I walked a mile to the library and paid them a dime for it (while my dog was tied up outside, barking.)
One of the things that DID work well was being able to take breaks to go for short walks. I almost never leave my desk once I get there at home. Not for exercise, not for meals, not to walk the dog. I'm puzzled and unhappy about that. So it's good news that I *did* get up and walk around a lot in Maine. Not too much, I didn't feel like I was overly distracted. But the dog got two nice walks a day.
A bad thing: clients perceived I was on vacation. I took a pretty picture while walking back from the store and it looked too much like I was on vacation. When I posted a picture of my family eating Sunday breakfast together I got a comment about being on vacation again. I have NEVER worked Sunday mornings, so not sure what that was about other than the sense that I'm in a beautiful place so I can't be working.
I am a bit disappointed that I didn't get the hard thing done that needed 50 pieces of data, but I did get some other reading and writing done, and made good progress on a very hard and annoying business operations issue. All in all, I felt like it was fairly successful. I doubt I would have gotten more done at home.
Another bad thing: it took about six hours to get there and about five hours to get home. That's a pretty big chunk of time. If I think I can be mildly more productive in Maine away from the phones, BUT it loses me 10 hours of work to travel, that's probably going to be a tough sell. I did listen to podcasts all the way there, though, so that could count as work time. (I listen to economics podcasts for the most part.) On the way home I had a passenger in the car so the podcasts were humor shows. (Small Boy likes "Ask Me Another".) Also, an hour of the trip there was actually sitting at the ferry terminal waiting for a boat, so I could and did get some reading done while waiting. So it wasn't a total loss.
A good news/bad news thing was not being able to take phone calls. I had a couple that would have been nice to just take - I could have cleared stuff up on the spot. On the other hand, the phone rings at least once an hour here with a spam caller. It's nice to be uninterrupted by phones. Very very nice.
I think I need to set up a docking system for my laptop in Maine where I can use two monitors again. I have the equpiment (left over from my failed business expansion), but I'm not sure where to put a desk with a couple of monitors in my small lovely cottage. Oh. Yeah. I do actually have a desk in the best bedroom, the desk facing out over the ocean. (That's the window I took this icon's picture from.) I generally give that room to guests, and we put the desk there for my husband to "write" at. (He doesn't write, be he imagines he might if he had a desk overlooking the water.) It might be unfortunate for me to take it over. But maybe I could throw the whole monitor/docking thing in the closet when people wanted the room. I'll consider that.