You can always feel it coming.  You sit in front of your computer and stare at it blankly.  Watching Top Gun for the 15th time somehow makes sense.  Polishing your silverware sounds fun.  You even shut down IM, Facebook and Twitter.  What's going on?  You, my friend, have hit the wall.  You have hit a wall where you are totally unproductive.  So, what do you do?  Do you accept your fate and take some time off?  Or do you decide to fight through it and see if you can get back onto the fast track of productivity?

Sometimes it can be that your morning just got started off on the wrong foot.  That's easy to correct.  At the far extreme, it can mean that you've hit burnout.  Just a bit of advice: try to avoid the burnout side of the spectrum.  Other times, it's that you fall in between those two ends and just have an all around unproductive day.  You can't exactly put your finger on why but all you know is that you're just being unproductive.  Suddenly it's night time and you can't really account for what really got done during the previous 12 hours.

Let's face it.  As much as some of us don't want to admit it, we all need to take a break occasionally.  If your family doesn't force you to, eventually your body and/or mind will.  It's natural especially if you keep laser focus and pride yourself on the lack of sleep you get.  Sometimes you have to just accept your fate and enjoy a day off of the grid and away from the normal grind.  But, other times you have to have a few sure-fire ways to give your day that shock needed to get back on track.  Here are the 9 ways that I help get my day back from careening out of control:

1. Turn on or switch up the music.  Music is a major part of my life.  It always has been.  So, I have to have music on whenever I want to get a lot done.  Sometimes though, just turning on music isn't enough.  That's when I have to smash the emergency glass and pull of the musical first-aid kit.  This entails precisely of my Bose ear-in headphones, Pandora ONE and/or iTunes.  The music has to be something with a great beat and hard hitting bass.  For me, Jay-Z is usually my go-to artist of choice.

2. Try for a couple small wins.  Try to accomplish some of the smaller, easier tasks on your list.  Maybe that's paying a bill or two.  Send out that rebate.  Make those 3 phone calls you've been meaning to make.  I find that being able to cross a few of those off the list will usually be the injection of productivity needed to switch focus to the bigger projects.

3. Break the big projects down to small tasks.  In my opinion, this is what you should be doing all the time.  But, we all forget and instead add "Take on the world" to our task list.  It's no wonder that it keeps getting pushed off.  We find it to be daunting so we skip past it and move on to a bunch of smaller wins.  Instead of pushing it down the list, use your GTD ninja skills and break it into all of the smaller tasks needed to make the big win.  If you've forgotten about GTD, you can give yourself a refresher by watching David Allen present at Google.  I'll sometimes make these tasks as micro as "Photocopy contract", "Email contract", "Send internal status update on contract".  Again, it's those small wins that will help you get back on track.

4. Switch locations. Sometimes it's not you but your environment that's making you unproductive.  Try workshifting from a different location.  If it's a nice day, grab your laptop and go outside.  Head to a coffee shop or a restaurant.  Find those go-to locations for yourself and head straight there.  Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.

5. Drop the internet and put your hands up.  Even if you don't think it is, the internet can suck up time.  Those little minute distractions of TweetDeck's little black status box popping up or your email yelling at you that you have 10 unanswered emails can really prevent you from focusing.  So, when you really need to crack the whip, start by shutting down EVERYTHING that can interrupt you.  Yes, that means, email, IM, Facebook, Twitter, cell phone, anything and everything.   I like to switch up locations and go somewhere that I know I won't have internet.  It helps me to focus and allows me to be creative.

6. Get up and stretch.  I find that stretching revitalizes me.  It helps to unkink the muscles that have just sat there for hours on end.  A few cracks here, a few stretches there and I feel like I can conquer the world again.  If this doesn't work, try going for a workout or take a quick shower. These little refreshers will help to make you feel better and gives you a few minutes to clear your mind before diving back in.

7. Take on something else.  If it's work-related tasks that you're not able to crush, try knocking off something else.  I recently had an entire weekend where anything and everything work-related seemed like a foreign language to me.  Instead of just wasting the day away, I did a bunch of tasks around the house and ran a few errands.  This made me feel like I was accomplishing something and also helped me for the week to come.  

8. Try calling a friend.  Some of my best work is done when I can co-work with someone.  Invite a friend over, meet at a bookstore or try a co-working space and knock out some work together.  The tools that many of us are equipped with such as laptops, broadband cards, phones and the like allow us to be digital nomads.  Take advantage of it.

9. Power nap.  Close everything up and take a 20 minute nap.  Power naps have been proven to increase productivity.  Some companies, like Google, even provide nap rooms for their employees.  So, close the laptop, grab your stuffed animal (er, um, I mean, pillow), set an alarm for 20-30 minutes and pass out.  If you can't fall asleep, run head first into a brick wall.  It might knock you out for a little longer than 20 minutes but you'll probably wake up feeling refreshed.  You might even hit your head hard enough to forget about some of your worries :)

These are just a few of a number of different tools I keep at-the-ready to help beat a feeling of being unproductive.  Even if I'm feeling totally productive, I will use some of these tips to help keep me pointed in the right direction.  Other times, just stop.  Take some time off and relax.  Your work isn't going anywhere, that's for sure.

Do you find these tips useful to you?  What do YOU do when you're feeling unproductive?

Photo by: u2slane

Today we're fortunate to have Chuck Wilsker, President and CEO of The Telework Coalition, and Nicole Belson Golubuff, an attorney in New York and an Advisory Board member of the Telework Coalition, join us with his very timely call-to-action regarding the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act.  Chuck is a true thought leader in the telework/remote working/workshifting space.  WIthout Nicole's tireless efforts, this Bill would not have progressed as far as it has.

Although there has been dissension in Washington on just when to tackle reauthorization of the country's transportation funding bill (SAFETEA-LU), once lawmakers and the Obama Administration agree to focus on it, they must make sure the new legislation strongly encourages telework.  They must do the same as they develop new energy legislation.
 By reducing the number of people who rely each day on roads and mass transit, telework lowers the cost of maintaining, fixing and expanding such infrastructure. At the same time, it enables the nation to conserve fuel, improve its energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A crucial component of any plan to encourage telework is clearing away significant roadblocks to it.  One of these roadblocks is the telecommuter tax.  A bill pending in Congress called the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act (H.R. 2600) would get rid of this barrier to Web-based work.  This legislation must become law.

