Having already explored the flawed concept of the 9-5 we can take flexibility to the next level and discuss the four day work week. I cannot promise you the four hour work week like Tim Ferris does but exploring the peoples schedule of the 4 day work week is a genuine opportunity for all those employed.

The tiny country of The Gambia recently granted public sector workers the opportunity to work Monday – Thursday working 8am until 6pm. The 40 hours a week mantra is still intact however an extra day has now been granted for prayer, social activities and agriculture.  Some would argue that The Gambia is not exactly a economic powerhouse but how about The Netherlands? It’s known that  1 in 3 men either work part time or 40 hours in 4 days. That’s a high proportion of the working population and their economy isn’t doing too bad.

By why can’t more in the west grasp this concept and remove the 9-5 standard? Simply put because it removes the shackles companies like to have on employees.

A working schedule for the people?:

A company is only as good as the people it employs and equally the key to a productive employee is work happiness. Flexible working hours are becoming more prominent within business but still there is a requirement for employees to be in the office 5 days a week unless of course they work part time hours.

But what would the problem be in implementing the 4 day work week and how could companies and employees benefit from this. The basic premise is that organisations and employees can reap a range of social, economic and environmental benefits from implementing such a scheme.

Still unconvinced? Here are some employee, company and economic benefits businesses could gain from this type of working week.

Employee Benefits:

Childcare Reduction:

Childcare is expensive and with the current economic climate families are struggling to pay childcare costs required when the parent is in work. Implementing a 4 day working week while still maintaining full time hours can help families financially.  Not only this but the parent gains another day with their child thus building on the parent/child relationship.

This would work even better if two parent families both had 4 day work weeks as they could take alternative days thus reducing the cost of child care even further.  The benefit on both a financial level and a child/parent relationship level is a huge gain for any modern family.

More Free Time/Family Time:

As echoed above the increase in family time would be significant as the child would have more time with it’s parent. There’s of course a counter argument to suggest that the later working hours would mean the parent had less time with the child on other days however the overall benefits of a full day with the child outweighs this slight negative.

Those without children would benefit from the extra day of free time. Working hard for four days and then having three days break would allow individuals to have further free time to complete chores, exercise, spend time with friends and essentially gain a better quality of life.

Less Commuting:

Commuting is tough, especially in large cities where commuting can be anywhere from 30 minutes up to 1hr 30 minutes. By implementing a 4 day a work week the commuting time is significantly reduced as there is no commute required for one clear day. Not only this but with the added hours on the 4 day work week you will be required to go to work earlier and leave later meaning you may miss the ‘peak’ commuting time thus reducing your overall commute on working days.

I know people who commute long distances and they find the process extremely taxing physically and mentally. If as an employer you can reduce this and still get the same level of output then who wouldn’t want to help a member of staff?

Reduction in Fuel Required:

Fuel prices continue to rise as does the amount of money we have to pay for commuting back and forth from work. Wouldn’t it be a financial relief if the amount of petrol required was reduced by 20%? Over the month this is a full weeks fuel. Quite a saving and money which could be used elsewhere. Couple this with the other financial savings does this make genuine sense? I think so.
 

Productivity Improvement:

The productivity point is up for debate given the amount of extra hours per day however with an extra day off work, less commuting, more family time and less financial woes the general happiness of the employee must improve. A change in happiness with one’s working conditions typically results in an improvement in productivity. Happy people in work are more productive than unhappy people. It’s a fact.

Studies have shown that health improvements have been made via four day work weeks with less people having days off  as they have more time to recuperate from illnesses.

Company Benefits:

Refreshed workers:

Workers on a 4 day work week will have a longer rest period and should come into the office Monday further refreshed and ready to tackle the week. Rest is extremely important in the business world especially on both body and mind and the company will benefit from workers who have recuperated over the extended time too. 

Happier Workforce:

Implementing a more flexible working week will appeal to all. If someone is happy working 5 days a week they can continue with that schedule however giving the opportunities to your workforce to work around their family and home life will create a sense of happiness.

I want to work in an organisation where my home life and well being is valued.  Employee satisfaction and work happiness is bound to rise and typically results in a more productive, successful workforce.

Recruiting Benefits/Employee Retention:

Flexible working hours are a pull for any job. If my job search came down to two roles one which had rigid/structures working hours or one which offered flexible working then I would choose the latter.

The recruiting benefit and employee retention possibilities associated with flexible working particularly a 4 day work week are huge. Figures suggest that both recruiting and staff retention are higher in companies which offer flexibility with their working schedules. Want to attract great staff and retain the rock stars? Offer some type of flexibility.

Economic Benefits:

Putting aside the benefits to both the employee and the company we also have the economic & environmental benefits of adopting such a scheme. Less cars on the road results in few carbon emissions, 20% less fuel reduces the amount of non renewable energy used. Equally we need to look into further measures including the wear and tear on vehicles and potentially fewer accidents due to less cars on the road. All these contribute to the benefits attached to a four day work week so why haven’t we adopted this?

People and companies are scared of change. We don’t change the way we work because we are conditioned to work in a specific way and have been for some time now. Those innovators who adapt and change to match their people win in business.

Would you want to change your working hours to adapt to match the 4/10 workweek? Are you a business owner who is considering allowing this flexi time approach for your employees? Alternatively are you a busy owner who believes in a rigid working schedule for all employees to match? We would love to hear from you in the comments box below.

 
Image Source: StudioParticle.com

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You may work for a company where you have some of your best friends, alternatively you may work in a job you can do with your eyes closed. Both these may be reasons to stay in a job but equally they may be reasons to seek a new challenge.

Weighing up the pro’s and con’s of your current job is difficult. Do I stay where I have it easy or do I seek a challenge to progress?

Personally I have made job changes around four times in my career and every time there has been a different reason. People need to look beyond their own role and look at the whole picture of the organisation when making this tough decision.  This guide is here to open your eyes to reasons why it may make sense for you to move on and how you can do it.

The Signs:

Organisational Direction:

Business direction and organisational focus is something many don’t look at but everyone should. Is the business investing in every area of the organisation other than yours? Maybe that’s a sign. Organisational direction plays a huge part in whether you should stay with a company ot move roles.

I have seen ex colleagues persist with an organisation where the business is going away from their skills set. Unfortunately this leads to problems long term. Redundancies, change of job roles or a reduction of funding. Assess the organisation and where they are investing, it’s a sign of the direction the company are taking, with or without you.

Business Performance:

Another key sign of why you should quit your job is business performance. How is a business is operating financially is imperative as to whether you should stick or twist with a job role. Now i’m not saying you should desert a sinking ship however if a business is performing poorly then changes will be made and that can result in redundancies, cutting of budgets and reduction in business perks.

