Home Office

It’s Friday night and I find myself sitting at an internet cafe with my newly purchased laptop. I finally realized I needed to get out of the home office. Why? Productivity … or lack thereof.

My current home office set up has my computer in my bedroom right next to my bed. This is not exactly the best set-up to get work done. My TV is also in my room which provides a constant distraction from the work at hand. I also don’t like sitting my desk for too long because it just isn’t comfortable. How I long for the $1,000 Herman Miller chairs we have at work!

And therein lies the main problem with working at home – distractions. My TV, roommate and his friends and the simple fact that I can’t work for long stretches at my computer without getting a sore back or just slightly irritated.

So, even though I have a desktop I now have a laptop, as well – decadent, I know. I even use it when I’m at home and my desktop is turned on. When I get tired of working on the desktop, I simply flop on the bed and start working on the laptop. In the few days, I’ve had two computers I’ve seen huge increases in my efficiency and use of time.

And I think that’s the biggest reason – maximizing the use of my time. I figure with the laptop, I’ll recapture 5 to 10 hours of wasted time each week. Here’s how:

1.) During lunch at work – I can take it to the internet cafe across the street and do some work.

2.) Getting out of the house – before I used to go for walks and a coffee and waste time … now, I can still go for a walk but I can bring the laptop along and get some work done while having my coffee

3.) Just before bed – instead of just laying there watching TV, I now keep the laptop with me and can do some work while watching a few shows.

4.) Socializing – instead of heading to the bar at 9 for an early drink, I now go out (like I am tonight) to the internet cafe. I can still socialize and watch people go by and get a few hours of work done. I figure tonight, I’ll be here until 1am. I can still go out afterwards for a drink if I want. I think I will.

Time is a cruel mistress. It slips by without us even knowing it. It’s so easy to waste hours simply by going about our day to day tasks.

The name of the game with time management is to make some simple changes that don’t require us to change the way we live our lives.

It’s all about restructuring and multi-tasking.

RELATED POSTS

• 5 Quick Home Office Tips
• Web-Based Computing with Acrobat
• Cloud Computing

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Recently, I wrote that I wanted to 'un-tether' myself from my home computer, and signed up for some of the web-based Google Apps services or Cloud Computing, as they call it. The premise is that you use the computing power of a central server and keep all your documents in one place. I also recently had a chance to take a look at some of the offerings by ADOBE.

ACROBAT.COM, is a flash-based set of applications run directly from the internet – Buzzword, ConnectNow, Create PDF and Share, and MyFiles. Buzzword is Adobe's Word processor, ConnectNow allows live video-conferencing with the web, and MyFiles allows the user to organize and store files online - right now, Adobe is giving 5 Gigs of storage and a trial of PDF creation (up to 5 documents).

The exciting part is the ability to easily share documents, thus eliminating the need for large email attachments. With Share you can easily keep track of who has viewed which documents and give permission to people outside your company to access documents and make comments. Everyone's comments can be viewed, noted and collated into a final document. In the past, there would have been multiple copies available in the form of different email attachments – this would be eliminated with the share ability.

After viewing the demonstration it's fairly clear that Acrobat is slick and easy to use. With its simple flash-based design, changes are easy to make and graphics are very simple to add and manipulate within a document.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GOOGLE 'CLOUD' AND ACROBAT.COM

There are some key differences between Google's and Adobe's offerings. Google also offers a spreadsheet, whereas Acrobat does not (yet). With Google, you have the ability to host your email services directly with them. You can imagine the cost savings by not having to host your own email – not having to pay technicians or buy an additional computer. This is in addition to Gmail (that many people already use) which Google already offers – you can have the ability to have your own domain name as your email address mostly for free.

Adobe seems to be focusing more on content/web-based creation right now and creating a simple and convenient environment to work in – by using technology that is already proven and widely-used (flash). It seems that Acrobat.com would still be used in conjunction with your current network – you wouldn't be getting rid of some of your software or hardware just yet.

THE FUTURE

One thing is clear, the future of 'Cloud' computing, whether or not you use Google or Acrobat is very exciting. In this age where we use multiple computers, it's getting annoying having to carry a USB thumb drive around with all our documents. The old paradigm of emailing documents out and waiting for feedback will soon be a thing of the past.

Another thing is also clear – competition is heating up and I wonder who will ultimately win if it turns out to be a bit of a battle …

Will it be the company with the best interface or the company that provides the best integration or all-in-one solution?

RELATED POSTS

Cloud Computing

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My home office is actually in my bedroom – it's not a bad space, but it requires being organized and disciplined as there are constant interruptions and the space is compact. How do I maximize my space and get the most from my office?

Here are a few tips to ponder for the weekend for your own home office:

1.) Microsoft SyncToy – backing up data used to kind of be annoying – the backup function that comes with Vista isn't that great and the other option is dragging and dropping files. SyncToy is great because it syncs two folders – a left side and a right side, the left being your computer and the right being another portable drive. With one click, both can always be kept in sync and backup is a snap!

2.) Receipts – whenever I buy something, I quickly enter the receipt into Microsoft Money and then file the receipt away in an envelope. That's it – I never have to look at it again … instead, I use my Money reports to get the data I need. I keep one envelope for each year. Say goodbye to fumbling through receipts at year-end!

3.) Virtual Office – being a renter, I constantly move and change my address, so it's very easy to lose mail. I now rent a virtual office at a business centre and have all my business mail delivered there. If I need to meet clients, I can also use the boardrooms (for an hourly fee) and have a professional surrounding. For an extra fee, I can even have my calls answered there, which is an added bonus. It costs me about $100/month.

4.) Shredder – an absolute must! I shred anything with my name or address on it. Pay the extra for the cross-cut (cuts both ways) models as I think the strip-cut (cut into long strips) ones don't give enough privacy. If you don't have one, go out and get one!

5.) Install a lock – putting a lock on your door will signal to pesky roommates or other family members that you're busy working. Another option is getting a do-not-disturb sign.

I love working at home, but I think the biggest problem is dealing with distractions when you live with people. Clearly, boundaries have to be set and they must respect your space and time.

Photo: mudpig(Btw, this isn't my what my office looks like – I wish!)

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Cloud Computing

Time Management

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