What is the telecommuter tax?  Currently, under a state doctrine known as the "convenience of the employer" rule, when an employee works for a company located in a different state and chooses to telecommute some of the time, the employer's state may tax the employee on 100% of his wages - not just the wages he earns when he travels to the employer's state, but also the wages he earns in his state of residence.  Because the states where telecommuters live can also tax their residents on the income they earn at home, telecommuters risk double taxation of their at-home income.  

In some cases, to protect them from the double tax risk, the home state will give telecommuters a credit for taxes they pay the employer's state on their home state wages.  However, this approach may not solve the problem:  When the employer's state has a higher tax rate than the home state, telecommuters have to pay that higher rate on the income earned at home:  They are still penalized for choosing to work in a virtual environment.
 
The states where telecommuters live can also take a significant hit because of the telecommuter tax.  When they give their residents a credit for taxes paid to the employer's state, the home states essentially surrender their own revenue to the employer's state:  They supply the funding for such public services as police, fire and transportation in the employer's state, even though their residents working from home rely on those services at home.  In the current economy, the many states faced with having to reduce or eliminate their own services can ill afford to subsidize the services offered elsewhere.

Consider the case of Scott Smallwood.  Scott is a resident of Arlington, Virginia.  He works for a financial services firm in New York, a state which applies the telecommuter tax aggressively.  Although Scott spends only a few work days each week in New York and the rest, working from the office his employer set up in his Virginia home, New York has demanded that he pay taxes on all his wages - both the wages he earns on his New York days and the wages he earns on his Virginia days.  Virginia has given him a credit for taxes he has paid New York on his Virginia wages.  However, New York's tax rate is higher than Virginia's, so both he and his home state have suffered:  For several tax years, Scott paid the higher New York rate on his Virginia income, and Virginia received no income tax from Scott.

Because the telecommuter tax makes working across state lines via the Web unduly expensive for employees, it is a potent deterrent to this green work practice.  As one Connecticut resident has explained, "I had to stop working from home for [my] firm in New York City because my taxes were out of sight."

The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act would bar states from taxing non-residents on the income they earn at home, abolishing the stiff punishment for using virtualization technologies to get to work.  The bi-partisan bill was introduced by U.S. Representatives Jim Himes (D-CT) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) and has been co-sponsored by eleven other lawmakers representing states from east coast to west. 

As forward-looking companies design the cutting edge tools that facilitate efficient collaboration among decentralized workers, neither New York nor any other state should be permitted to frustrate such collaboration by menacing interstate teleworkers with double or excessive taxation.  To maximize the transportation and environmental benefits of using virtualization technologies to reach the office, Congress should pass the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act.

To help build continued support for the Bill, I have created a petition which is being sent to Congress.  I encourage you to sign the petition and help pass the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act.

If you would like to track the progress of the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act as it moves through Congress, head on over to OpenCongress.

Photo by: jmd41280
 

This was originally posted on my personal blog but thought that these tips would be applicable to workshifters as well.

It's really hard to stay motivated to go to a gym consistently. Some people are intimidated by working out around others. Some have no clue what they're doing and are embarrassed or worried they're going to injure themselves. Others are confused because there's always a new workout on the cover of Men's Health or Cosmopolitan. And well, then there's always the bunch that supposedly don't have time to workout but never miss an episode of American Idol.

Working out doesn't have to be that difficult. First of all, if you're intimidated, embarrassed or concerned, try hiring a trainer, even if it's just for a single hour. I promise, it will be helpful. Even though I workout 4-6 times per week, I still try to add in other ways to stay healthy and get in a little extra workout whenever possible. It helps to keep me focused and as long as it doesn't interrupt the rest of my life, why not? So, today I have 7 tips for you that are simple, fast, and won't take longer than a few minutes extra each day, if even that long.

7 Simple Fitness Tips

1. Unless you work on the 103rd floor, consider taking the stairs. Just by taking the stairs to the 4th floor where I live, I add an extra approximately 11,000 stairs to my daily routine per month. For me, it is usually faster than the elevator, doesn't make me tired, but does keep me active.

2. Unless you're going to a professional sports game where the parking lots are miles long, park a ways away from the front door. I park approximately 500 steps away from my truck at my house even though there is parking approximately 50-100 steps from the front door. This adds an additional 22,400 steps per month to my activity, if you account deduct the 100 steps per day I could be walking.

3. Buy a pedometer. You can find them for relatively cheap, around $20 or so, and if you're a competitive person like I am, it will become a game against yourself. Set your goal for 10,000 steps per day. If you buy a little fancier one it will even calculate miles and calories burned. Track your progress in a simple Google Docs spreadsheet and try to improve a little more each day.

4. Buy a bluetooth headset for your office. If you're usually stuck at your desk all day long on conference calls, buy a bluetooth headset for your office phone. Then, take your calls from the headset and walk around your office if you don't need to be behind a computer screen. If you're going to try this, make sure you get a Plantronics set. They're the best, bottom line.

5. Pick up workout bands. You can hide these easily in a desk drawer or carry them in your bag when you're traveling. These little bands will allow you to get in a decently intense workout when you can't make it to the gym. Even if you do make it to the gym regularly, you should add these into your workout.  Check out AJ Leon explain how he uses these to stay fit while traveling.

6. Go for a walk around the building at lunch. Take 10 minutes at lunch time and take a walk around your building. Just this little additional exercise will help to energize for the long afternoon ahead and will add a couple more thousand steps into your daily routine.

7. Do a set of pushups or situps. It's mid-day and you're tired. You've been staring at your screen for what feels like 60 hours and it's not even lunch time yet. Hop out of your chair, pop down and knock out a set of pushups. Nothing crazy so you don't mess up your office attire, just 10-25. Even if you did 25 pushups only 3 times per week, it would add up 300 extra pushups per month.

As you can see, none of these suggestions are particularly hard, take up a lot of time, and are all meant to give you an extra burst of energy. Whether you workout constantly or don't even know what the word "gym" really means, adding any one of these tips into your daily routine will help you out.  Couple these fitness tips along with trying to eat healthier while workshifting, and you're in great shape! :)

What easy things do you do to try to keep in shape, stay healthy, and stay energized?