This will make the business an unpleasant place to be. Keep an eye on the business performance and seek assurances regularly from your management team. Individuals who have been with a company longer are less aware of the risks involved with business performance as they are comfortable in their job role. Business performance impacts everyone. If it looks as though it may be a problem for you then make the decision on your own terms not when it’s unexpected and you are underprepared.

Lack of development:

It can be very easy to sit on a comfortable, straight forward job role. You know what’s required of you and the job can be performed with your hands tied behind your back. Unfortunately the role has no development opportunity.

Poor development opportunities drive workers away.

A lack of development opportunity irrespective of how comfortable it is at the moment is a sign you should look for alternative opportunities. Development and the chance to progress your career is a must in all job roles. There needs to be a development path. A lack of development is a worry in any job role. See the sign and look for alternatives.

An uninspiring manager:

Having a manager who does nothing for your career is a sure sign that you should maybe look for a new job. I’ve spoke at length throughout the site that managers are one of the most important parts of developing a member of staff. If a manager is inspiring and encourages his team to develop then you are in an extremely fortunate position.

An uninspiring manager is someone who just wants to get the job done. ‘Have you got me those statistics?’, ‘Can you run me this report’ and so forth. Everything is micromanaged through the manager and instead of developing personally you are just a cog in his management machine.

If you’re manager is preventing you from developing then that’s a sure sign that you need to look for alternative employment.

Growing External opportunities:

Only leave one job when you have an opportunity already in place. Sounds obvious? You would be surprised. A tip I have is to always keep an eye on the external opportunities within your specific field to keep abreast of the demands required from someone within your area. By doing this you also get to see external opportunities as they arrive. By becoming complacent or not looking at life outside of a company you are unaware of what is happening around you.

What if your role commands a much higher salary than you are on now or what if there is a huge demand in your specific location for the technical role you do. Furthermore by monitoring external opportunities you are then aware of what’s available. A PERECT job may arise which is a sure sign you should quit your current job. Without looking you will never know.

This is not to say you aren’t loyal to your current employer however a career is about seizing opportunities as they arise. There is never a right or wrong time so make sure you are ready if an opportunity was to arise.

How:

Take your time

Never rush or make hasty decisions when quitting your job. It sounds pretty self explantory but people rush into the wrong roles. Make sure when you leave one role and have the correct role lined up.

Make sure you are making the right decision for you, your family, your career aspirations and your financial commitments. Everything has to stack up which is why people find it so hard to change roles.

Honour your contract

Not only is it a legal requirement but honouring your contract is exactly the right way to quit your job. Work your full notice period, work to the same standard as you did before you handed your notice in and maintain respect for everyone involved within the organisation. Business is a small place and you never know when you may bump into a senior manager again.

Making a difficult situation out of a notice period is not cool and will do you no favours. Honour what you have originally signed up for and stick to your word and your legal obligations.

Gracefully – Never Burn Bridges

Always quit your job gracefully and never burn bridges. Even if the management react poorly to your exit make sure you maintain your dignity throughout. I have seen so many people burn their bridges and it’s not wise. You never know in life and you never know in business. I actually returned to one company twice and was happily provided a second opportunity down to the way I left previously. If I’d have left under a cloud like many do then I may not have had the opportunity to return. Thankfully I left respectfully and it therefore afforded me another opportunity.

Exit constructively

You may have some real issues with the organisation you are leaving. You may disagree with the management, have a problem with the direction they are taking or feel like your career was held back. Whatever the real reason make sure if you are asked to provide feedback then do so constructively.

 Not only does constructive criticism allow you to leave in a positive light it also gives the business something to implement and potentially make changes. The main reason for this is to leave with your character fully intact.

Leaving is tough but is part of life. Companies grow, roles change and members of staff seek pastures new. Be aware of what is happening around you and always leave gracefully. There is absolutely nothing wrong with changing roles, the problems arise when one of either parties conducts themselves inappropriately. Be the bigger guy/girl and you will leave with your reputation intact. It’s not personal…..it’s just business.

Image By: http://www.realityburst.com

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Attracting the Y generation needs to involve a switch in this 9-5 mentality especially when it might make both commercial sense and retention sense. Would you SERIOUSLY consider losing one of your star employee’s over the hours they work? Here’s why the 9-5 may be driving your employee’s away.

Commuting:

I’m like a broken record when it comes to commuting and having created my commute time calculator i’m a huge advocate of the smallest commute possible. I appreciate the fact people have to commute to the office but why do we maintain rigid working hours so that this commute is as painful for our employee’s as possible? Wouldn’t staggered working hours benefit those who have to commute on difficult journeys?

I have friends who justify their commutes and tell me they ‘LOVE’ the time they spend commuting on the train listening to music. I totally get that but surely that’s just a distraction from the commute itself?

I’ve spoke with people who commute over an hour to work which I personally feel is a total productivity and efficiency killer. There must be opportunities to reduce these commutes by tweaking working hours? 

This is a huge flaw of the 9-5 and one the most innovative companies can break. Instead of stressing the shit out of every single one of our employee’s why not give them the opportunity to commute outside the typical hours? Let them start work at 7 or alternatively start work at 10. I’d much prefer an employee arriving bright eyed and bushy tailed having had a pleasant commute as opposed to bumping and grinding on the motorway. Call me crazy!

Unhappiness:

I read a great point on the Skool of life where he mentions that everything is ‘geared for the weekends’. Radio stations all talk about typical 9-5 ers living for the weekend. But why is this? Are we that unhappy in our jobs that a 48 hour spell on a weekend rescues us from our job? Are we getting the full potential of our employee’s if they view work in this way? I feel the way work is structured and maintained with a 9-5 5 days a week mantra creates this. It creates a robot like situation where people crave this slight bit of freedom. Do we question the working environment we have built as a result of this?

Allowing more freedom to employee’s may help remove this mind set and change in media beliefs that everyone lives for the weekend. Why not remove these barriers and unhappiness and try and instil some work passion.

Office Time:

The notion of a 9-5 creates the situation where ‘office time’ is mandatory and performance is measured on the time you spend in the office. I have touched on this point before but because companies set such structured working hours there’s a belief that those who merely work the 9-5 are ‘slackers’ or lack the passion of other employee’s. Measuring performance by office time is ridiculous and in some ways embarrassing. The 9-5 Monday to Friday schedule has created this perception. You would think that in a generation of smart phones, connectivity from anywhere in the world that maybe this fossil like perception would be removed. Unfortunately the 9-5 makes sure it stays well within the thoughts of people.

