31 Dec 2012
time management, working from home
Today I’ve been thinking about time-management, working from home, and I’ve ended up outlining my standard working day.
This is very much a platonic ideal, or a working mean – the normal deviates from the standard in almost every way. Times are moveable, I don’t go to the gym every day (if only), I don’t always start (or stop) at the same time, weekends often turn into work days, I have more or less personal time than I put down, I’m out visiting clients. But this is a rough outline of how I’d like the day to go.
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27 Nov 2012
event, jelly, working from home
Yesterday, I took part in my first Jelly session.
Jelly is free, informal co-working for freelancers and home workers. If you love working from home, but occasionally find yourself desperate for a change of scenery, or for just a little bit of social interaction, then you can take your laptop, meet some new people and work in a new space for a day. You have some of the benefits of working in an office (brainstorming, bonding over client horrors and someone else to make the tea) without actually having to go and work in an office.
Jelly People
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1 Apr 2010
freelance, working from home
Recently I’ve been working on a project where I’ve had to commute to Birmingham Business Park and work in the client’s office. Nice project, but it’s made me realise just how much I love working at home.
- I have a brilliant office. Set of double monitors on an adjustable arm (I hate using visual studio on a laptop screen), desk and chair are at the right height, everything I need is to hand. Also it’s just such a nice space.
- Great coffee. I’m a coffee snob and I detest and despise instant coffee and vending machine coffee and starbucks coffee.
- No commute. Every morning for the past few weeks I’ve been faced with the choice between roadworks and speed-cameras or the motorway. At home my office is next door to bedroom and if I get dressed it’s because I want to, not because I have to.
- I’m the boss. My hours. My clients. My projects.
- If I get bored I can just go and annoy the grumpy office cat.
My desk. There’s also a nice view from the window.
It’s obviously late ‘cos I’ve been drinking tea.
And this is the rest of my office. The pictures on the wall are some really nice technical drawings of steam engine indicators, and a rivitting machine
And I’m just doing my end-of-year accounts (my company year ends in March) and I’ve realised that I’ve now been working for myself for four years. Unbelievable. I had to go check my old speadsheets to see if I’d counted the years right. But yep, first invoice sent March 2006.