Photo by: Phillip Klinger

In my last post I asked the question "what's holding you back from doing webinars?" The response from Leesa Watego and a few others was that a lack of knowledge about how to start was the top inhibiting factor.

The purpose of this post is not to be an all-inclusive guide to delivering webinars but rather some suggestions to consider as you begin your program. My hope is that these ideas will make the concept of webinars less daunting so you can start generating some great leads using webinars.

1. Pick a Compelling Topic or Series

What is the most compelling and interesting education that you can give your target audience? First off, it can't be exclusively about your product or service.  Who wants to attend "Come Here to learn How Awesome Our Widget 7 Is"? Pick a topic that relates to the product or service that you're marketing and build an outline. You might try setting up a series of three webinars. If I was marketing financial services right now (and I'm glad I'm not) I might do something like this:

     Topic #1: Why Economic Uncertainty is an Opportunity: How to Gain from the Downturn
     Topic #2: When to Hold 'Em and When to Fold 'Em: What to Buy and Sell Right Now
     Topic #3: Investments 101: Understanding your investment options

Think of webinars as an ongoing conversation with your prospects and develop a compelling series of educational topics before you start.

2. How will you get people to participate?

Your Email Database - What email addresses do you already have access to?
Social Media - Post links on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and anywhere else you have a following.    
Partners - Are there other companies or partners that have a common interest in reaching your audience?
Post on Your Website - Put a link right on your home page

3. Build a Team

Will you be able to handle all the responsibilities on your own? For the first few webinars, this may work but over time it might make sense to get some help. Here are the different roles and responsibilities for conducting a webinar:

Marketing - Handling all promotional material and campaigns to get people to attend - plus follow-up with registrants.
Content Management - Making sure the presentation is in line with the marketing message and quality for the audience.
Speaking - Presenting the actual content (this may be one or more people).
Live Q&A - Answering questions and comments during the session through text chat and aloud.

4. Attend Other Webinars and Read Up

Here are a few valuable resources I've come across and use:

Twitter Search
The Virtual Presenter
Webinar Wire


5. Prepare Your Team for Follow-up

Whoever follows up on the webinar leads needs to be prepared to discuss the topic (not just your product or service). You may elect to follow up via email and nurture the leads but if you follow up with phone calls be prepared to talk about the webinar topic. This is problematic if you have a sales team that isn't in tune with the webinar content. I suggest setting up a few questions and conversations points around the topic for your team. If I were following up with the financial topics above I'd likely want to ask "How do you feel about your financial portfolio right now?" And be prepared to discuss the content of the webinar in detail. Make sure you and your team understand the webinar topics and how to discuss them in follow-up.

6. Set Realistic Expectations

If you're expecting 500 live attendees for your first webinar then you're setting yourself up for failure. Your first webinar may have 3 people in it but that's 3 people you've established a relationship with that you wouldn't have otherwise. webinars take time...I've done hundreds of them over the last 3 years now and I learn something every time I do one.

So what does success look like for you on your first webinar? If you're able to get 1 new sales opportunity from the webinar then I'd consider that success.

These are all things you should consider before you pick the technology you're going to us. And I'm going to stay away from the technology considerations as I'm obviously partial to GoToWebinar ;)

Hope this helps. Reach out to me on Twitter if you have any more questions about getting started with webinars ... and good luck!

Photo by: sridgway

The spirit of workshifting is really personified by Twitter. So much of the current Twitter culture is made up of folks that workshift from anywhere their work takes them. Workshifting is not just about the tools or location, it's often about crowd sourcing. Working with people whom you've never met, in locations you've never been, and with whom you've only communicated with via a tool such as Twitter.
 
This was never more true than when I decided to help organize Twestival in Santa Barbara, California. I had to stretch my capacity and ask for help through Twitter to help manage the event. It's been an amazing experience. We have received offers to help with promoting the event, A/V, and more.  I'm meeting some amazing and passionate people.
 
As we talk about workshifing and Twestival, we are reaching out to everyone to do the same....which is to talk about what we care about.  I've wondered if this is the right approach. Is "everyone" to inundated? Should our efforts be focused on those that care the most?  How do you define "care" if you only get a piece of them in 140 bites (or bytes..ha!)? 
 
What I've discovered is that workshifting is a culture. It's also a choice. I'd love to hear how others are workshifting and building a community of givers, not just followers.

Photo by: niallkennedy
 

Here in Orlando, I am very proud to sit on the Board at Rock For Hunger, a nonprofit that helps those in the homeless community get back on their feet. One of the programs that we have started to help with building community relations and build jobs is a street paper. This model has proven to be very successful and some of you may be familiar with StreetWsie in Chicago or the Homeless Voice in South Florida. Our version is called Talk For Hunger and has been a great way for homeless individuals to feel like they are a part of something that is really going to help their community.

So what does this have to do with workshifting?

While working on an issue in the spring I turned to one of the more sociable homeless, Jeff, and asked him if he wanted to contribute an article about the homeless and technology. After a few of our conversations it was evident that the homeless were just as tuned into technology as we were, just without the luxury of owning most of the tech toys. Jeff told me that any homeless person in Orlando that had ID and no outstanding balance could have a library card, which entitled them to time on the public computers. This time was spent doing many activities that we take for granted, from checking the news and weather to reconnecting with family members and friends via social networks. Some were even attempting to start their own business, find contract work or rebuild their lives via research, personal branding and financial education.

After learning of some cases of our local homeless using technology to either work, or find work, I started to think about some of the luxuries that we take for granted workshifting and how we can help local communities improve by advancing the technologies of the local homeless and poverty communities.

Donations

This is the easiest thing to do and starts in your own office. Instead of pawning off your 2-3 year old laptop on Craigslist for $50, bring it to a local homeless organization and see how that laptop can help get someone a job, start a business or be used by the organization.

Data Storage

We backup (or hopefully backup) all that we have on our computers to hard drives and in the cloud. For the homeless, they carry most of what they own in a backpack and papers are easily lost or stolen. Imagine having to retype your resume every time you needed a copy due to not having a way to save it. Think about thumb drives or education on cloud servers so the next time they need to reference a document, they can login and print, email or upload.