Productivity:

Are 9-5 your most productive hours? Is it possible for all humans to be programmed where we are all at our prime at these times? I would hazard a guess as no.

My old organisation had relatively structured working hours where you had to be in the office between 8-9am and leave  between 5-6pm. As an early riser I used to wake around 6 and work on solo projects before I ventured to work. They were arguably my most productive hours. Unfortunately my organisation were unable to benefit from my most productive hours as their rigid working hours prevented this. Furthermore in global companies there may be a requirement for conference calls with the team in the US. Why would you make your employee’s come to the office at 9am and leave at 5pm if they still had calls to make with the US at 7pm GMT?

Work should be structured around the productive hours of an employee or the demands of the business without placing strain on the individual. If someone has a call at 7pm GMT for two hours then they should leave the office early, complete things they would typically be doing at 7pm to compensate. Structure and the lack of flexibility creates a hostile, unhappy environment and drives individuals away.

Working 9-5 is purely down to a generation of conditioning that this is the way to work. We admire those who break the mould yet we continue to stick to the status quo almost like it’s a pipe dream or unattainable milestone to seek more flexible hours. I’m writing this at 6:45pm on a Sunday, while dinner is cooking and I have some free time. Does that make me a lazy or does it make me someone with passion for what I am doing?

In my previous role I worked a standard 9-5 yet I had been awake since 6am. I was lethargic, unhealthy and unhappy. The structure was flawed for me. In my current role I start work at 6:15 am (which matches the demands of the business and my personal productivity), I eat fantastic and exercise 5 times a week. I am very happy and passionate about everything I do. I have broken the flawed system.

Do you work 9-5 but would be much happier working different hours? Do you own an organisation and afford your employee’s flexibility with their working hours? I would love to hear from you in the comments box below.

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In my 6 years in business I am now on my fourth job. Some would call me a ‘jumper’, someone who doesn’t stay in one company for longer than five minutes. I would call the opposite. After reading this great study by the World Tourism forum it’s clear that many within my generation, the Y generation have the same thought process as myself.

But what is this thought process and why has it changed in the past 10 years?

The younger generation are no longer accepting a job just because it’s a ‘job’. The need for job satisfaction is most probably the underlying reason why companies are struggling to keep employees for longer than two years. Every job role I have had my rationale for leaving was job satisfaction and fear my progression in more chosen area was slowing. Some of the companies I have worked for have had some great people working there, fantastic employee benefits (gym, free fruit, flexible hours) and strong salaries but ultimately I had no loyalty to my role.

Companies are focusing in the wrong area. Why build such a positive working atmosphere yet the actual work falls behind industry standards? Management style, company strategies and long term plans need to be agile to retain the younger generation.

I want to be loyal first and foremost to my role and not the company. Here’s a few ways companies can build that loyalty with generation y and retain staff.

The job role HAS to be right:

We have touched upon this above but the main factor is the job role. Everybody takes on a role with a vision of how the role will be, what they will have to complete day to day and so forth. Generation Y have a clear vision of what they see as their job role. I know personally where I want to be in business, what direction I want to take and if that changes with a specific job then I would seek to find the direction elsewhere. Is that selfish? I don’t think so. I think it’s more of a question to the business as to why they moved the goalposts or the job role wasn’t as advertised.

Make the role as close to as what was advertised as possible. People are happy to diversify however if it’s in a completely different direction then that loyalty gained by them choosing your company will be lost.

Progression:

They say in jest that Generation Y’s want to be business leaders in five years. Sure many may harbour this ambition however when I mention progression I’m not talking about promotion. Of course promotion and recognition is a beautiful thing but generation y merely want to see them progressing in their career. It’s about self worth and self construction. The power is more in the employee than ever before so ultimately the employee wants to feel that progression in their skills set.

If when In a job they feel like they are stagnating, losing touch with the industry and not taking the right path for their aspirations then there will be no loyalty to the employer as the job isn’t loyal to them. 

Right Management:

You get some great managers and you get some really poor managers. I have had a mix of both. If you’re working in a large organisations then your loyalty is to your job and your direct report. You tend to judge the overall company on what you are fed by your line manager.

Management has to be right or loyalty to the job will be lost and thus the employee will be lost. It’s extremely difficult to motivate yourself day to day if you’re not inspired or infused by your manager.

Having the right manager who has your best interests in mind will breed loyalty. Everybody wants to do work for the awesome guy.

Reassurance:

This is a classic trait of this generation but one I believe job loyalty is built from. My most loyal times within a job are when I am constantly reassured I am doing a great job. I want to feel importance, feel like my job role makes a difference. I have been in roles where I have been asked to do a specific role and go home, day after day, week after week. How can one be loyal in a position like that?

The first sign of loyalty is to your job and this has to be built by knowing you are doing a good job. If nobody tells me then my affinity with that role will be lost.

Trust:

Trust is a huge part of loyalty. If I am trusted to do my job, without micromanagement and interference then I am more than likely to have a sense of loyalty towards both the job and the organisation. But again this falls down to the job. If you’re in a role where you are constantly micromanaged, made to report to management every hour you spend in the office and your every move is watched then where does the loyalty come from? I am loyal to a role in which I am trusted to do my own job properly.

Are you loyal to your employer or is your loyalty for them purely down to your job? Would that allegiance change if the job role took a direction different to what you are working towards. Comments extremely welcome below.

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Ah hell if I know, but I bet I’m not the only person feeling like this though. Years between pay rises and inflation all around leaves people broke and unhappy in my book. Is an unhappy workforce a productive workforce, I reckon not. What happens if you’re workforce isn’t motivated to do their respective jobs – mistakes and mistakes mean extra costs incurred in order fix said mistakes. So is it beneficial for a company to have an unhappy workforce – No, not in my book.

Buying Annual Leave

So what’s the answer? An increase in salary right, it can be the only way, I mean money solves everything doesn’t it!? Money helps, let’s not kid ourselves, whilst it’s not the key to eternal happiness a few extra pennies in the pocket each month would relieve certain weights off of one’s shoulders. But I doubt very much your employer can afford to keep bumping up your salary every time you get a little bit unhappy.

So how then, how can a company keep employees happy at the hard time but without offering them extra cash? Well …

Opportunities

Now it might not appeal to everyone, but what if I told you that you could have over 30 days annual leave next year for a slightly lower salary than previous years? Would that appeal to a few of you? What about 35 days? What if I told you that this year I have 36 days annual leave? That’s not bad for an office bod huh!? For someone who likes to travel, I’m pretty sure I can think of a few things to do with that amount of holiday, let’s say Bulgaria in January, Scotland and Iceland in March, Laos and Cambodia in April, Ireland in July and not forgetting Turkey in September. Sounds alright doesn’t it, yep and if you haven’t already guessed it, those are my travel plans for the year (2013). As an amateur travel blogger, this scheme plays right into my hands. The job I do has nothing to do with travel, but it affords me to opportunity to get out there and write about what I experience. Please don’t misunderstanding, I’ve not set out to brag, but merely give you an example of a scheme whereby a company could both save money and improve the job satisfaction among some members of its workforce by offering a mutually beneficial scheme.

