Like many people, I spend a lot of time traveling.  And, I don't mind it but I'm always looking for things or ways to make traveling a bit more like home.  It's amazing how one or two little conveniences can relieve insecurities when you're in an unfamiliar place, new hotel surroundings, etc.

Interestingly enough, the topic came up at a recent conference.  What do you travel with that makes life a little more bearable so you can focus on the task at hand...which is work?  Here's what we came up with:

1.    Outlet - Maybe it's just the hotels I frequent, but they never seem to have enough outlets or they have them in the wrong places.  That's why I carry a 3 plug extension that also has 2 USB outlets.  It's small and I don't have to worry about cords all over my hotel room.  I can get work done and charge my gadgets at the same time.

2.    Book Reader - After listening to my friends rave about their electronic readers, I'm gonna have to break down and get one of these.  And now, there are many different kinds to choose from.  Besides the obvious advantage of not taking up a lot of space, there were a couple other benefits that intrigued me.  One was always having the latest and greatest sellers available; you can also pre-order books and have them delivered right to your reader.  But the biggest for me was the reader will stand up on a table.  I often travel alone and eat meals by myself...so being able to have something to read is important.  Having a reader stand up on a table is a great solution.

3.    Coffee (or tea) - There's nothing worse than waking up to terrible hotel coffee or tea.  In tiny cups.  So if you're like me and need that morning caffeine - even before I venture out to find a Starbucks - bring a couple of small disposable condiments with you.  For example, I'm a big fan of vanilla - and I've found vanilla instant coffee, vanilla creamer and even vanilla flavored sweetener.  Friends have done the same with their hazelnut fix.  And, I bring a travel size coffee mug.  I can use it for water on the plane then coffee in my room.

4.    Exercise - I'm not as good with this one as I should be but I do try to get in some exercise when I'm on the road.  And because sneakers can be bulky and hotel gyms can be expensive, I bring resistance bands.  They really work, take up virtually no space and I can exercise in my room.

5.    White Noise - Getting a good night's sleep is essential.  Otherwise you'll need to pack a lot of coffee (see #3).  One of the things that helps me sleep is having noise, similar to house noise, in my room.  I have apps on my iPhone that create white noise (or other sounds) to help me sleep.  If you don't have an iPhone, there are travel alarms that include a white noise feature.


Whether you're gone for one night or a week, being comfortable when you travel allows you to be productive and do your best work.  What comforts of home do you bring with you when traveling?

Photo Credit: ThinkPanama

Ratings and reviews have become a large part of what influences my decisions on where I eat, sleep and drink while traveling.  I constantly find myself checking tips on Foursquare and reviews on Yelp to help me decide where I want to spend my time and money.  These reviews and ratings are valuable because I know they are user generated and I can trust the opinion of normal people like myself, for the most part.  

Now imagine if we applied these ratings and reviews to workshifting.  I go to Starbucks in Stratford upon Avon looking to get some work done.  I get my coffee, sit down and realize they have free wifi, plugs at nearly every table against the wall and its pretty quite (except at 3:30pm when all the kids get out of school).  So I get out my Nexus One, check in on foursquare and write a tip about the great atmosphere, free wifi and outlets and I tag this tip with our cute hashtag #workshifting.  Or I am at my coffee shop in NYC and I write a tip that the Bean has free wifi however they have only three outlets and I use the #workshifting hashtag.  Next time you are in the East Village looking for a place to workshift you probably won't go to the Bean if you need to plug in.  Now we have the ability to make our #workshifting hashtag valuable.

What are your thoughts?

Photo Credit: Melissa Leon

In the last week I have taken two flights, rode in a bus and on a train.  While on these three modes of transportation I evaluated what type of work could I get done.  How productive could I really be while in transit from one place to another.  I usually sleep on a flight or in a train ride, but recently I have tried to make that time productive.  

I have not been lucky enough to be on a flight with internet as of yet.  So my productivity is limited to what I can sync offline and finish while in the air.  I used my time on a flight from London to Barcelona to answer emails and work on blogs posts.  Once we landed I connected to the internet and synced my emails and sent out my blog posts.  This was a pretty good use of the three hour flight to Barcelona, considering I would usually have slept that whole flight.