Mobile Phones and Smart Phones

Many homeless are very savvy with text messaging and using phones to get online to check bank accounts, social security status and sports scores. Most of the phones are pay as you go with very limited data plans. Anyone with ideas to improve this situation are greatly appreciated. I hope this was a good introduction to how the homeless community is using technology to workshift. In the future I hope to expand more and talk about how nonprofits are teaching and leveraging new rules of "workshifting" for the community they serve, their volunteers and how their organizations are run.

Photo by: mrtruffle

Does the ability to connect with work anywhere and anytime actually improve our work-life balance? That's the question Kelly Services posed in a recent international workplace survey of 100,000 people in 34 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The study concluded that:

• 75% of respondents appreciate the opportunity provided by technology to stay in constant contact with work.
  
  
• This is despite the fact that 35% say that technology contributes to longer working hours.
  
  
• 85% say the ability to work anywhere, and at any time, is a motivating force and a better balance between work and personal life.
  

I am not overly surprised with these results. As Workshifters, we are able to take advantage of many benefits - the most obvious of which is the luxury of being able to use our laptops and smartphones to work (for the most part) wherever we want.

But despite this - or perhaps because of this - employers expect us to be available at all times, possibly even more so than our office warrior counterparts. As a result, there are very few of us who are ever more than an arm's length away from our Blackberries or iPhones.

In spite of this constant connectivity, my first year of workshifting hasn't result in a skewed work/life balance. While I haven't necessarily worked more hours than I did when I worked in an office setting, I have undoubtedly worked harder and A LOT more efficiently than I have ever done so before. There's just something about cutting out all the water cooler gossip and office shenanigans that makes the items on your to-do list get crossed off a lot quicker.
 
So, as personal communications technologies continue to evolve, how will this impact our work/life balance in the future? In his book Elsewhere, USA, sociologist Dalton Conley predicts the rise of the "intravidual." Here's how he explains it:

"Changes in three areas - the economy, the family and technology - have combined to alter the social world and give birth to this new type of American professional. This new breed - the intravidual - has multiple selves competing for attention within his/her own mind, just as, externally, she or he is bombarded by multiple stimuli simultaneously..."

Sound familiar? As professionals, our lives are dictated by multiple data streams and screens - our laptop screen, our TV screen, our smart phone screen, etc. To maintain our work/life balance, it's up to us to make sure that our "real" world doesn't get left behind.
 
What do you think? How has the evolution of personal communications technologies impacted your work/life balance?

Photo by: EngineeringDaily.net

It's true: I do some of my best thinking on my bike. Or while swimming laps. Or sitting on a snowy chairlift during a powder day. And one of the great advantages of workshifting is, I can do all those things while I'm supposed to be working--because, while I'm doing them, I usually am working.

Here's the thing: Most of us don't spend enough time thinking at work, at least not about work. We spend plenty of time doing things, or asking others to do things. We spend plenty of time procrastinating, and thinking about other things (like what to have for lunch, or who to invite to our child's first birthday party). We certainly spend plenty of time talking, discussing, reviewing, brainstorming and otherwise "meeting." But we really don't spend much time at all just thinking. And that's a problem, because the only way any of us can come up with new, better ideas is to think about them.

But then again, the fact that we don't think nearly enough is not really surprising. After all, with the exception of highly-trained academics, who among us can really think while sitting in an office chair, staring at the wall? No--don't check your e-mail, don't tweet, don't post a status update to Facebook ("I'm trying to think!"), don't check your favorite web sites for news and information... just sit there and think. It's pretty much impossible.

On the other hand, there's not much to do but think when you're riding a bike for an hour, or swimming back and forth in a pool, or staring into deep, drifting snow banks from 15 feet up. And that's why I consider my time out of my office chair to be some of my most productive. I use it to analyze new research data, to formulate ideas for client presentations and PowerPoint slides, to evaluate where vendors and markets are and where they're going, and, yes, even to come up with ideas for blog posts.

Of course, there are downsides to thinking on the go. For one thing, there's no guarantee that the ideas that pop into your head will be work related. For that, you need to focus on business--I've gotten pretty good at it, and I liken it to yoga, where you try to clear your mind of everything but your mantra. In this case, you're clearing your mind of everything but the business topic at hand. Also, there's usually no way to write down your ideas, so you have to get good at remembering them on the fly. That, too, takes discipline and practice, but the skill is one I've found useful in many other areas of my life, so I'm happy to hone it.

The great thing about work shifting is, most of us can sneak out of the "office" for an hour of uninterrupted thought. But don't feel guilty about it--you're probably being more productive than your cubicle-bound colleagues. And, you're getting some exercise, to boot!

Where do you do some of your best thinking?

Photo by: mtsofan

This is a guest post from Mark Hayward.  Mark is a former Peace Corps volunteer and he hates the cold! But he loves living in the Caribbean, being a small business owner, and trying to help other small business owners understand social media. You can follow him on Twitter @mark_hayward.

Are you thinking about packing up and workshifting from an overseas location? Do you long to have your office on the beach in the Caribbean or perhaps on a hillside in the Swiss Alps?

With a business in the Caribbean and having spent a good portion of the past fifteen years working internationally in places like Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tortola, I wholeheartedly support the pursuit of the international workshifting dream. However, if you have not lived internationally or worked from overseas before, I thought that I would provide you with some details that you might want to think about.

1. Are you ready for challenges that come with living in a foreign country?

Living some place is much different than just visiting for a week on a yearly vacation. This might sound like common sense, but during my time overseas I've seen many folks pack up all of their personal belongings and move 5000 miles away from home only to arrive at a destination and realize a week later that they can't stand living there. If you can afford to do so, a pre-move visit is always encouraged and could help you to avoid a potentially costly mistake.

2. Moving is stressful.

Relocating to another city within your own country is difficult enough. In fact, stress wise, moving typically ranks as one of the most difficult life changes an individual can make. When you decide to workshift internationally and move overseas you can multiply the stress factor on a scale of magnitudes. Part of the allure of living overseas can be the challenges that one might expect to face. However, you need to really consider if you are ready for the language difficulties, cultural barriers, and bureaucratic red tape that can that can be associated with an overseas move.