Annual Leave Checking

Think of just a couple more days away each year, a couple less days in the office each month, the ability to reach somewhere a little further away because you have the time to do so. Would the thought of this opportunity not make you a little happier in your job role? Appreciative of your employer? I know I feel that way now, I appreciate that my company have offered me a voluntary way to see more of the world at a fair rate. In my case its £60 a month over 12 months before tax. That’s the equivalent of 1 night out in London a month. I can deal with that. I realise that not only do I have to ‘buy’ these extra days, but also pay for the extra flights, holidays etc, but that’s my choice. The scheme is voluntary, those that choose to take up the option know about the extra costs, and to some of us it’s worth it.

Why would a company offer such an opportunity?

It feels like you’re more likely to get your P45 than a pay rise at the moment, businesses are struggling just as much as their employees when it comes to affording the necessities to stay afloat. As I mentioned above, such a scheme would offer the opportunity for a Businesses to save money and maybe in turn save jobs!

Before offering such a scheme naturally a business would have to ask itself whether it could afford the loss of members of staff for those extra days, but presumably said business isn’t sell as many products/services as it used to and hence the need to save money. I would assume that by selling less that there is now less work to do. So long as the work left behind by those taking the extra annual leave can be covered by those no choosing to purchase the extra holiday I can’t see a problem. Those having to cover the extra work might not like it at first, but they need to look deeper and appreciate that they were already on a reduced workload, and that had their employer not saved money with a holiday buy back scheme, their job may not have existed any more. Job security in exchange for not having so much time to play of Facebook all day when your bosses back is turned isn’t exactly a hardship.

Haven’t I seen this somewhere else before?

June 2009  – BT offers employees one year off for 25% pay.

Now again (I realise I’m repeating myself) this would have appealed to everyone in BT, but when I heard about this scheme it screamed GAP YEAR at me. If I was single, no kids, no mortgage, some savings in the bank and had a hunger to travel I would have been submitting whatever necessary form(s) to my line manager within minutes.

BT Gap Year Scheme

There are so many travel blog posts around how to afford to travel, the scheme BT introduced in my eyes is an opportunity to get paid to travel.

Alternatives

A holiday buy back scheme is just one example of a way that employees can be kept happy and motivated by their employers without being offered an increase salary. It’s not for everyone, so consider some of these alternatives. Would they appeal any more than the above?

Working from home/remote working

Ryan, the very author of Generation Y waxes lyrical about working remotely, and why not?! The ability to work from home and not having to pay transport fees each day would be the equivalent (if not more) of a pay rise. Add to that the hours you’d save not having your face in someones arm pit whilst on the train – http://www.generationy.com/commute-time-calculator/

Flexi time

You NEED to be in the office, but want to leave that little bit earlier on a Friday to miss the traffic and get that extra hour out of your weekend. Or on the flip side, you want to be able to arrive that little bit later at work because you need to drop the kids off at school in the morning. What harm will an hour either side of the day really do? Unless you’re in a busy period as an employer ask yourself realisticly how much work gets done between 4 and 5pm on a Friday.

A reverse holiday purchase scheme

As I’m already mentioned more than once in this post, not everyone wants extra annual leave or can afford extra annual leave. Some people need the cash to support themselves and their families, so how about a scheme whereby employees can ‘sell’ unused annual leave back to their employer at the end of a year? The numbers of days you could ‘sell’ would probably be limited, but rather than the ‘use it or lose’ it policy some companies implement when it comes to annual leave, an employee could profit from putting in more hours and days than is contracted.

Main Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30027503@N08/3223387589

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As if by magic or probably the best marketing campaign ever I was met by an advert for the ‘Google Chromebooks. I’d heard of them, seen them but never looked into them. Like everybody we stick with the norm, the status quo and the system we have always used yet we all LOVE to complain about how shit it is.

I began researching the Chromebook and one thing which instantly struck in my mind was the price. £200 for an actual computer? Is this going to be a Fisher Price style kids computer? I kept reading, 100gb of free Google Drive storage for two years? Is somebody playing tricks on me? The price of the Google storage alone was £120. A day doesn’t go by when I haven’t yearned for a new computer yet it was never critical so the purchase never happened. The Chromebook changes the game and the thought process totally. £200 makes the decision an easy one.

From researching the Chromebook to pressing the order button it was on it’s way in an hour. With Amazon Prime delivery the Chromebook was in my hands the next day.

One Dimensional Reviews:

The Acer C7 has a nice charcoal finish.

Throughout the 24 hour period from ordering the Chromebook and it arriving on my doorstep I must have read 10 reviews. Although the reviews were great but I’ve never read someone describe the material a computer is made of in such vivid detail. I think most of the reviews missed the point of the Chromebook and why it was created.

The Chromebook is a computer of convenience, a machine of efficiency and an online markteers dream. Let’s not beat around the bush here the Chromebook was not created to rival Apple with it’s design. It wasn’t created to be the competitor of the Mac Book Air. For what it’s worth I actually think the Acer Machine looks nice. It’s slim, has a fantastic high res screen and a lovely Charcoal gray finish. But that’s besides the point and not the reason for buying the machine. I bought the machine to run my online properties and run them with organisation and proficiency. If this is also your goal then keep reading. If you like shiny things which look nice then get saving and stump up 10x the price for an Apple machine. I wish you luck with that.

Initial Start Up:

The Acer C7 Chromebook runs the Google Chromebook operating system which is essentially the Chrome browser on crack.  EVERYTHING runs via your Google Mail for business or Gmail credentials. You log in with your Gmail username and password, you access files this way. If you’re cool with your life belonging to Google then the Chromebook is for you.

From booting the Chromebook to signing up, identifying wifi network and adding my 100gb of storage to drive approximately 2 minutes past.  The system boots for the first time in under 20 seconds. It shuts down and awakes from sleep mode in under 2 seconds with all your activities intact ready to roll again. I found the simple things like this incredible.

Adapting to the Cloud:

Making the transition to the cloud takes a few days to fully adapt. No menus, no Microsoft word everything is browser based. Initially you forget this and click around looking for these programs to no avail.