On the train I had my broadband card so I was able to access the internet to work on a client proposal and record a screencast for an application.  The train was nice because the seats were spacious and if you get on the train a bit early you can get a seat with table.  The hardest place for me to work was on the bus.  The bus was really cramped and extremely difficult to work on.  The space was too small to try to work on my laptop and the ride was bumpy making it really hard for me to read because I get motion sick.  So I used the rest of the bus ride to catch up on some sleep.  So at the end of it I got some sleep but realized that I can be pretty productive on a train or plane.  

What do you do while in transit to stay productive?  What type of work do you do on planes, trains and buses?

One of the most fundamental elements of planning any trip is where to stay.  At the moment, I am on a very long trip that, in the end, will span 3 continents and several countries.  Locating and booking affordable accommodations that provide what is important to me can become a pain sometimes.  For the past year, I have leveraged the collective wisdom of both Yelp and Foursquare to assist in these searches.  Below is a quick video post identifying the items I look for in accommodations while on workshifting trip.
 

What are the things you look for when searching for a place to stay?
 

I was asked recently by a good friend on mine what was in my bag.  It was part of a blog post she wrote, What's in Yo' Bag, and I have decided to respond in a video.  My bag consists of many things to keep me inspired, connected and able to be on the go.



What's in your workshifting gear bag?  Empty out your workshifiting bag, take a picture, upload it to Flickr, tag it "workshifting" and link it up in the comments below.  We'll gather all of the photos and blog posts together for a future post.

This was originally posted over on [justinrlevy.com] but I thought that it would be helpful to you as well. This gear bag isn't just applicable for CES. A light, mobile gear bag can be a great option for any long day such as a conference, walking through the city, or any other time where you'll be on your feet for a long time but need to get work done.

So, I'm here in Las Vegas gearing up for the start of CES 2010. Since this is my 2nd year attending CES, I wanted to share with you some advice as well as what I'll be carrying in my gear bag to help keep me connected without creating unnecessary weight.

If you can't view this video, check it out over on my YouTube channel.



Did I leave anything out? What are some of your tips for surviving CES?

Ah the holidays. Time for family, for food and giving and a few days off to relax, unwind and send people to your out-of-office auto replies. It's also a time when many people travel and have to adjust to a changing schedule for workshifting, fitness and eating.

My Christmas weekend was no different. Over in Daytona with my wife's family we enjoyed an amazing Florida holiday weekend filled with fun, family and food. Over the last two months I have been working hard to work out, fighting to get back into shape (that seems to have escaped me after those high school baseball days) so that I can stay healthy working long days on a laptop. With a new sleep pattern, a full house and some rain, it made working out a little more difficult. Luckily I had a built in personal trainer on site.

My brother in law, Barry Heyden, is the former strength coach for the NY Mets and came well prepared to keep me on my holiday schedule. During the 4 days I had the opportunity to learn to use things that are available and also time allotments to get the most of my workouts. No one wants to spend 45 minutes to an hour on vacation getting sweaty by themselves and no one wants to carry a portable gym on an airplane (plus I'm sure TSA wouldn't be too happy about that!). Barry had the solution that I am going to share with you today that really any traveler can use to get the most of their traveling adventures and still feel like they are in the hometown gym or running a few miles around the neighborhood.

It's All About The Core

The core as in the midsection where all the turkey, pasta and sweets have taken over (though it was so tasty to eat).

When putting together a quick holiday exercise plan the focus was on working the core and building heart rate quickly. We performed a slew of exercises from push-ups with some bicycle kicks in between each rep to leg lifts with the bike kicks. All with a high intensity and short rest time. This got the blood pressure to rise and the lungs to begin to strengthen.

Multitask

The next best suggestion from Barry was to work as many muscles with each exercise as possible. Remember that we are working in a short window of time. Maybe 20 minutes before breakfast, or a quick break in the action in the afternoon. The more you can accomplish with one group of exercises the better.

We started with a squat to shoulder press. No lie, but this was tough. We started with arms in the air with a broom stick. Then we went down to squat, bringing the bar down. Before we attempted to stand up, we raised the bar and then came back into the start position. Doing a set of 15 really whipped us into a quick sweat, working the legs, core and shoulders with one quick minute long exercise.

When you are creating your hotel workout, look for similar activities to work many areas of the body. There are plenty of add-on exercises and motions that can turn single muscle exercises into multiple with a little creativity and thought.