3. Are you ready to be away from family and friends (support network)?

Yes tools like SKYPE, Google Talk, and even Twitter make it easy to keep in touch on an almost daily basis. But, homesickness and being away from family and friends around holidays and special occasions, and during serious illness, can quickly tarnish beachside living or skiing every morning. Before packing your bags check to see if there is an existing expat or workshifting community to help act as your surrogate support network.

4. What are the immigration policies at your desired destination?

Many countries require you to show proof of an onward ticket before they will even allow you to enter. You need to find out:

• How long can you legally reside in the country you wish to workshift from? (Is it thirty days, three months or one year?)

• If you need to renew your immigration status is it as easy as crossing the border for twenty-four hours and coming back in again? Or, do you have to go back to your home of record?

• Are there any passport stamp fees associated with an extended stay?

I have a good friend who overstayed his visa in one of the countries where I was working and he wound up spending eight months in the local prison. (Hint: Watch the movie Midnight Express to get an idea of what you might be in for if you decide to overstay your welcome.)

5. Can you legally run a business or work online at your chosen destination?

Will you be required to get a work permit? Even if you are running an Internet based business, some countries do not want you working within their borders. Other countries will make you fully disclose the type of work you'll be doing or the business you will be running and may require you to get a special work visa.

6. What will your tax status be?

Although you might not be working for a local company, you should check with the country's treasury department to determine if you have to pay local taxes. Additionally, if you are a United States resident living outside of the states you will need to determine if you qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

7. Will you have access to medical coverage and medical care?

Nobody likes to think about a serious medical condition arising. If you're heading overseas and currently have insurance you will need to find out if the hospitals and clinics in your new country of choice accept your policy. In the event that they don't, try to find out if you can you get an international travel add-on from your existing insurer or purchase supplemental expat insurance.

Once you feel secure with your insurance situation, you might want to find out what medical care is care like at the destination you are heading to. Consider the following, do you have a particular medical condition that requires special treatment or medicine? Can you get the help you need at your new location? Additionally, discern if there are any serious health concerns such as malaria or typhoid and look into proper prophylaxis and immunizations.

8. How is the cost of living?

In your home city you might be so familiar with the prices for everyday goods that you don't necessarily pay attention to the standard living costs. For your new location you may wish to research what can you expect to pay for every day essentials like rent, bread and eggs, a car, gas, and beer. Moreover, you might be accustomed to very low prices for water and electric utilities. Other costs to consider would be the price for mailing and shipping items and accessibility (and cost) of goods such as laptop batteries cell phone cables, etc.

9. Can you legally purchase property?

This question is for the hardcore, expat workshifter, but if you are going to be in a country for any length of time it certainly is one worth considering for living or investment purposes.

Although, it is important to remember three things:

• Property ownership does not necessarily make you a resident.

• In some cases countries will restrict the purchase of property by foreigners.

• Always do your due diligence to check for clear title and hire local legal counsel.

For example, in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) the government requires that you apply for what's called a, "Non-Belonger Landholding License." The whole process can take well over a year and even if you are successful at obtaining the license you are not allowed to reside there while waiting for it. Once you do have it, you are only allowed to live in the BVI for six months out of the year. If purchasing a home or property is part of your overseas workshifting dream, then check the real estate laws carefully.

10. Everything else!

If you made it passed all of the items above then you can actually begin to think about your in-country workshifting needs such as, power supply, office space, and Internet access.

Final thought, do your research and you'll make out just fine!

If you have additional tips for workshifting internationally, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. 

Sales at John Lewis are up 5.6% and organisers of the Edinburgh Festival are expecting a record summer. What's the cause of it? The staycation trend that's seeing more of us holiday at home. Will it last and how will home businesses benefit?

The beneficiaries

In an article reporting on sizzling sales at the Edinburgh Festival and local hotels, Colin Paton of the Edinburgh Hotels Association made the comment "Scotland and Edinburgh have done very well out of staycationing."

It's a message that's coming from other parts of the UK and not just from hotels and B&Bs. There are a number of natural sales happening on account of more British holidaymakers ... such as wind breaks made by Diana Robbins in her home based business, Dart Designs Claire Martinsen must also be smiling. She gave up a 3 hour daily commute to London to realise her dreams and start Breckland Orchard, a company offering traditional soft drinks such as lemonade made to a Grandma's recipe. Her business deserves to do well in this holidaying climate. The same is true for many local food producers whose wares will be sold on busy Farmers Markets as tourists flock to the coast and quaint market towns.

Others benefiting are businesses in the home interiors market as consumers spend on the house, rather than a pricey holiday. Neil Saunders, Director at retail research outfit, Verdict, says:

"If you are not holidaying you probably have a little bit more disposable cash to spend on home improvement or home decoration. And if you're not holidaying you've got a little but more time to do home related activities."

So far, all looks bright. But some customers are miffed. Not by the products and services on offer; more on what's happening with the weather.

Dampened spirits

In a recent article in The Sunday Times entitled 'Chuck another weatherman on the barbie' Roland White reported on a comment overheard in his local grocery store from tourist customer to shop-keeper: "We normally go to Greece every year but thought I'd have a holiday at home this time. I shan't be making that mistake again." Oh dear. Does this mean the staycation trend is a one year wonder and only the glimpse of a bright spot for sellers?

Your views

This is what we'll be trying to find out in a poll asking if you're benefiting from the staycation trend and, if so, how you plan to maintain new-found custom. Please offer your views (the poll only takes 3-4 minutes) and I'll let you know how businesses plan to keep levels of customer service high to keep new trade coming back!  

Please click here to complete the poll: http://bit.ly/staycationsurvey

Photo by: syrenmuse

It's a little windy.  I can hear the crunch of leaves under my feet.  Answering an important email from my favorite client.  Spotted pigeons pecking at the remains of my emphatically mediocre blueberry scone.  Preparing for a Skype call with one of my staff in three minutes.  Feels like it might rain later today.  Carefully putting the finishing touches on the third revision of a proposal.  Crazy ass dog looking at my netbook in an unsavory fashion.  I am on a wooden park bench.  I am also in my office.