The best way to adapt to the cloud is to stick with it and focus on researching the replacement tools you require to get yourself operating in a business as usual way in no time. You also need to focus on the positives. Everything auto saves and nothing freezes or stalls. Chrome has crashed for me once and as soon as I reloaded everything reappeared as I left it. The device is also super, super fast. No daily windows updates, no need for running bulky operating systems. The power is all focused on making sure you get deliver your work.

Tools to make your Chromebook rock:

Google Play Music

Worried about your music on your previous computer? Don’t be. You can upload 20,000 songs to Google Play directly from your itunes library for free meaning you have instant access to the files. If this doesn’t suffice then there is an additional download available called ‘Drive Music’ which allows you to listen to music uploaded into Google Drive instantly.

If none of this is good enough then the Acer version of the Chromebook comes with a 320gb hard drive for movies and music.

Tweetdeck

I have always used Tweetdeck as my twitter management tool. It makes conversations on twitter easier and allows you to reply, DM, RT and so forth easily and effectively. The Chrome version of Tweetdeck is incredible. Not only does it auto update (Hello It’s browser based) but it’s also extremely quick and syncs tweets instantly.

The desktop version is clunky towards the web based version and making the transition to using this via the Chromebook is easy.

Pixlr Editor

Web based Pixlr is perfect for image editing.

One of my main concerns when starting to use the Chromebook was the image editing capability. I’m no web designer or graphics designer so the need for robust software wasn’t a requirement however I needed a software allowed me to edit images on parity with Adobe Photoshop or Gimp Image editor. Welcome to Pixlr editor.

It looks like Photoshop, it works like photoshop and is also completely free! If you’re a blog owner or want to edit based PSD’s then Pixlr editor is a fantastic solution.

Evernote Web

Everybody knows the power of Evernote. You can clip files, make notes, organise blog posts and sync with any device which you can access Evernote on. Having an amazing idea while out of the house? Log in via your smart phone and add it to your notes section. It’s an amazing solution.

Google Docs/Google Sheets/Google Slides:

By heart I’m an SEO so I love content and spreadsheets. The Google Apps tools are incredible. There’s not much difference between these and The Microsoft Office suite and Microsoft have had a few more years experience. The great thing about Google Apps is you can sync, share, and collaborate on material and jointly edit files. Sure you can do this on secure shared space with excel files but it doesn’t have the same ease.  I guest post on a number of sites so having the ability to easily distribute content and share documents via email addresses is pretty impressive.

Google Hangouts:

At the time of writing Skype is not supported but apparently they are working on an app as we speak. There are workarounds for the messenger side of Skype which you can easily find however for video conferencing Google Hangouts are arguably better than Skype given more people can join. Most smartphones have the Skype App capabilities anyhow so if you desperately miss Skype then I suggest adopting this method. As i said before there are no real drawbacks it just changes the way you work.

Codeanywhere:

For the novice web guys like myself then Codeanywhere is a perfect solution. As stated it allows you to code in the cloud from anywhere. All you require is a username, password and Google chrome. The cool feature with Codeanywhere is that it has an integrated FTP client so you can code some changes and upload instantly to your server. Not only is this pretty efficient but it’s also effortless.

I have had a few minor issues connecting to my ftp client however it seems like a solid robust solution. I wouldn’t say it’s a replacement just a useful extra while you’re on the Chromebook.

Honourable mentions also go to Gmail Offline, ScratchPad, Chrome remote desktop

Downsides:

The main downside for me is the battery life. It isn’t brilliant at 3 hours but it’s not hopeless. I predominantly used the Chromebook in the living room on an evening while watching TV so a power supply is easy to reach. The Samsung Version which is available here has a much stronger battery life but is slightly more expensive and also has a smaller hard drive. But don’t let the battery life deter you. It’s a solid machine.

Secondary Computer or Your only machine?:

The beauty of the Chromebook is the price. We can never stray from the price. The machine is a dream for what you pay and should be considered by all.

I’ve been asked the question as to whether I feel the Chromebook would operate as your only machine and it actually depends on exactly what you do. For 90% of the time I think if you’re a run of the mill online worker like myself then yes it would work for your only machine however every now and then I require the use of Photoshop to create logos and other more technical imagery. For something like this you may struggle with the Chromebook. Don’t get me wrong the free image editors are powerful however Photoshop is a requirement from time to time. There is however a work around via the remote desktop access but this is a workaround and the Chromebook is here to improve efficiencies not vice versa.

Buy or not to buy?

The question is more…’Why not?’. The Chromebook works on so many levels. It’s small, it’s convenient, it comes with 100gb of free storage space and it’s also just £200 (Or $200 in the US). When I go away for the weekend to visit family I take the Chromebook, when I go on vacation i’ll take the Chromebook. You can access every single file just by having an internet connection (even that’s not required anymore).

To successfully work online it has everything you need and more securities which other computers cannot offer. It’s a safe machine and one which can enhance anyone who works online. I’ve been won over by cloud computing. Why not give it a try?

Buy today from Amazon

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Well, I would argue that you might not be as prepared as you might have assumed. Fortunately, the unpreparedness can be easily resolved with a few unique tools I have discovered to be mightily beneficial in my own remote working experiences.

How do I know these tools can contribute to a more productive, satisfying work-from-home experience? Because, having spent months working remotely for Resume Companion I have battle-tested my concepts to really determine what truly helped me be a better remote worker.

Obviously, these tools worked for me and may not be applicable to everyone. My work required I be connected to the internet, and that I do a lot of typing and mouse-work, hence the use of a desk. For other, less clicking/mousing intensive endeavours, some of these tools may need to be employed in different ways to maximize usefulness.

Do your ears a favour and get some quality headphones. 

That is a no-brainer, you may say. You’d be surprised, I’d say to you, because the quality of audio equipment most people are using in their day-to-day life is appalling. Music has depth and texture and elevations. It creates atmospheres and ambiances. It has the power to alter mindsets and change perspectives.

Most cheap ear buds pave over these endearing aspects like a concrete over a jungle floor. Instead, allow your music to touch you. Get a pair of headphones that are super-comfortable and have a good frequency range. A large frequency range (10Hz-30kHz should do) will allow for all sounds to be heard, from very low bass sounds to very high treble sounds and everything in between. Headphones can isolate you from your environment, so if you have kids running around, a dog, or just noisy neighbors, the ability to remove their distracting audio presence from your mind is of utmost importance.

Stay connected with your mother.

One of the most depressing and productivity killing aspects of working in a musty cubicle in the back corner of some old stuffy office building surrounded by other old depressing office buildings is your isolation from the natural environment. A key to remaining in a positive and productive state of mind is being connected to the outside world, and the sun, which powers literally everything on earth. Charge your batteries; get some sunlight!

