Freelancing in Real Life

I apologize for using the worst (or best?) of pop culture and relating it back to the wonderful Anywhere lives we live…

Imagine you are Taylor Swift. You are up on stage trying to give a speech in one of the biggest moments of your life, and then doofus jumps up, interrupts you, and well, that’s all folks. Speech over.

Now imagine you are not Taylor Swift. You are at home trying to get some work done.  Maybe Kanye West isn’t the doofus that interrupts you but it doesn’t matter. Interruptions are still interruptions whether Beyonce deserves an award or not.  

This particular event reminded me that we all face distractions.  Today I simply want to link to some good reading on dealing with these types of obstacles in our quest to get work done.

• 9 Tips for Staying Sane While Working at Home With Distractions (Freelance Switch)
• How To Stay Focused: 7 Ways To Keep On Task (Freelance Folder)
• Use Unplugged Earphones to Avoid Pesky Interruptions (Lifehacker)
• Dealing with Interruptions (Simply GTD)
• Eight Tips for Dealing With Interruptions (Employaid)

What has been your biggest distraction or interruption?

The past few weeks it has occured to me that we as Anywhere professionals are at a distinct advantage in the event of an outbreak such as Swine Flu.  Most of us are already at home, primarily communicating with the rest of the world through phone, email, social media, or IM/video chat.  Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve actually gotten sick less often since I’ve been away from a busy workplace surrounded by potentially contageous co-workers.

Today I re-tweeted an article regarding telework and the Department of Homeland Security.  It turns out they are looking at ways to ensure continuity in the event of an outbreak through having some sort of telework structure in place. Smart thinking.

I don’t have anything profound to say regarding this, but just wanted to offer you encouragement that you and I are already out there doing this. If something contageous like Swine Flu begins to take off, we are already somewhat quarantined and can continue our everyday work life as well as anyone.  

Also, if you start getting the sniffles, be sure to take Airborne. That stuff kicks your immune system into high gear!  Tip: Mix it with Sierra Mist, Sprite, or orange juice. This makes it tasted much better.

But remember – I’m a blogger, not a doctor. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Small businesses told to prepare for swine flu (msnbc.msn.com)
• Flu Data: H1N1 Vaccine Highly Effective (time.com)
• One jab of swine flu shot does the job (msnbc.msn.com)
• 5 Tips to Reduce H1N1 Flu Risk (blisstree.com)
• Elmo joins fight against H1N1 flu (cnn.com)

Today I share a few of my favorite iPhone apps that I use as part of my freelancing business.  I use the iPod touch and can use most of the iPhone apps that are released since I have a set of earbuds with built-in microphone. Someday Apple and Verizon will be friends and I’ll have the actual iPhone, but I can’t bring myself to switch to AT&T.  

And yes, it is Monday and I do feel as tired as I look in today’s video. I got wayyyyyy too much fresh air this past weekend (which is AWESOME). 

If you are an iPhone/iPod Touch user, what apps are your favorites?

Related articles by Zemanta

• What Do You Call The iPhone When “Smartphone” Doesn’t Cut It? (geardiary.com)
• Hands-on with the new iPod nano, part 1 (tuaw.com)
• 3rd gen iPod touch gets torn down, 802.11n and possible camera slot found (engadget.com)
• Get The iPod Touch 3.1 Software Upgrade For Only $US5 (gizmodo.com.au)

You’ll see that I’ve linked to this site in my People section, but just wanted to give a public recommendation that you check out Phil & Jason Montero’s TheAnywhereOffice.com.  They provide some excellent content especially targeted at managers of virtual teams.  While my site tends to cater a little bit more towards the freelancer, The Anywhere Office gravitates more towards the world of teleworking.  

If you are not yet living the Anywhere lifestyle, directing your manager or boss to The Anywhere Office may help you convince them that a virtual office team really can work and offers many benefits.  Go read up on their site and as I mentioned, tell them the AnywhereMan sent you. 

Today’s wardrobe courtesy of Freshbooks.

Related articles by Zemanta

• FreshBooks Allows Freelancers to Network and Collaborate (mashable.com)
• Finding the Hub – A Common Data Model (cloudave.com)

In an effort to improve my AnywhereMan video workflow, I picked up a new Logitech QuickCam Pro webcam for around $80 which allows me to produce 720p video right at my desktop. So far I love it, and today I talk about this camera as well has the rest of my video setup.  Still tweaking the audio level with the webcam (sorry about the clipping in a few spots!), but I’m really loving the video quality for the price and how it handles the lighting arrangement in my office.

NOTE: So I recorded this video, uploaded it to Vimeo, and had some issues with the frame rate. The audio worked great, but the video took forever to load and after it did I was super choppy. I guess the Logitech software records at 15 fps by default, and Vimeo prefers 30 fps. Trying to figure out whether I need to find 3rd party software to record 30 fps from the webcam, or if I should just start using YouTube over Vimeo from now on.  I will keep you posted. I love Vimeo, but I also love a quicker process!

CONFIRMED AFTER FURTHER RESEARCH: The QuickCam Pro for Notebooks cannot do 720P at 30 fps, just 15 fps. Why don’t they tell you this stuff ON THE BOX? The picture quality still looks great though.  I will stick with this until Microsoft sends me their new LifeCam HD to review on this site.

Shop Online

• Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks from TigerDirect
• Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks from TechDepot
• Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks from Amazon
• Canon Vixia HV30 HDV High Definition Camcorder from TechDepot
• Sony Vegas Pro – ( v. 9 ) – complete package from TechDepot

 

Red Rock Sunset by seantoyer

When I was a kid, my brothers and I were often asked the same questions on holidays every year. For Thanksgiving, it was “What are you thankful for?” For Christmas, it was “What does Christmas mean to you?” My guess is that my family was not alone in this tradition.

I’m going to start applying that type of questioning to all holidays, starting with Labor Day.  What does Labor Day mean to me?  

Two years ago I would have answered that question with a simple “day off of work!”  However, the day has a completely different feel for me now that I’m running my own freelance business.  Actually, I look forward to working on Labor Day now. Think about it: no phone calls, no client due dates, and nobody else working.  If that’s not a formula for a productive day, I don’t know what is.

That being said, I still probably won’t put in a full day like normal, but I do plan on taking advantage of the optimal working conditions for at least part of the day. 

What are your plans for Labor Day?  (don’t worry – I won’t judge you if you’re actually going to take the day off. You deserve it!)  And have a great holiday weekend everyone!