T oday, I’m sitting in a small restaurant by the Worthing Seaside and I find that in a rather small space of time, I’ve learned a great deal of things that I was previously unaware of. Allow me to share with you my discoveries of today, the 20th of May, in on of the greatest blog post formats of all time: the list post. This is more a post about the art of working from a laptop away from the office, rather than freelancing as a whole.
The 10 Things
- Only now do I truly understand why macbooks having a glossy screen is a big deal. Let’s just say it’s like looking in a mirror, and there isn’t even any direct sunlight. I can see *almost* nothing at all. An indoor seat next time would likely be beneficial.
- I truly am one of the few people in Worthing under the age of 70, I took the picture below from my current “office-chair”.
- You have to spend over £5 to use a card in small establishments offering free wifi, so on top of my coffee I also had to buy a sandwich and two packets of crisps that I didn’t want.
- Streaming music via spotify, blogging, and chatting on twitter ALL completely wirelessly – is extremely cool.
- Bowls is an intriguing and confusing “sport”, I fear that the rules may be a mystery to me for a further 49 years.
- The sun isn’t particularly conducive to productivity, though that maybe mostly due to the screen glare.
- Getting out of the house/office once in a while is extremely nice and very conducive to new ideas.
- Macbook should be fully charged before leaving the house unless you want to stumble around looking for a power supply like a fool.
- Writing outdoors is a definite plus, for some reason I find it far easier to concentrate on writing continuously out here.
- If you’re going to write a “10 things list” leave enough time to come up with number 10, my battery is about to diiieeee
- (back at home with charger) Next time, bring sunblock. I now have lobster arms.
See you soon!
#11 – Playing CoD4 instead of doing freelancing work when you get home (assuming you don’t work for yourself) only leads to sore thumbs and a guilty concious.
[Twtr] FTW!
@Luc – BUT is extremely satisfying and also a great way of unwinding and socialising with people outside the otherwise relatively solitary freelance life :) [Twtr] = WIN!
@Japh – Fancy taking a guest post slot on this blog after you’ve been going for a month?
@ Spen – It’s the weirdest place in the world to have free wifi – I can’t imagine that there was anyone else in a 2mile radius who even knew what wifi was!
A wonderfully light-hearted post! :D
At close of business tomorrow, I will be officially joining the ranks of the full-time self-employed freelancers. I’m very excited!
Haha yes, you finally understand why I loathe glossy screens and also apparently why I’m glad I don’t live in Worthing anymore :)
Still, I am a bit jealous, been ages since I worked ‘outdoors’.
yes, I think it has been proven that people are less productive on warm and sunny days.
And here I thought it always rained over there :D
Nice post… as always.
@Japh – Congrats man!!! I’m sure you’ll do well.
@John – I’d be honoured! You can nominate a topic though… I can talk about whatever, but I always have trouble choosing a topic! ;)
…having said that… by the time a month comes around, I’m sure I would’ve worked up a list of topics!
I think it’d be great if you did a “1st Month in Review” post similar to the ones I’ve been doing, but from your own unique perspective :)
Funny – I just returned from working outside for a couple hours as well! Found a perfect spot (with perfect weather) near the library here in Brooklyn, New York.
Never been a fan of those glossy screens. I think they add some flare in the mac store showroom, but nothing once you take it home. One of the reasons I decided against the iMac (went for a Mac Pro + Acer monitor).
I never even heard of that thing you guys call a “sport”. Now it’s time for me to get back to watching baseball…
The only reason I bought an EEE PC was so that I could write my dissertation in the pub. Being in one place for too long saps all productivity – I found I could write for hours in the pub with a beer & lots going on around me. It is somehow harder to be distracted by the world when it is right there in your lap.