By the time I was 6 months old, I'd traveled by train, plane, ship, and automobile. A few years later, my brother and I each had a "toy bag" for travel into which we could put any combination of books and toys. The only caveat: we had to be able to haul, drag, or carry the bag ourselves on car trips and through airports. So we constantly shoved items in and pulled items back out, experimenting between must have and too heavy. Is it any wonder, then, that by college I shunned library carrels and did all my studying ensconced in a big chair in the very open lobby of the law school?

While I was born into workshifting, sometimes it's a learned behavior. I have a friend who works for a large multinational corporation. Even after many of her colleagues gave up their offices, she thought it was important to go into hers. When, occasionally, she worked from home, she was restless, unproductive, and wondering whether she'd made the right choice.

That was so last year. Now she's working out of coffee shops, running loads of laundry while on conference calls, and scheduling her day so that she can squeeze in a workout with her coach. In other words, she's blossomed into a true workshifter.

What about you? Is workshifting nature or nurture?


Photo Credit: ikeX