When I was younger, my family moved around a lot. By the time I was 16, we had lived in 10 
different cities around Germany and England. This meant new schools, new friends, new houses, new customs - you get the idea.
For me, what made these transitions easier were the things that remained constant. My family, was one. But there were also the less obvious elements - our furniture, for example, or our artwork. My parents have these two paintings of an Alpine landscape that they always hung over our washer and dryer. There was something about seeing those paintings in the laundry room that made any place feel like home.
I look at workshifting in much of the same way. Setting up shop in a different location every day or every week is akin to moving. Your environment is completely different, yet you have to adapt or you won't continue to function. In my opinion, it's the constants in our workshifting lives that let us do that.
What are your constants? Here are a few of the things that help me remain productive despite a location change:
Photo by: dustin
different cities around Germany and England. This meant new schools, new friends, new houses, new customs - you get the idea.For me, what made these transitions easier were the things that remained constant. My family, was one. But there were also the less obvious elements - our furniture, for example, or our artwork. My parents have these two paintings of an Alpine landscape that they always hung over our washer and dryer. There was something about seeing those paintings in the laundry room that made any place feel like home.
I look at workshifting in much of the same way. Setting up shop in a different location every day or every week is akin to moving. Your environment is completely different, yet you have to adapt or you won't continue to function. In my opinion, it's the constants in our workshifting lives that let us do that.
What are your constants? Here are a few of the things that help me remain productive despite a location change:
- My routine in the morning. We all have a certain routine that gets us into the work mindset when we turn on our laptops every morning. Whatever it is for you, chances are those habits stay the same regardless of where you're working that day. I usually start my day with a quick look at my emails to determine if there are any immediate fires that need to be put out. Next, I head over to Twitter and Facebook to catch up, and after that I log on to my Netvibes account to spend some time reading blog posts and news sites.
- To-do lists. Despite all the online tools available these days, I still operate best with a handwritten to-do list. I take the list with me wherever I go, which helps me determine what projects need the most attention.
- A clean inbox. I'll admit that I'm slightly obsessed with keeping my inbox organized. I only keep the emails that require follow up from me in my inbox, and move everything else into folders or delete it. This helps me stay focused when I'm on the road.
- A clutter-free Blackberry. I take a similar approach to emails on my Blackberry. Every morning I delete all emails from the previous day. For me, this makes emails easier to manage from the road.
- Time entry. Since I work in an agency setting, I wrap up my day by entering my time into our tracking software and updating my to-do list. This gives me a sense of accomplishment for the work done throughout the day.
Photo by: dustin