We are workshifters.  We work in coffee shops, airports, restaurants, hotel rooms, airplanes, parks, lobbies, internet cafes, trains, long car rides and wherever else we find the acute desire to crack open our laptops.

Those that have office-saturated lives have no idea how we are able to remain productive and maintain our work Ch'i in the midst of our very un-office like workspaces.

In my video below, I talk about three essentials that help me stay in the groove while workshifting whether it's at my indigenous coffee shops in the East Village or on the steps of the National Gallery in London.

What are some thing YOU do to keep your workshifting Ch'i intact?

Photo by: Roberto Marquino

I was in the London underground yesterday returning from a wonderful planning meeting at Trafalgar Square.  I love the London underground because it has clean, cushy seats that face each other.  In New York City, we have hard fiberglass seats, maybe that's what Frank Sanatra was talking about...Anyways, so I'm in the "tube" as they call it here.  And across from me, there's this kid with his dad.  Generally, I like kids, but it's not like I'm one of those aberrant gawkers that are so enamored by the site of these little people that keep waving and smiling until the kid gets most understandably creeped out and starts crying.  

But this kid.  There was something about this kid that resonated with me.  He started getting rowdy in the tube, which in NYC is one thing, but in London, which is a bit more reserved, such an "episode" would be that much more conspicuous.  Before the kid precipitated into an unmitigated "baby freak out", his dad, perspicacious sage that he is, ripped open his backpack, dove in, and within half a second retrieved the one instrument that could delay the bewailing that seemed so imminent...the coloring book.  The day is won!  Indeed, that was enough to stave off a spectacle in that subway car.  The kid gets to it.  Like Jordan in Madison Square, you can tell this kid just owns it.  This coloring book is his domain.  He is happy.  He is exploding with creativity.  Probably the reason why his dad didn't grab the Thomas the Train action figure (which would've been my choice).

So the kid is in his element.  He quickly flashes some of his art for the whole train to see.  The decrepit old dude sitting to his left, wearing a hideous mauve stitched jacket, did not seem to acknowledge his genius.  But I was a bit taken.  I knew there was something about this kid.  Nothing, not one page, was colored in the lines.  It's as if each of these pages was a blank canvas to the boy.  He didn't see laughing ducks.  And smiling bears.  And stupid kids playing hop scotch.  He unapologetically let his Excalibur-like blue crayon take him where his imagination, his creativity deemed most worthy, without regard to the presupposed, pre-populated enclaves of some dictatorial Coloring book Publisher.

That wasn't it, though.  The most indelible moment was yet to come.  Then his dad looked down at his book.  Realizing what a "mess" he was making, and maybe thinking that his kids' motor skills needed significant polishing, dad puts kid on his lap.  He then gently places his hand over his son's hand and starts guiding his crayon over the shell of a grinning turtle.  Within two seconds of this Kodak moment, the kid cocks his hand back and punches his dad right in the nose...Twice!!!  As if to say, "Hey dumbass, you think I don't see that freaking turtle with his grin!?!  I'm doing it my own damn way because I am more creative then some coloring book Editor that probably gave up his art a long time ago in exchange for a paycheck, a free pot of coffee every morning, and a cubicle!!!"  

There was no way in hell that anyone was going to tell this kid that in order to be "successful" he needed to color in the lines.

I've been doing a ton of thinking lately about why it is that we workshift.  Whether you work for yourself or an employer, of course, there are the pragmatic benefits.  The savings in overhead, the time freedom, the opportunity cost of the commute.  Maybe for you, these and other practical considerations are the only reasons and that's fine.  But I can't help but think there is a modicum of poetry in the liberty we have acquired.  A sense of pride swelling when we can join a community like Workshifting.  When we can say that we have usurped the circumscript confines of the Corporate World.

Many people don't realize this, but when Michelangelo was chosen to paint the Sistine Chapel, he had never actually painted a fresco before.  He was a sculptor not a painter.  Against his will, he was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling of the chapel.  Pope Julius II was called the "warrior pope" and he was as nefarious and autocratic as they come.  The arguments between him and Michelangelo are legendary.  It's said that from time to time, the pope would come to inspect Michelangelo's work, which Michelangelo abhorred, which is why he kept them covered.  One day, the pope became so irate that Michelangelo wouldn't follow his instruction or submit to his vision, that he cracked Michelangelo across the face with his scepter, shattering his jaw, and forever disfiguring him.  The pope had a definitive concept of what he wanted on that ceiling, and in spite of being the most feared man in the Western world, not one of his original, incredibly conventional ideas were included.  As Michelangelo put it, he would "do as (he) liked".  

No one was going to tell Michelangelo that in order to create a masterpiece he had to color in the lines.

Why do we workshift?

Because we are infinitely creative. passionate. inspired. unique.  And there is no way in hell that we will be relegated to a demarcated Sea of Cubicles for the rest of our lives.

Because no C-level magistrate is going tell us that in order to be heard, to succeed, to create masterpieces we have to adhere to the axioms of an archaic, life draining work environment.

Because no Six Sigma debutante is going to tell us that we need to acquiesce to Corporate platitudes just because everyone else is willing to absorb them.

Because nobody is going to tell us that we have to color in the lines.

So, that leads me to wonder...why do you workshift?

Photo by: Melissa Leon

After seeing so many businesses balking at having a workshifting friendly environment (and it's no wonder, since they run the risk of getting "that guy" as a customer), I thought I'd write a few simple guidelines for the business that wants to open its doors to this new mobile working world.

Have a professional set up your WiFi

It costs a little more upfront to contact the cable, FIOS or DSL company in your area and have them set your WiFi system up correctly, but it is worth it in prevention. When you tell a workshifter you have WiFi, they expect it to work. Your poor employees will be fielding tech questions all day if it slows down, or worse, goes down altogether from poor set up.

Can you offer WiFi without a professional set up? Sure! Anyone can buy a wireless router and offer WiFi if you already have high-speed internet in your establishment somewhere. What happens on a WiFi network in a business that is set up like a home office, though, is an increased chance of instability. If you can afford to go the pro route, I would. Going the pro route also lets you get some help setting up a guest login for your patrons that is different than your owner log in, for your protection.

