Wherever I go, there I work (and play)

There is a lot of talk today about all the snow out east. I live in Minnesota so I know what it’s like. I used to absolutely hate getting a big dose of snow. Nowadays, I say BRING IT ON.

Let me first just say that the past two winters I’ve finally had the luxury of owning a snow blower…it makes a huge difference in how I view snowstorms. I don’t dread shoveling…and shoveling…and shoveling. Now I view snow as an excuse to see how far I can possibly launch it. I can hit my neighbor’s yard with it, no problem.

The second reason I don’t mind them as much anymore is that I work at home. Back when I commuted, a snowstorm meant driving under very stressful conditions for a period of 2-3 times the normal length of time it would normally take to get to work. I absolutely hated that. Also, after a long day of working/commuting, I’d arrive home to…you guessed it…shoveling snow. I’ll also mention that it would be dark when I left in the morning, and dark when I got home. What is the point of this, people?!

Once again, working from home is awesome. I’ll get up, head down to my office with fresh coffee, work for a while, and if the snow has let up, I’ll go out and fire up the John Deere whenever I feel like it. I’ll take the time to marvel at the beauty of the snow in the trees, maybe snap a few pictures, and maybe even play with my daughters and build a snowman. Then, back to work and back to remembering yet another reason that I love what I do and where I do it.

Working from Anywhere is great, and yet not having to go anywhere else has it’s advantages too.

This is a completely random post, but I was just getting ready for bed and happened to notice the specific items I had set out on my nightstand. Sometimes these things tell the story of our day or even our life. Here’s a shot of my nightstand as it looks at this very moment, and a description of the items:

A – My iPod Touch and clock/charger base. The Touch is a truly useful Anywhere tool and the base was a great Father’s Day present from my girls this past year. Waking up to something like U2’s “Beautiful Day” is much better than a standard alarm.

B – USB flash drive – A nice little metal 2GB drive from BizConf.

C – Glass of wine – I’ve earned this today. I will be sleeping well tonight.

D – LED head lamp – I use this thing all the time! Comes in expecially handy for catching nightcrawlers in the summertime.

E – Batman Begins DVD – Not sure why this was on my nightstand, but is that a great movie or what?!

F – Cub Scouts Magic book – So I was visiting my parents last weekend and my mom brought this out to me. When I was a kid I was really into magic tricks and this was one of my books of tricks. I guess she wants me to get back into doing those or something.

G – Latest issue of Entrepreneur Magazine – Probably my favorite magazine. They always have great articles applicable to both my field (tech) and my status as a small business owner.

H – In-Fisherman Walleye guide – Yeah I’ve read this a few times. I still can’t catch walleyes.

I – My change jar – I think I counted close to 50 pennies in there with not a hint of silver to be seen. My girls are thieves.

What’s on your nightstand? What story does that collection of items tell about you?

Is it just me or are there a lot [I mean a TON] of people out there who live in their own alternate reality, especially in the age of Web 2.0 and blogging?

I think this notion of “perception is reality” has gotten pushed to the limits. There seems to be an approach that if you act like you’re big-time, then you are big-time.

While confidence in what you are doing is important, I think inflated pride actually does more harm than good. Pride can distort reality. It can cause you to ignore the things you are doing wrong. It can decrease the trust that your clients, co-workers, or boss have in you.

I’ll be honest: I’m 32 years old. I run my own business and make an “okay” living at it – I’m closer to poor than I am to rich. My office is in my basement and I work ten feet from where my little girls play Barbie dolls. Much of the time I don’t shower until 11 AM. I have coffee breath right now. My bookkeeping is a mess. I’m not really sure what direction my business is headed, but I’m having fun. I’m still not even sure what it is that I actually “do,” but it’s usually a decision I make with each new day. I’m happy with a simple life.