In addition, and with sunlight as a requirement, consider getting a plant of some sort for your workspace. Plants have been shown in Texas A&M University studies to have a calming effect on people, even increasing accuracy, productivity and memory. By having a window and sunlight and a growing, oxygen-producing piece of mother nature on your desk, you are creating a space you will actually want to spend time in.

Keep time, but keep it out of sight.

I personally use an electronic dock that my cell phone fits nicely in and that also charges my phone while it is connected to the dock as my timepiece. I placed this on a small shelf behind my actual working space. Having a clock is key to keeping track of your progress and sticking to a schedule, especially if you have deadlines to meet. However, one of the most distracting things is having a timepiece in direct line of sight.

Hanging wall clocks or desk-supported clocks are convenient in your house when you don’t need to focus on any one thing for too long. However, just like in grade school, staring at a clock, willing it to move faster (or slower, if you really enjoyed school) will only have the opposite effect.

By keeping your main timekeeping tool out of direct sight, like to your side or behind you, you will not be tempted to constantly check the time. Instead, when you get up to stretch or get a cup of coffee, you can glance at your clock. All computers and tablets have small digital clocks to help keep you on task without being obtrusive or counterproductive.

Invest in what is important.

Racecar drivers don’t use minivans, movie producers don’t use iPhones and you shouldn’t be using cheap bargain bin tools, even when working at home. When working for a big company you often don’t get any say in the equipment you use, and in an effort to cut costs, some companies may equip you with low quality monitors, keyboards, chairs and or mouses (mice?).  This doesn’t really help anyone.

Alas, as you are working at home and you have free choice of the tools you use for your trade. In effort to maximize your potential make sure you invest in a chair with proper support, a keyboard that is ergonomic and is conducive to fast typing, and or a mouse that allows for efficient movement.

If you are more of a free-ranger, meaning you’re not at a desk all day, get a good tablet, not a bargain tablet. Invest properly in your internet system, routers and storage devices. Just as skydivers and mountain climbers are obsessive about the quality of their equipment, so should you in order to reach your full potential as an independent worker.

Have a vice.

Do you have a vice?

Yeah, you heard me. This final piece of advice may upon first glance appear counterproductive. Why would you want something you consider a negative or distraction in your work zone? Well, the key is in moderation and reason. A vice may be as simple as a box of expensive 85% pure cocoa dark chocolate you break out after lunch every day to put you in the mood for reading your emails. Or it may be as simple as a beer, especially if you are in the creative industry and looking to let your mind unwind a bit.

The reason is, you can have a vice, enjoy it and use it for your own benefit. Hell, if you’re a pipe smoker, unleash your inner Albert Einstein and keep a pipe nearby. If you like flavored toothpicks or stress/squeezy balls, get one, and don’t be afraid to use it. By letting our methodical, habit part of our brain work its way through something non-consequential we free our other parts of our brain for serious thinking. At least, this is my perspective as I gently and serenely rake my mini Zen sand garden.

There you go, 5 tools that I have found to be particularly conducive to my working remotely. Obviously things like a schedule, general office supplies, a phone, a computer are all “givens” and I only tried to illustrate less conventional aids in an effort to make you, the reader, reconsider what you surround yourself with when you are working from home.

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This week’s interview is with Joseph Bushnell  a internet marketing consultant and conference speaker. From the ripe age of 22 Joseph has worked with clients across the globe in partnership with his wife from their own home. An insightful look into how Generation Y are reshaping the way they live their life through self employment and lifestyle design. Joseph is a real inspiration for those looking to make the step to self employment. You can find out more about Joseph via his business website JosephBushnell.com.

Q: Hi Joseph tell us a little bit about yourself, where are you from, where do you live now?

First and foremost I’m a proud husband and father. I’m also an internet marketing consultant. I was born, raised and still live in Hampshire.

Q: What company do you work for and what is your role within the organisation?

I work for myself; my company is JB Internet Marketing Services. Not the most creative name but does what it says on the tin!

Q: You have run your own Internet marketing firm from home for the past four years. Tell us a little about what you have achieved in these four years

Well it’s still very much a work in progress but I am happy with what I have managed to achieve since I started. At first my business was almost a hobby, I was just looking into internet marketing and fooling around with it, not really knowing how to run a business or earn money. It took me many months before I even made a penny. I stuck it out and the more I learned, the more experience I gained the penny eventually started to drop and things started to make sense.

I was working full time as an insurance broker and only doing my online stuff at night. I approached my employers and told them what I was doing and that I was getting serious about it. There was a part time vacancy going and they let me reduce my hours so I could work on my own business and not entirely forfeit my income. This gave me significant time each day to work on my business and a few months later I was able to make enough money to go full time. I’ll always be grateful to my previous employers for giving me that part time role so I could transition; it was an essential stepping stone for me and allowed me to get to the next level without too much risk. If anyone reading this is currently in full time work and looking to start their own business then I recommend trying this route.

Since then we have grown the business and it goes from strength to strength. I have had the privilege of working with some the world’s best marketing minds, people who I am now proud to call my friends. I have helped many small/medium sized businesses succeed and make more online sales because of the work we have done for them.

I won’t boast too much because I am still very far from the ultimate goal I am trying to reach but I am very happy with what has happened since the beginning and hope that the next few years will be just as fun, if not more!

Q: As well as your internet marketing business you also run your own personal blog on josephbushnell.com. For those visitors who have yet to see your blog can you give us a brief introduction into the type of things you talk about?

I blog about all aspects of online marketing including traffic, SEO, PPC, social media, blogging, copywriting, email marketing, video marketing, product/content creation, sales, persuasion techniques, tools/software reviews and pretty much any other topic that relates to internet business. If it helps to sell more online then I’m interested in it, I’m studying it, testing it and then blogging about it

Q: Within the last question I failed to focus on the fact that you also have a young child. How do you balance working from home with having a young child in the house?

Fortunately I work with my wife so between the two us we have it covered! I remember when my son was really little; it was far more difficult as he was noisy and very dependent on us for every single thing, getting things done could be a challenge. However, these days he just get’s on with his own thing! He loves watching his kids TV, his toys and the iPad so he has lot’s to do which gives us time to work. My wife likes to split her time a bit more evenly between work and our son because obviously he does need at least one of us there all the time.

Sometimes I really have to focus on getting work done so I will be in a room on my own but every hour or so I like to have a short break and make sure that we have some play time. The great thing about working from home is I spend a lot of time with and see my son grow up every day, I know that some dads don’t have that chance, their work requires them to travel or be away from home a lot, so I feel grateful and fortunate to be in this position.