Train your staff

Your staff are going to get questions about how to use the network. They don't have to be computer geniuses, but at least put the basic information they will need to know close at hand for them. This would include the answers to common questions like "Do I need a password or login to use your WiFi?", "Which network is yours?", etc. I assure you, a handful of people will still ask your staff these questions even if they are posted clearly. People are funny that way.

Have workshifting guidelines and post them clearly

Write out a list of rules for people using the WiFi for work, homework or play. Post them clearly in a number of different places.

Sample guidelines:

RESTAURANT X NOW HAS WIFI!

RULES FOR USE:
• To log in to our network (network X), please use Guest as the user name and Password as the password
• The tables with the green cards on them have outlets or power strips nearby
• No camping! We ask that you observe a 2 hour WiFi limit so that other patrons can come in to eat and to use the WiFi also (If you need to stay longer, just ask the manager on duty)
• Sharing is caring: please share larger tables with other workshifters. It is a great way to make a friend and maximize our space for others.
• Use your indoor voice. We know that your calls are important to your business, but many of our patrons are here to dine and relax, not to work. Help us give everyone a great experience here.
• If you experience technical problems with the network, please don't ask our wait staff or counter staff. Our tech support number is xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Make sure you have a few tables near outlets

Workshifters always need more power. Laptops and cell phones are always running out of juice. The more outlets you give us, the more we'll come back to your establishment.  

Consider signage

By this I mean, consider making it clear that a larger table by an outlet is a communal table by putting up a simple sign that says something like "this table is intended for communal workshifting use" or "please share this table with a stranger so everyone can plug in". Marking where the outlets are is also helpful.

Let us know you have WiFi

I can't tell you how many places I would go into in my travels if they had a simple sign out front that said "We Have WiFi". I'm always looking for it, and there is no great database yet to tell us who has it and where. There are a few online sites that list a handful of places, but the lists are incomplete. That also doesn't help when I get a call in the car that requires I hop on WiFi for a few minutes to respond. If you have a sign, I'm going to come in and buy something and sit for a while when that happens. If you don't I'll have to keep driving to somewhere that advertises their WiFi, like a Panera Bread or a Starbucks.

With a little planning and some clear guidelines, you should be able to reap the benefits of happy workshifters filling your establishment. We're out there, ready and waiting for more places to get WiFi.

Photo by: hive

With workshifting on the rise how do you get in front of this "anywhere, any time consumer"? And more importantly, how do we get in front of them with a more personal and conversational media?  This is a dilemma that many companies are currently dealing with.  One short answer that has proven wildly successful for us at Citrix is that we do Webinars.

Brain Carroll, author of the B2B Lead Generation Blog, talks about putting the "human touch" back into marketing and lead generation. What tends to happen when we put all our marketing resources into online marketing is that we pay for the cheapest leads. If we only look at the quantity of leads we often forget about the human connection that creates more quality leads.

Webinars give enormous geographic reach with high touch interactions. That's what makes them unique.

When I asked the audience in a recent Webinar we did regarding SMB Marketing about how many Webinars they planned for the remainder of the year we got the following result...

How many Webinars are you planning to hold the rest of this year?

Of the 300 people who responded to this Webinar poll, the top percentage of people aren't doing any Webinars. What's more interesting though is the second highest percentage are doing is 11 or more Webinars. Nearly 1 in 5 online marketers are holding 11 or more Webinars in the remainder of 2009. MarketingProfs publishes a great annual report on B2B Marketing Trends that confirms this information by saying the 47% of B2B marketers consider Webinars in 2009 more prominent in their marketing mix than 2008.

As the economy and workforce trends make it harder to get in front of our prospects and customers in a meaningful way, more marketers are leveraging Webinars to reach those workshifters.
 
Have you had success reaching workshifters with Webinars? And if you're part of the 1 in 3 marketers who is not doing Webinars, what's holding you back?

There is something about working away from a typical office setting that says pajamas, sweatpants and free t-shirts (why are they so comforting?). For some, getting away from the 3-piece, the tie, the uncomfortable shoes and tucked in culture is a driving force to take the leap into working from home, the airport, the beach or wherever your work-life takes you.

For me, I'm young, into music and pop culture and like to carry a certain style, even at 8am in the coffee shop. Getting into this feeling of comfort allows me to focus less on shifting and more on working (swear the pun was unintentional). My work outside the office wardrobe consists of a nice pair of jeans, some Nike Skateboard Sneakers, a printed tee and a fitted cap. Paint that stereotype.

This type of dress allows me to work in my element, or my zone per say. It may not be your cup of tea, but finding a way to get dressed and motivated can increase productivity and instill a mindset that is geared for working.

Here are 5 Things About My Attire and My Daily Grind

1. Conversation starters.

When I am public wearing a graphic tee that has some sort of meaning, or invokes someone into curiosity, it has the ability to opens communication and starts a conversation with someone. I regularly wear Rock For Hunger shirts, a nonprofit that I work for, and it always creates conversation, from someone locally saying they volunteered, or wanted to volunteer, to strangers far away who want to get involved and make donations. I also know that I can learn a lot from other people and their situations and getting them to open up is the key!

2. Nike's mean I can walk in comfort and style.

My shoes of choice are Nike's and I love their SB Brand (skateboard). The shoes are durable, comfy and look great with either jeans or slacks - yes I am that Gen-Y, rocking sneakers with suit pants. Having comfy shoes makes walking in big cites enjoyable and also gives me the freedom to walk more - something that assists in keeping myself healthy. Imagine loving to walk 20 blocks mid day instead of taking a cab. This gives you a nice little heart rate bump and saved $10 so you can buy another tee to start a new chat.

3. Gear Bags.

My bags and my gear are a huge part of how I work and how I GTD. I have started a nice little collection including the over the shoulder laptop case, the big backpack and the little Kiva foldup bag. Being comfortable lugging around your electronics and having easy access to things like power cords, cameras, pens and business cards sure makes my life easier. I'd love to know your favorite bags and Lea from LocationIndependent.com goes over some top choices for LIP's.

4. Self-Reflection.

One of the best parts about my "work" attire is that I can look at my life and know that I have created my own "corporate" culture and acknowledge where I am at in this portion of my life. Style changes over time and really from day-to-day, but my values and having that opportunity to be who I am, is something really powerful in my daily grind.

