Top Ten Lists

So I thought this working at home thing would be a real challenge. But the truth is - it's not... It suits me. I like it. It's coming easy to me. So I need to find a different direction for this blog. For now I'm cutting back on the documented experience and just posting some random thoughts. So here goes...

Top Ten Things About Working from Home:

1. Support and warm wishes from colleagues and friends
2. I control the thermostat (yeah, me, I do, I'm the king...)
   
3. Easy access to a full kitchen
4. Music as loud as I want
5. My own personal bathroom
6. Slippers are acceptable work attire
7. Lunchtime naps
8. That's my stuff in the fridge - no need to label
9. Fewer fires - other people's jobs do not suddenly become my responsibility
10. I have enough time to do good work

And to be fair and balanced...

Bottom Ten Things About Working from Home:

1. Learning the daytime habits of my wacky neighbors
2. Realizing just how many birds fly into our sunroom windows on a given day
   
3. Surprise video chats
4. Hanging out with the cool kids in the Madison ed tech community
5. My family still doesn't get how it works
6. No matter what form it takes, I don't think I'll ever like time and status tracking
7. I still have to clean that bathroom
   
8. Now that I'm in it more, getting a bigger list of "to do's" for the house
9. Noone to share grandma treats with (now I eat them all)
10. Taxes are WAY more complicated

Happy New Year

A happy new year to all!

Here's to productivity, a comfortable office temperature, and more timely blog posts.

Penny

Interesting Article

Can You Operate as a Virtual Being?

http://www.campustechnology.com/articles/69614

Time Management

Ten days since my last post?!? How embarrassing!

Today I'm experimenting with some time management software that reminds me of breaks - long and short.

Here's the web site:
http://www.dejal.com/timeout/

It lets me know when to take a break. Looks like I could also connect it with iTunes, but I haven't tried that yet.

Time Zones

My calendar technique needs some work.

Here's my conundrum -

If I need to schedule a meeting in my calendar software - what time zone do I use? I'm in central time. So my first thought is to keep everything in central time. However, the person I'm meeting with is in Eastern time - so if I keep it Eastern then I'll be sure to call them on time (if I mark it as Eastern time). But that requires conversion on my end for each meeting.

Also in the mix is that this is a shared calendar -- so folks in Eastern time zone may be checking my availability on this shared calendar. And if I keep everything in Central time it would be an hour off for all of them.

If I set my calendar to default as Central time, will it display at Central time in the shared space and force my colleagues in the east to do conversions. I don't want that either.

I need to unravel this knot before my schedule fills up!

First Friday

I'm in the sunroom today. Five fluffy squirrels are putting on quite an acrobatic show out the north windows. Jumping across tree tops and chasing each other in downward spirals around the tree trunks. An entertaining distraction. But the sun does provide some energy so this will be a good spot to work in days to come.

My packages have arrived to finish up the office setup -- printer, camera, work materails, etc. So it may be time for some workspace setup this afternoon.

Organization Day!

The election was a big distraction yesterday - so onward and upward!

I'll need to get some more office supplies this week. I needs to keep my project files separate in paper and in email (so setting up folders in both places is a necessity). Also waiting on three boxes to finish the home office setup. Those should arrive this week as well.

I'll be working on some templates to help me with repeating tasks - first for some common web sites.

I also need to practice tracking systems this week.

All in all, I think it's working well. I enjoy being on my own without the usual office distractions.

Once I get a more well-defined path for myself it will be easier to start, finish, and track tasks. I do need to remember to eat as I had a very late lunch yestereday. Regular breaks are important. I might need to schedule those as well -- but don't want to put too much structure in at the start.

We'll see.