Hydrate With Water

Whether on the road workshifting or having fun on the holidays it is very easy to pick up a cola, beer or loaded fruit juice. Barry said this was a huge mistake that many of the Mets players also had. Keep replenishing yourself with water and your body will cool down and recover faster. Adding sugars will only slow the growth process. Also look for a quick healthy snack after going through a quick training. Carrot sticks or apple slices are easy ones and they can even be picked up at the hotel convenience store or local grocery store.

Above All Else, Shoot For High Intensity

I know as good as anyone how easy it is to relax, throw the feet up and say I'll get back to it when I get home.

Going hard for 20 minutes can be the best thing you do all day as it gets not only your body but your mind stimulated and ready for a rocking day. Whether that be meetings, presenting or giving superior attention to the family. The key here is to have a quick plan of action to keep yourself in a high intensity physical mind frame for 15-20 minutes. The number of reps or sets is irrelevant. Going quickly and with full focus from pushups to lunges to laptop curls will ensure that you keep yourself in a ready and mobile state. Above all else it will allow you to survive the equivalent of the freshman 15.

What are your holiday and hotel workshifting fitness tips? I'd love to hear what gets you going on the road (even if it's just to get away from the crazy in-laws for a few minutes!).

Photos by: ex.libris & Playtime Fitness

While sitting on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport I wanted to check in and share some of my inflight workshifting tips.  With all of the international travel that I've been doing lately, it has become essential to develop a method for working from the tiny confines of an airplane seat.

If you have trouble viewing this video, you can also catch it over on my Vimeo channel.




Do you fly a lot?  Make sure you check about these tips from Chris Brogan about what you can do pre-flight, inflight and once you land to help for smoother travels.

What are some of your inflight workshifting tips?

For the past 3 years Rock For Hunger has grown from a small group of college students into, well, a larger group of college students that are impacting the Orlando community in major ways. From throwing $20,000 concerts and events, to helping people find jobs, initiating lifestyle design programs, tutoring underprivileged children and feeding close to 200 homeless every week, they are able to do all of this without an office, a home base or a paid employee.

The group is led by a group of 20-something change agents (disclosure - I am one of them), sprinkled in with a few thirty somethings. The mission is to inspire individuals of all cultures to join together through music, education and peaceful solutions in order to end the cycle of hunger and poverty. This is done with the help of online communication tools, a strong internship and volunteer program and the ability to adapt to change and surroundings. Meetings have been held in places ranging from public libraries, board member homes, Panera's, mom and pop coffee shops, random office spaces, parks, college campuses, music venues, dressing rooms, over the phone and all sorts of interesting places that never have enough chairs to fit the inspirational Gen-Y's that lend their time, ideas and actions.

The group has grown organically, with volunteers coming from college clubs that bring in new Freshmen every year, friends that bring their friends, bands that bring fans and out reached family members who want to lend a hand. Rallying with weekly and monthly emails, a homeless blog, Twitter accounts, Facebook messages, events and physical meetups, everyone comes ready to deliver regardless of the physical environment with with they are located.

Success stories have come from cell phone calls to local education centers offering certificates in forklift certification to building resumes on laptops in library study cubes resulting in job placement at local hotels and security firms. This has all been made possible by technology and the ability to act and use the technology to find an answer to a problem. Think of the iPhone app commercials. There is a "hope" for that.

For the homeless Rock For Hunger serves, they all work virtually. Workshifting from one site to another, all trying to make a means to an end for the day. Having a place to seek refuge every Monday night for a few hours and kick back with friends, while looking at ways to improve their tomorrow in an office they enjoy visiting. There is no coming in late and everyone gets their questions answered by the boss. The concerts serve as places to not only showcase the product (helping the homeless), but recruit new team members (volunteers), give the community an opportunity to give back (sponsors) and for people to have a good time (the music). It is part conference/trade show and part job fair. It mixes entertainment with guest speakers, images of the impact in the community and ways to act - from Tweeting about the experience, signing up to volunteer, blogging to sharing photos and finding donors to make it all possible. In essence, it is a driving force behind the main product - change and education.

(One of Rock For Hunger's Homeless Friends at Recent Concert)

The growth of the Workshifting culture, mixed with technology and personal development have allowed us to tackle issues, find solutions and create programs in record time. On November 2nd, a new program, "Homeless Lifestyle Design" will begin that will take the homeless group through a 4-week program designed to change the way they think and envision their future through creativity, job training and financial awareness.