5. Customization.

Just because I love wearing tees and jeans, doesn't mean that I get to wear them everyday. Client meetings, video shoots and conferences have their moments to wear that tie and jacket. Customization can also include mash-ups from jeans and a blazer to flip-flops with button downs. Having that customized freedom opens your mindset from going into your closet every morning and grabbing the same khakis and shirt that make your life feel so routine.

How does your style affect your performance?

For those of you still working in office settings, or those that split time to those that are 100% independent, how does your dress impact your performance? Can you accomplish and innovate in PJ's the way you could in a suit? Does your personality and passion explode when you are free to express yourself?

For me, waking up in the morning and getting ready for the day is something that helps shape my entire mindset. From my attitude to my motivation and production to how I talk, write and perform.

Photos by: Cool People Care, skateonrails, double-h, B_Tal, & twentysixcats

Take a look around your office, assuming you're not workshifting of course.  Now, take a quick poll and ask people how long they've worked there.  If you were to ask my team, the average is almost 5 years (that surprised me too!).  I have been at Citrix Online for almost 6 years, and that's not uncommon.  Why?  When you work to develop a great culture, hire like minded people, and give them the freedom and trust to work from anywhere...they never want to leave.  Simple, huh.
 
I have team members that work in London, Orange County, Hawaii and San Francisco.  I have no idea what their real hours are and I don't worry about it.  They know what is expected and the rest is up to them.  They are measured based on their performance and engagement with their peers.  We do show and tell with GoToMeeting, and see each other using Skype.  We have iPhones, Blackberrys and every other imaginable gadget.  We follow each other on Facebook and Twitter.  We IM and DM.  In my opinion, DM is becoming the new email, for better or for worse, but that's a post for another day.  These tools are not limited to full-time remote workers.  Most people I work with use them in a similar fashion. 

It's interesting to talk about the tools but what is the real value?  It's about quality of life.  A major factor in peoples desire to stay with us is the ability to workshift.  Many times it's not as black and white as working from home or being in the office.  Most of the time it's connecting to the office computer at 6am and than freeing up an hour to take the kids to school.  It's having a meeting online from your (insert any location) and than taking a half hour to catch up on reading, or going for a run.  Let's be honest, life happens between 9 and 5.  You can't turn it off and it can't be ignored.

So, as a manager, what are the proper ingredients for a successful workshifting culture?
 
1.Embrace the 24 hour day  
2.Recognize that everyones workshifting needs are slightly different  
3.Give them the tools  
4.Trust
 
Do these few things as well as a couple other simple steps and you can start enjoying the shift to a better life-work balance.

Photo by: tswicegood

I need a brochure website - where do I go?

Having asked a question in the Enterprise Nation forum on the best package to create a brochure website, Steven and Zoe from Cosy Cottage received a mixed response. Some suggested off the shelf packages - others warned against - and advised the business couple to turn to professional designers.  Today I wanted to look at the pros and cons as well as offers links to the packages that were suggested in the responses.  

Kick-start question

This was the question that started a chain of responses:

"We are currently setting up our home business and sourcing products to sell via a website. We will be selling home accessories, gifts and seasonal products.

We have had some quotes for websites of which are out of our price range, we want the website to act as a brochure for our products then to sell using PayPal or something similar.
Does anybody know of or has used a product we can buy to create our own website to get a professional finish.

Many Thanks,
Steven and Zoe"

In response

The responses started well. Mike from Mike's Computers was the first on hand to help and did so by suggesting that Steven and Zoe check out osCommerce.

So far, so good.

Friend of the forum, Emily Coltman was next to step in but with a warning. 'Beware of template websites' she wrote 'they have a nasty habit of looking like they came out of a box and can spoil the individuality of your business.'

Point well made.

At this point, Steven and Zoe may have started to wonder which way to turn. So let's try to offer some clarity.

Box-set versus Pro-designer

In the 20 odd responses to Steven and Zoe's original question, it was about 50/50 in terms of who suggested a package versus professional designer. The main points were:

Buying a website package means having to build the site yourself. This can take technical know-how and pressure to keep up to date with changing technologies so your site stays up to date.

Turning to a professional designer will cost you more but think about the time saved and the fact you're outsourcing what could be a key element of your business to an expert.
Package options

What also became clear is there are a number of packages on the market. If you do decide on the DIY route, here are the ones mentioned:

osCommerce - an Open Source online shop e-commerce solution that allows store owners to setup, run, and maintain online stores with minimum effort and no costs or fees.  (Recommended by Mike Sheppard)

Wordpress with an ecommerce plugin - comes complete with a tutorial on YouTube on how to set up your store in less than 5 minutes.  (Recommended by Edward Robson)



Cube Cart - e-commerce shopping cart used by >1 million store owners.  (Recommended by Sarah Barnard)

UK2.net  - uses wizards to set up your site and 'for a starter website, it's been pretty good'
(Recommended by Lol Lowe)

Shopify.com - a hosted system (you don't need your own hosting for the website although you will for email) that can link in a number of payment options (PayPal etc.) and the admin section of the site allows you to easily manage all your orders.

Trading Eye - a highly featured e-commerce package which costs in the region of £350 + VAT (a one off cost) which comes with a simple template design.

(Both recommended by Andrew Armitage) 

So, there you have it! Plenty of e-commerce packages on the market. My only question now is which one will Steve and Zoe choose? I'll ask them and cover it in a future post! :)

Photo by: Huasonic

As part of a larger report on workplace trends developed by Citrix Online titled "Worldwide Workplace: The Web Commuting Imperative", today we're launching a whitepaper on simple steps that businesses can take to get started in workshifting some or all of their employees.

To get up and running with workshifting, here are five simple steps that businesses can take:

1. Determine the specific needs of your organization
2. Go online to identify best practices for managing a virtual workplace.
3. Evaluate core technologies best suited to enabling employees to remain productive.
4. Set policies and guidelines for managing your virtual workplace.
5. Set benchmarks and measure effectiveness.

For suggestions and details on how to execute each of these steps, download the whitepaper now: Five Steps to a Virtual Workplace Program

After reading through the whitepaper, are there other steps that you would take to convince your business to start a workshifting program?

Photo by: e.t