Hopefully one day my little boy will have a brother or sister to play with! That’s still a work in progress!

Q: What did you dislike most about the office environment and how does working from home differ from this?

It’s probably some sort of male pride issue but for some reason having a boss to dictate my every action doesn’t sit well with me. Perhaps that’s not a particularly noble trait but it is nonetheless something I feel inside. I prefer not to have someone tell me what to do and when to do it; with the constant threat of being fired if I don’t do it exactly as expected.

The only thing I miss about an office is working with friends and having banter with them but I haven’t really even thought about that until you asked me that question. For me the positives of working from home far outweighs anything that an office has to offer

Q: How do you deal with stereotypes from friends in regards to productivity when working remotely? i.e.: Sleep until midday, 2 hour lunch breaks etc.

To be honest no one has ever said those kinds of things to me, most of time people are quite impressed that I work from home and have my own business but who knows; maybe they don’t say it but are thinking it in their heads?

It wouldn’t bother me if they said it anyway. I know that I work extremely hard so it wouldn’t offend me and in some cases what they say might be true! For example, occasionally I do sleep until midday but that’s because I often work with people on the west coast of USA who are 8 hours behind us. So if I don’t get to bed until the early hours of the morning then I do sleep in longer, but it’s not due to laziness just time zones and the practicalities of my job. My routine will depend on my schedule at any given time, it’s nice to have days where I simply work 9-5 but it often doesn’t happen that way!

Q: What are the main positives in your current working conditions and schedule?

I love being able to choose my work schedule and create the lifestyle I choose. I love not having to commute each day. I love choosing what tasks I want to do and what one’s I can outsource. The flexibility and variety of my work is something that I value very highly

Q: Are you an advocate of work/life balance and how do you try and balance both?

Although I’d like to think I’m an advocate, I probably sometimes have it unbalanced! I sometimes find it a little hard to stop thinking about business and just have some time to relax. Slowly I’m learning to change this because it’s not nice feeling stressed 24/7! So maybe you’re asking the wrong person as this is something I’ve struggled with but I think I am definitely getting better with it

Having said that, I do get plenty of time to enjoy leisurely activities and have fun with my family. Sometimes we have an entire day off to do something fun and just leave work stuff behind for the day, that’s a great option to have; I don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to do so. My friends who are in full time employment have to ring up in the morning and pull a sickie if they fancy the day off!

Q: What’s a typical day for you Joseph? Realistically….start to finish . We want to hear about your blogging, client work, your exercise routines, family times. The whole shebang!

A typical day for me would be…
Check emails that have come in overnight when I wake up and respond to the most important ones immediately
Look at the to-do-list and see what the top priorities are. I use Brain Tracy’s “eat that frog” mentality, which means putting the most important tasks to the front of the queue. I know that sounds obvious but human nature makes us put the most difficult stuff off until later. It can be tempting to complete tasks of lower importance because they are easier and convince myself that I am working efficiently, when in reality I am procrastinating. So I try my best to not do that now

Specifically the tasks I could be doing include… consulting on the phone or Skype, talking with people who want to partner with me, doing interviews, creating content, promoting content, implementing a marketing campaign for my own business or a clients and delegating work for my team to accomplish.

I have regular breaks and sometimes we go out in the afternoon as a family if we’ve had a particularly productive morning.
Previously I have been going to the gym in the evenings but not always getting down there (procrastinating basically). Recently I had my father in law build me a make shift treadmill desk so that I can exercise throughout the day!! It’s not pretty but it’s functional and does the job, hopefully in a short while I’ll start to see some good progress with weight loss and get back to peak fitness!

Q: Do you have your own dedicated office space in the home?

Yes I have an office upstairs for when I need absolute silence but most of the time my wife and I work together in the dining room which pretty doubles up as an office for us, that way we can keep an eye on our son but still get things done

Q: Any pictures of your office?

Dining room – This is our dining room and much of time Christina and I work here so that we can keep an eye on our son whilst we work

Office – This is my office which is upstairs, I go here when I need total silence. For example when I am on the phone, it would not sound professional if the person I am speaking to could hear my son running around and screaming in the background!

My treadmill desk – In an attempt to lose weight I asked my father-in-law to help me make a treadmill desk, in no time at all and for very little money he was able to join a couple of planks of wood together to make a small shelf space. Now I am able to walk at a low pace whilst I work! Much healthier than spending the day sat down. It might not look too fancy but it does the job!

Q: How important do you feel family support is for home workers? Is your wife supportive of your working conditions?

For me it’s been great because my wife is very supportive. She helps and supports me as much as she possibly can; I’m a very lucky guy!
I think for anyone looking to do it, your spouse or partner needs to be supportive or it could cause problems. Outside of that though I don’t think it should be a problem, if my family or friends were not supportive then it wouldn’t stop me. It’s nice that they are, but not essential to me

Q: Do you have any productivity tools you use to keep yourself efficient which may help our readers?

I use teamworkpm.net for project management for keeping tabs on both my team of independent contractors and my clients too.
I love evernote.com for quickly jotting down ideas, times/dates or anything at all that needs to be on my to-do-list. I also use quicktate.com plug-in for evernote for transcribing my voice recordings into text transcriptions.

I also use rescuetime.com to make sure I don’t spend too much time surfing the internet rather than working! It sure can be an eye opener to see how much time can be wasted when working online, it can go unnoticed but this tool doesn’t let me get away with it anymore!

Q: Lastly. The audience of Generation Y are young, digital savvy individuals. Do you believe more organisations should allow those with web-based roles to work remotely? If so..how come?

Yes I do, in fact I believe that is exactly what will happen over the course of the next couple of years. To me it makes perfect sense. The idea of an office is becoming increasingly redundant in this day and age in my opinion. I’ve always used people who work remotely so I’ve not had experience with this, but I imagine that the cost of running an office is quite high. Why not save a ton of money by letting people work from home? With Skype or web conferencing technology, meetings do not have to be face to face anymore, that cuts down on a lot of travel expenditure too.

To me the only downside would be; can the worker be relied upon to complete all tasks remotely without anyone overseeing them? In my mind any responsible adult who takes their job seriously should be able to do this and anyone who couldn’t be grown up enough to do this; I wouldn’t want working for my organization anyway, remotely or otherwise.

I think the previous generation will have a hard time letting go of this concept so it won’t change too quickly but gradually as new entrepreneurs take over I think they will break from tradition and start to innovate their businesses in this way

The post International Internet Marketing Consultant & Home Worker Joseph Bushnell Interview appeared first on .

