Workshifting, by its nature, is an oddity. Few things can be expected or depended upon. The veteran workshifters in the audience know what I mean. Just because you work from home, or from a coffee shop, or from a boat in the Mediterranean, it doesn't mean you're in control.

I've been workshifting since long before I'd ever even heard the phrase. Over the years, only one thing has remained constant; the need for flexibility. There are distractions, interruptions, things breaking, other things that need fixing, dogs barking, kids whining, repairmen knocking...you get the idea. The only way to successfully manage the potential workshifting chaos is to plan for unforeseen situations.

Naturally, the very concept of something that's unforeseen is that you don't see it coming, so planning for it feels a little absurd. You don't need to try to plan for every hypothetical situation, just a few of the more likely ones.

In my world, likely situations are things like broken Internet, my dog barking in the middle of a meeting or phone call, accidentally meeting an acquaintance at the coffee shop (and the ensuing long conversation), or maybe even a hardware issue that our remote IT department can't fix immediately.

Contingency plans for different situations can take any form. Maybe it's another location where you can get a reliable Internet connection until your home Internet is fixed or a specific "script" you tell your acquaintance to keep the conversation short. My own contingency plans involve two secondary options, just in case one doesn't work.

• Broken Internet: (1) Sippers Coffee or (2) a local business with an open cubicle with whom I've built a good relationship. (Option 3 is McDonald's.)
• Surprised by acquaintance: (1) Tell them I'll see them on Facebook or (2) step away to the restroom for a moment. (Neither is dishonest, just strategic.)
• Hardware issue: (1) Have a second Macbook ready to roll or (2) use my wife's computer. (It helps to use mostly web applications so there's less to replace.)

I've found that the best contingency plans are simple and quickly executable. What do you do?


Photo Credit: Hybernaut