The course was created using things like Google Docs to pass through ideas, Basecamp to create milestones and send out tasks and Wordpress to manage the training site. This is all done seamlessly with our board members, interns and volunteers who never miss a beat or a deadline, because someone's life is on the line.

This post was not meant to be self-serving, but to show the ideas of working from anywhere can impact any organization, any payroll size and any goal worth achieving. Using tools for keeping organized, sharing notes and documents and throwing large scale events are now more possible than ever. Supporters and fans can live on any part of the globe and have the same impact as if they were in the board room. The product your company builds has the opportunity to help people everywhere with a few clicks of a button and the right marketing behind it.

We are living in a very exciting time and I am happy to be living and working that way.

Go make something beautiful this week Workshifters. Please share. It helps us grow.

Today we have a guest post from Sean Ryan.  Sean is an research analyst with IDC focused on mobile enterprise software. 

Classifying mobile workers
Charles Darwin may not have had a smartphone or a laptop with wireless connectivity, but he did spend five years aboard the HMS Beagle making stops along the way to classify new species and fit them into a well-defined taxonomy.  It makes you wonder how a naturalist like Darwin would define the characteristics of the various types of mobile workers. How different would that classification be from the distinctions made by business managers and HR departments today? How different would it be from those of the technology providers (ISVs, SIs, carriers, device OEMs) developing solutions to meet the needs of various worker types? One can imagine how there could be different distinctions of what constitutes a mobile worker and different ideas around the tools and policies to support those workers.

Many of you reading this post likely have an idea of the type of mobile worker you are. Terms like road warrior, corridor cruiser, work extender, digital nomad, web worker, and telecommuter come to mind. You may be a journalist, or an attorney, or a sales professional, or a call center specialist, or an executive, or a traveling nurse. You may work exclusively from home. You may travel to different locations. You may split your time between the office and your home. As a research analyst covering the wireless industry for IDC, I spend a lot of time paying attention to the various mobile worker types and the technologies they use. I myself am a mobile worker;  I split my working time between the office and my home, and I also  travel for business.

While in some cases it may be fairly straightforward to classify a mobile worker type, in other cases it is like classifying a Duck-billed Platypus. (Is it a bird? Is it a mammal?) Unfortunately, for CIOs and for technology solution providers, classifying mobile workers -- whether straightforward or not -- is an exercise that they must engage in if they are to effectively set policies and offer a comprehensive set of tools to enable and support a potentially diverse set of mobile workers at a given organization.

As part of our ongoing research at IDC we have developed a mobile worker segmentation to help our clients in this exercise. We have identified three top level mobile worker types: office-based mobile workers;  non-office-based mobile workers; and home-based mobile workers. Each of these categories has subgroups to account for the messy realities of overlapping worker types, as is the case with my situation. Under this taxonomy, I am an office-based mobile professional since I work out of an office primarily and I am mobile or remote at least 20% of the time. Though similar, this is different from a pure telecommuter, with a home office only, who also travels for business.

Our research shows the mobile workforce growing from 847 million mobile workers in 2008 to over one billion by 2011. Office-based mobile workers accounted for 62% of the mobile workforce, mobile non-office accounted for 32% and home-based accounted for 6% of the mobile workforce in 2008. Similarities exist across all of these mobile worker types, particularly between office-based workers who also telecommute, and telecommuters who also travel for business. Yet, in many cases there are different needs among the worker segments, and further distinctions are made when considering different verticals and taking into account different roles in the organization. Certain aspects of technology can be consistently leveraged across all mobile worker types and across verticals and roles. However, organizations do have to make decisions that can greatly impact the financial bottom line: Who gets cellular services (voice and/or data)? Who gets smartphones? Who gets laptops? Who gets netbooks? Which mobile apps do we support and for which users? Who gets remote access or a VPN client? Where do we deploy WiFi? What level of helpdesk support is offered to mobile workers? These are among the considerations that organizations need to take into account.

A typical mobile worker tool chest can consist of a smartphone (sometimes more than one; I see a lot of execs carrying a BlackBerry and an iPhone), a laptop, a netbook, remote access services, conferencing services, social networking tools, collaboration software, unified communications, and a variety of vertical and horizontal apps accessible from mobile devices. One size does not fit all, a fact that will become more apparent as the needs of mobile workers and the capabilities of the tools become more sophisticated.

What kind of a mobile worker do you consider yourself to be, and what types of technologies are you leveraging as a mobile worker?

Photo by: karenwhitak