 Do you love to get in your car every morning to drive to work and again every evening to drive home? Do you enjoy rush hour traffic? Does filling up your car with gasoline fill you with happiness and pride? If so, this article is not for you. If, on the other hand, you wish you could be more independent of your car and not tied to the petrochemical industry through the fuel pump umbilical cord, read on.

Years ago I worked in Silicon Valley at an environmental consulting company. The irony of trying to save the environment while commuting and hour and a half every day was pretty much lost on me. I was young and inculcated with our society’s values. I had learned that I needed to work for a company to earn a salary and driving my own car was the way to get there.  Sometimes I’d take the train and the little commuter shuttle, but they took longer, got me to work at a weird time, and seemed to cost more. It wasn’t convenient enough to do all the time.

Eventually I looked around the company and realized that all of us were spending the best waking hours of our lives in that office. It seemed like the more years someone had at the company, the more hours of their lives they spent there and the sicker they looked. That irony was not lost on me. I did not want to follow in the example of my elders. I wanted different role models. So I left.

My next job had me closer to home and commuting at off hours. I took my part-time hobby job of teaching aerobics and grew it into a job that fully supported me. Besides for the shorter commutes, that job offered the advantages of helping me stay in shape and paving the way for me to become a yoga teacher.

Being a yoga teacher turned into a true vocation and lead me all over the world to trainings and retreats. Once I was ready to settle down again, I looked for a place where I wouldn’t have to commute in my car.  I settled on Boulder, CO. They have wonderful bike paths there and I was able to get nearly anywhere I wanted to go on bike paths and bike lanes. With about 300 sunny days, Boulder is a bikers dream town. Bike commuting is a great alternative to car commuting. It can help you stay fit, get fresh air, and arrive at your destination refreshed from whatever you were doing before you left. It is a very good reset and attitude adjustment. In fact it’s so good that the only thing I recommend more is…

Ditching the Commute

You can work from home and forgo the commute altogether. With high speed internet and a service or product to offer, you can find ways to make money without leaving your home office.
The side benefits are numerous. Here are my top five.

1. Less time in the car = more time to do what you want. Not enough time with your family? Want to play more with your friends? Want more sleep? What you do with those hours you used to spend commuting is up to you. Enjoy the freedom.
   

   Cut the daily commute and spend time doing things you enjoy.

2. Reduce Your Contribution to Global Warming. A cooler climate  starts with small changes by individuals. Choosing to stay home is one of those changes.
3. Do exactly what you want to do. When you work from home you can work for yourself and create your own job. I’m creating my dream job of helping parents heal their own childhood wounds so they do not pass them on to their children at ParentCoaching.org. You can create your dream job too.
4. Learn. Stretch. Grow. The path to creating successful work from home will likely teach you a lot about yourself. When the responsibility starts and stops with you, there is no one else to blame. No personal growth workshop or seminar has taught me as much as I’ve learned from starting my own parent coaching business.
5. Pick the People Around You. One of the stresses of being in an office can be the people you’re with. Catching everyone’s cold is less likely when you work from home. You can pick who’s in your home and enjoy spending more time with them.
   

   Choose who you work with

There are also challenges to working from home. If you have an established job that you like, you may need to be creative to find ways to make it work at home. Plenty of employers are implementing flexible work schedules and allowing employees at least one day a week to work from home. If nothing like that exists currently in your company, you can be the first one to advocate for it and show that it works. One advantage for the company is a lower overhead for building space, if they can have a consistent percentage of their workforce that does not need their own physical space in the building.

Another challenge can be setting good boundaries. When my children are nearby, it is hard to figure out when to ignore their needs and keep working and when to be flexible about my work schedule and take time to play. Every day is a negotiation. If you want utter predictability, working from home might be unnecessarily challenging. For tips on setting good boundaries while working from home, read more.

Are you considering working from home? Are you already a seasoned pro? Please share your insights and questions with us. Together, we can change the face of modern business to make it more human, more environmentally friendly, and more fun.

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640

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Every day more and more companies are offering Remote-Work privileges. If your job does not require you to be in a specific location and interacting with certain people, then you can probably accomplish your tasks from home. Even interacting with people has been solved with a wide range of video-conference technologies available today.

All you need is a computer, internet access and discipline (lots of it!).

This is a great solution for stay-at-home mums and dads that need to take care of small children and want to spend more time in their homes. It is also a great opportunity to work for a foreign company and not having to leave your own country. It has expanded the way we look at the work environment; and it has saved the businesses a lot of money, not having to procure large offices to fit their entire staff.

Freelance Spirit

Freelance Spirit

In my case I’m not using a company’s work-from-home policies, since I’m my own employer. I work as a freelance writer and enjoy every bit of it, even the eventually scary not-so-stable times.

One of the best parts of my job is that I get to do it from anywhere I can plug my laptop and have internet access. That is a particularly great feature for an ever-nomad like myself. I enjoy travelling a lot and getting to know how people actually live in the places I visit. I try to make it a habit to stay at least two or three weeks in one place (sometimes months, if my savings let me…) and that allows me to balance life and professional life. I stick to my work routine and when I’m done, I go out to a different place each afternoon.

Samurai focus

This is not an overstatement (well, it might be…) since that is how I feel when I finally find focus, like there’s nothing that can draw me away from my laptop and time goes by super fast.

It took a long time for me to have a productive day of work from home. I would get distracted by the smallest things; and making your own schedule would in fact fool me into thinking that just because I had the whole day, I would actually work all day. “Sure, I can stop for a couple of hours, I’ll make it up tonight”, then I wouldn’t and I’d have all this work backed up. Then it would happen that I would in fact work until late hours of the night, but that would simply ruin my next day. Whatever activity drove me away from work was never worth being tired the following day.

Even if there’s no manager or no clock-in-machine to tell you when your day starts and ends, you should keep a regular schedule that will help you focused. Your body and mind find a rhythm and help you through the process. It’s 8.30 am, and your head is already in work-mode.

 No more water-cooler talks

No More Water Cooler Moments

I was never too corporate, so I dedicated a short time in my career in big office environments. Yet, when I did, I enjoyed spending time with other people during lunch breaks or after office meet-ups. Some of my closest friend came from work spaces. I do sort of miss being surrounded by people, but then again, if I think about it, more and more people are working from home. Would there even be an office to go to?

 Can you work from home?

So what it comes down to is pretty simple. Are you able to work from home? Does your company offer this possibility? Are your tasks something that can be accomplished from home? Do you need the office environment to step away from home-life? Do you enjoy the social factors of the corporate world? Do you need to be at home? Would it be hard for you to find discipline and focus in a home-office environment?

These are questions that you need to ask yourself in order to know if you, like me, can have the home-office as your best friend.

Featured Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/justsketchy/6639461851

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