I don’t have people lining up to meet me. Some days my phone doesn’t ring. I’m not a widely-read blogger. I don’t ride in limousines. My house isn’t a mansion. I don’t buy brand new vehicles and I probably never will. I don’t toss money around like it’s in endless supply. Usually the only time I have actual cash in my wallet is right after my birthday.

My life is not perfect.

I am not perfect.

And neither is anyone who might appear to be.

Mistakes are okay. It’s okay to be real. Be honest about your flaws, your weaknesses, etc. You don’t have to put the spotlight on them, but you don’t need to hide them either. Sometimes admitting what we do and don’t do well helps us become much better at what we want to do.

Acknowledge reality. That doesn’t mean you  have to like it. You can take action to change it. But ignoring it and pretending it’s something else means completely ignoring the very things that will help you.

Don’t let pride get in the way of bettering yourself.

My wife and I moved to Grand Rapids, MN in early 2006 after spending our time previous to that in the Twin Cities. I had been working at a small marketing services firm in St. Paul and ended up taking a job with an even smaller web company based up here. After a few months of getting settled in, my old company wanted me to come back to work for them and offered to rent me an office in Grand Rapids with a telework arrangement. I took it.

Today I was reminiscing on the year and a half of teleworking (I was still calling it telecommuting at the time, which it was, but I like “telework” better). I’m glad I did it, and it was my eventual leap into the Anywhere Lifestyle. Here are a couple of simple things I learned when contrasting my time there versus the way I live my life now as a freelancer.

Desktop computers are not ideal for the Anywhere Lifestyle

During my time working from my remote office, I used a custom-built PC with a VPN connection to our company’s network.  Obviously I couldn’t take my machine with me to places like Caribou (which is where I am right now). I could connect to my machine remotely using LogMeIn (which works great!), but connecting to a machine that is then remotely connect to another just isn’t ideal.

Notebook computers are simply the way to go, unless you never want to go ANYWHERE.

I have more human interaction working from home than an office

Though I sometimes complain about the kiddie-noise when working from home, I definitely have more human interaction there are opposed to the office I had previously.  My office was located on the lower level of a building which included a dentist office and counseling center. Neither of those were social hangouts…obviously. There was another person with an office on my level, but she was an insurance adjuster and rarely in the office. I also was not an active member of Twitter or Facebook at the time. It was not the most socially stimulating environment. Not that my home is either, but the option to escape to coffee, lunch, or the library and hang out with others is much better.

Cleaning a home office is easier

Well, for one, my wife is fantastic and really keeps our home clean. Hey, don’t yell at me – she stays at home and manages the family and I stay at home and run a business. Back to the point: when I had my own office, I had to keep it clean, and by that I mean I had to clean it. Yep, I did that about twice the entire time. I also had to supply my own cleaning products and supplies. Again, I only needed them about two times.  Well, needed might not be the right word since they were “needed” more than they were “used.”  The point is, the office didn’t get cleaned much.
These are just some random memories I had regarding my time working from a remote office. I enjoyed the company I worked for and what I was doing, but I will admit I am enjoying my time working from home and elsewhere. It’s good to take time to compare situations as you make changes in your life.

I usually spend a morning or afternoon here and there each week working from coffee shops, cafes, or anywhere else wifi is available. This week my home office was not an option so I spent three days in a row working elsewhere. Here are three things I noticed about the days spent working in public, plus a bonus tip for coffee lovers at the end.

Lately I’ve been keeping an “I Am/I Am Not” list in the back of my notebook to help determine the skills and services I want to offer to my client base.  This helps me accomplish a few things:

1. It helps me narrow down exactly what my business “does”
2. It helps me determine the things I need to get better at and develop through research, education, and practice
3. It helps me cope when working on things I don’t necessarily love doing

The primary goal of my list is to figure out how I can spend more time doing the things on the “I Am” list (and get paid for them), and how to spend as little time as possible (if any) doing things on the “I Am Not” list.

There is nothing super-revolutionary about this practice, but it’s just a way to keep my mind from getting too cluttered.

How do you make sure you are doing what you WANT to be doing?