The work from home movement is growing considerably, and for good reason. But with this monumental shift in how you work comes a likely lull in productivity – or at least some growing pains.
As someone who’s be working from home for over half of my live (and pretty much all of my adult life), I know the struggle. But I also know what works. To combat this, there are a few things you can do to help draw boundaries.
Read More “5 Tips For Working From Home”This year I committed to reading 18 books, and I’m well ahead of schedule at the end of January – I’ve read 3 books and about 870 pages this month. So I don’t forget what I’ve read as we move through the year, I’m going to wrap up each month with a recap of what I’ve read. Here’s January’s.
One of my goals is to read 21 books this year, and I’m doing super well so far. After finishing the super dense (and very thought provoking) Homo Deus, I’m flying through It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work. While the hubris of Jason Fried used to drive me crazy, I’ve read all of his and DHH’s books, and they’ve all been excellent. The hubris is well-deserved. In any case, I’m almost done with that book and I’ve decided to take my first action: turning off Slack notifications.
Read More “Eliminating Slack as a Distraction to Work Better”
Imagine you’re buying a new phone. You walk into the store and you overhear a conversation with 2 of the sales clerks. One says to the other, “Ugh. One of my customers put an ugly case on the beautiful iPhone I gave them. Customers are so stupid. They always mess things up.” You probably wouldn’t want them helping you buy a new phone. Why would you want that kind of ridicule? Wouldn’t you take your business elsewhere? But somehow, we think it’s OK to say this about clients pretty regularly.
I have a confession: I’m in a bit of a funk. April was not a very productive for me. We were in Disney World for 8 days, and the rest of it, I was either sick or recovering from being sick. Trying to balance the different types of work I do and properly boxing time has also become a problem. Couple that with some distractions at home, and I haven’t felt very productive lately. I want to try going to a coworking space once a week, but I’d have to schedule it on a day where I don’t need my recording setup. So I’ve decided to set my work week with days dedicated to different types of work.
Six years ago when I got a job at The University of Scranton, it was a little bittersweet. For 2 years following my Masters Degree, I was self-employed. The thing that lead me to look for a new job was that I was working out of my parents’ house, and honestly, time was running out on staying on their insurance plan. Leaving that world was sad, but I was excited at the notion of working with a team. After 3 years at the university, I felt I was ready to do something different and more challenging.
Read More “I’m Returning to the World of Full Time Self-Employment”
My wife and I do very different things. I sit in front of a computer all day, get to work pretty much the hours I’d like to work (within reason), and I don’t have to put pants on. Erin is a nurse, who works 12 hour shifts, taking care of the some of the sickest people in the hospital. Her bad day is much worse than my bad day. But when I say that, she tells me I shouldn’t devalue my work, and that I can still talk about my bad days to her; it’s not a competition. I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago, when in the Post Status community, we were presented with this question: Do you ever struggle with feeling like the work you do* isn’t meaningful (eg compared to doctors etc.)? How do you cope with that? The conversation was great with a wide range of answers. I’m lucky enough to not have to struggle find meaning in my work, and here’s why.
*This is a community made up mostly of developers and designers.
Read More “You Don’t Need to Save Lives to Find Meaning in Your Work”
We are approaching the end of another school year. Students & teachers alike are clamoring for the sweet freedom that summer brings. When I was in middle school and high school I remember looking forward to summer so much that I toldmy parents I wish I could skip the school year and just have summer vacations. Of course like many kids my age, my short-sightedness got the best of me.
Not long after that final school bell my brothers and I would be out in the front yard when one of us would utter the 2 words that parents dread hearing: “I’m bored.” We were so focused on getting to summer break that we didn’t take much time to think about what we would do once we got there. The same thing could happen when you work remotely:just because you can goanywhere, doesn’t mean you can work anywhere. A little preparation will help.
Read More “The Keys to being Productive When Your Work Remotely”
I’m lucky to have a wonderful view from my downtown Scranton apartment. Across the street is a law office and sometimes I can see people working at their desks or milling around in the office. Last Saturday I was working on a pet project of mine, when I looked out the window from my desk and noticed someone in her office, working. On a Saturday! The horror! Then I thought back and realized that office’s light is on an awful lot – early mornings, late at night, most Saturdays (but rarely Sundays). How could someone work like this? Then I came to another realization: I noticed these things while sitting at my desk, working.
Working remotely/from home is not only something I started doing this year, it’s something that’s becoming more and more popular. Big companies are allowing it, there are books published on it, and it makes a lot of business sense too. I thought in addition to my regular gift guides, I’d put something out there for all the remote workers and their family and friends.
Want to start automating, but not sure where to…well, start? Get ahead of the game with 14 of my favorite automations, across a bunch of tools, like Zapier, Make, Hazel, and Apple’s Shortcuts. Get Instant Access using the form below!
Want to start automating, but not sure where to…well, start? Get ahead of the game with 14 of my favorite automations, across a bunch of tools, like Zapier, Make, Hazel, and Apple’s Shortcuts. Get Instant Access using the form below!
“Your automations are always so fascinating – I really need to step my game up!”
Joe, this is amazing. You’re seriously the king of automation.