Wherever I go, there I work (and play)

I recently came across this video on a YouTube channel for EmployAid.  Some good content on how to talk with your boss about a possible telecommute arrangement, but even better acting. Enjoy!

Apologies for the lack of posts here on AnywhereMan this week. Projects, Christmas preparations, and family have been consuming my time. I hope that your holiday plans are going well, everyone!

A little while back I posted a video from Jason Sadler of IWearYourShirt.com where he talks about (and wears a shirt for) FlexJobs.com.  Sara Sutton Fell, the CEO of FlexJobs, contacted me recently about doing an extended review of her site on AnywhereMan.  She gave me access to the site and today’s video gives a little insight into what I found.

I just found this video by Creative Destiny LLC on Vimeo and am LOLing and ROFLing all over the place. It’s very true to AnywhereMan life:

“Just pour yourself a cup of coffee in the morning, flip on the computer, and start working!”

If Kermit was a teleworker, being green might be a little bit easier.

I was recently approached by the folks at Broadband for America to see if I would be willing to write a post about the environmental benefits of teleworking. Without hesitation, I said “yes” as I think the conversation of telework with regards to the green movement is just one of those things that makes sense (regardless of your political position, pollution is bad, right?!).

I’ve mentioned this before, but when I lived in the Twin Cities I made the daily commute to work each day. Not only did sitting in my car for 45 minutes drive me nuts, but so did the idea of wasting gas to sit in front of a computer all day. A person can sit in front of a computer at home, the library, the coffee shop, a co-working location, or Anywhere…right?

Now that I work from home, not only do I save on gas, I save money from having to pay for gas. And by not driving to work each day, that is one less car on the road to slow traffic down. Think of how quickly traffic would move (and save gas by minimizing stop-and-go traffic) if even 25% of daily commuters converted to telework.  Obviously, not everyone can perform their job in a telework arrangement so some people would still need to make the daily drive.

In order to push this movement towards telework, one of the main requirements is fast and dependable broadband access.  I am lucky enough to live in a region that is not only beautiful, but has fantastic options for broadband access. Grand Rapids has three primary choices for broadband service providers and there’s actually a local grant devoted making sure everyone in the area has access to broadband.

The provider I use has installed fiber optic cable right up to my house, and though I pay for a 1 MB up/down line, I’ve never clocked it at less than 3 MB up/down. We also have numerous dependable public wi-fi locations and a growing tech-incubator location.  It’s awesome to live in an area where I have access to the great outdoors, yet I’m still able to work like I’m in a metro area.

Telework and broadband-availability are positioned to have a tremendous effect on conservation and the decrease of greenhouse-gas emissions:

“According to an American Consumer Institute study, over the next 10 years, broadband applications will decrease greenhouse gas emissions by one billion tons. That study attributed this environmental savings to several broadband applications, including telecommuting, distance learning, teleconferencing and e-materialization.”  (“Telemedicine: Helping Consumers And The Environment,” The American Consumer Institute, Posted 3/4/08)

Switching to a telework arrangement with your employer does not have to be an abrupt, all-or-nothing change. You can start by suggesting a teleconference instead of a drive across town (or flight across the country) to meet with someone in person. You might try to attend a training session online instead of in-person.  By continually thinking along these lines, you may start a movement to telework and save on greenhouse emissions at the same time.

The question to ask is “Do I really need to be somewhere else to get this done?” Basically, do your computer and internet connection allow you to do here what you were intending on doing somewhere else?

Chime in with your thoughts, and take a look at Broadband for America whose mission is “to make broadband access to the internet available to every household in the nation; to provide data transfer speeds to make that broadband experience valuable to users; and to provide the bandwidth necessary for content providers to continue to make the internet a cultural, societal, and economic engine for growth.” Sounds good to me!

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.

My friend Jason Sadler at IWearYourShirt.com is wearing a shirt for FlexJobs today. FlexJobs is a site that pre-screens a ton of available telecommuting and online jobs (we call it telework) and they make sure that all of the listings are legit. It’s a pay-as-you-go service, but they are supposedly a great resource.  Just wanted to pass that along to all of you who might be looking for a new gig.

For fun, here is the daily IWearYourShirt video for FlexJobs: