Tips for working alone
Two of the things that people mention most when I mention that I’m working on my own:
- It must get lonely
- It must be difficult to stay on task
It’s true. Though, personally, the feeling of loneliness (in geographic space, not in the strength of relationships) is one that I sort of like. So, the main thing that I really have to worry about is how to work alone and stay on task.
This week I’m trying a new experiment. No social networks, email, chat, etc before 3pm on my laptop. I can periodically check email on my phone, mostly to make sure that nothing urgent is waiting for me, but because it’s not that easy to reply on the phone, I’ll just leave them there until 3pm or so when I can then think about all of the people I need to reply to. I keep chat open, but “away”, so that I can still have work-related conversations with people. And Tweetie is completely closed because I can’t help but be distracted by the amusing, witty, and constant updates from friends (and celebrities).
The other thing I’m doing is bringing back my practice of writing “daily pages”… ~750 words a day to myself, that sort of help me get everything out in the open in my head and so that I can find a bit of clarity in my typically scrambled thoughts.
Anyone else have tips for working alone?
August 12th, 2009 at 2:07 am
I find that leaving the house is important. That sounds obvious, but I’m actually really good at working from home … but I’m even better if I leave the house at some point in the day. If I don’t make a conscious effort I can somedays just stick to home and that tends to give me less bang for my buck. In recent weeks I’ve been leaving in the afternoon to work from my mobile office (my van). That’s worked out well. I grab a drink, go to a park and set up office for one to three hourse. Volunteer Park is a fav or down by Lake Union. Do you work from home much or try to isolate most of your at your office space?
My best hours are the early morning — anywhere from 6am to noon, then my productivity drops off considerably and I tend to meander mentally. Another trick I’ve found is to have creative phone calls when I’m walking — something about walking and talking allows me to think (and talk) bigger.
I love this topic, by the way.
August 12th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Yeah, I should add a structured break in there somewhere. I’m not sure where I should go… maybe Bedlam with my laptop for an hour or so in the afternoon? Not sure… I do love my office quite a bit, and yeah, I never work from home.
Going on a walk is definitely important. I miss that about the Co-op actually… being forced to walk half an hour or so before and after work. It clears the brain for sure.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
[...] Tips for working alone: The other thing I’m doing is bringing back my practice of writing “daily pages”… ~750 words a day to myself, that sort of help me get everything out in the open in my head and so that I can find a bit of clarity in my typically scrambled thoughts. [...]
August 16th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Walking, like short 10 to 30 minutes walk, 2 to 3 times a day is what keeps me balanced… thoughts get clearer, and often new ideas jump in!