Archive for May, 2009
Work from Home Essential No. 3: A Favourite Coffee Shop
May 31st
I love coffee shops and I find that having one close by is a great advantage when you’re working from home. It provides a venue for all sorts of occasions – somewhere to go just for a change of scene, for a treat when you’ve completed something difficult, for a different environment in which to get your creative juices flowing, and to meet people either to discuss work or have a good old chat.
My favourite here in Frome is Divas, which is in the same building at the bottom end of town as Black Swan Arts, a gallery and shop, and some artists’ workshops. The counter display of colourful and healthy food makes you want to start at one side and work your way across to the other, ditto the cakes ranged across the top. You can sit outside in the pretty courtyard if the weather’s good, and browse the local and national papers while slurping the excellent coffee. Its only disadvantage is that it’s next to the library, where as you know I’m a regular visitor, so maybe we drop in more than we should – ‘Fancy a coffee?’ ‘Oh, go on then.’
Pet hates
May 29th
Yet another advantage of working from home is that it’s easier to have people to stay – as long as they understand you do actually work, that is, and aren’t there purely to act as their host and guide.
This week we have had a very easy guest for a couple of nights. My cousin has been judging cheese at the Bath and West Show and over supper one night our conversation somehow turned to the subject of pet hates, a very satisfying way to spend time. In fact I’d recommend it as a great way to get conversation and hilarity flowing, as long as everybody present understands that pet hates are so violently irrational and personal that something you loathe may be passionately loved, or never even noticed, by other people.
I’ve collected a few to give you the idea -
Boys’ jeans worn with the waistband below non-existent buttocks
Wallpaper
Builder’s tea
DIY stores
Marzipan and icing
Talk radio DJs
Honda Goldwing motorbikes
White walls
‘Going forward’
Weak tea
Moulded plastic garden furniture
Fruit cake
Once you get started, you might find it hard to stop!
A glimpse of the future?
May 22nd
I must confess that until now the idea of Web 2.0 has left me cold. (If Web 2.0 is an alien concept to you, as it was to me, you might like to know that according to Wikipedia ‘Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities…such as social-networking sites, videosharing sites, wikis, blogs…’). Blogs I can see the point of – you choose to read the ones that mean something to you and comment if you feel you have something to add.
But my experiences just of book and film reviews on Amazon had led me to believe that the type of people with the time and inclination to share their opinions were precisely the type of people whose views I didn’t want to hear! My response to those choosing to answer the Twitter question ‘What are you doing?’ is ‘So what and who cares?’ Unless you’re a celebrity with a devoted following, does anybody really want to know?
But I’ve just seen an inspiring film at www.usnowfilm.com about the possibilities created by sites where people who were previously strangers share information. The examples I particularly liked were couchsurfing.com where travellers can find someone willing to put them up on the sofa for the night, and mumsnet.com where parents share the kind of information they apparently used to pick up from relatives and neighbours. Now that bankers and MPs have shown themselves to be greedy and not particularly clever, could this kind of openness of information enable a more truly democratic society?
This is the key question debated in the film, which lasts for an hour and is the most heartening message I’ve heard in a long time. (Although I’m no more enthusiastic about going on Facebook…)
‘Life’s a Pitch…’ Part 2
May 19th
I’ve now read Stephen Bayley’s part of Life’s a Pitch
There’s useful and thought-provoking stuff in here for homeworkers, such as making first impressions (which this blog has already proved to be a minefield), the perils of the business lunch, the nature of charisma and how to make an impact with a letter. Unfortunately many readers might be put off digging through the verbiage to find them by Bayley’s obvious cleverness and numerous quotes and classical references.
The final section is an appendix of interviews with ‘our panel of experts’, historical figures whose actual or attributed words have been woven into a Q&A format. I feel this bit could be dispensed with, but overall A and I are so impressed that we’ve bought a copy so we’ve always got it for reference, albeit the cheaper, smaller (blue) paperback. The red book (Amazon link on previous post on the book) was published first in a large paperback format and has colour pics and lots of white space, which definitely add to the reading experience. But it’s more expensive – you pays your money etc.
Happy Work from Home Day!
May 15th
Yes, folks, today is officially our day, although there doesn’t seem to be a card for the occasion yet. It can’t be long though, as on the Hallmark website you can already get cards for National Boss Day and Admin Professionals Day. Maybe next year.
I haven’t seen any mention of the occasion in the press, which is a bit disappointing, but again, maybe by next year we can do something astounding. Even if it’s gone unmarked, I hope you’ve all had an especially joyful and productive day.
‘Life’s a Pitch…’
May 13th
Following on from yesterday’s eulogy to libraries, this brilliantly titled book is one of my latest finds from the non-fiction shelves. So far I’ve read Book (ie Part) 1, by Roger Mavity, ex-ad man and Chief Executive of Conran Holdings (love the shop, Rog!) His argument is that life is all about presenting, or pitching, yourself in the best possible light, whether to a prospective lover or boss, your spouse or acquaintances.
The writing is just like the title – straightforward, witty and succinct. My usual response to a book, no matter how much I like it, is ‘could have been cut by a third and not lost anything’. Not Life’s a Pitch
There’s masses of inspiring stuff in here for homeworkers, including ways of getting into the right frame of mind to start an important piece of work – don’t sit at your desk staring at your computer screen. Naturally I love this because it fits in with the advice I give in Work from Home to get away from your usual routine as soon as you begin to feel a bit jaded. I just wish I could afford the most glamorous hotel in Marrakesh, where the creator of the famous Heineken ‘refreshes the parts other beers can’t reach’ campaign apparently went!
Book 2, by Stephen Bayley, cultural commentator and once described as ‘the second most intelligent man in Britain’ (who’s the most, then?), looks very different. I’ll let you know how I get on.
In praise of libraries
May 12th
We joined the library when we moved to Frome and I can’t believe I previously managed so long without one. I suppose my active membership of a library tailed off as my business became successful and instead of waiting for a book to be ordered, I simply went along to Waterstones and bought it. Indeed I remember many pleasant evenings spent browsing the shelves, having locked up clean offices for the night, and then heading for home clutching my latest purchase.
The library saved my skin in the weeks immediately after our move when BT systems meant broadband couldn’t be connected to our house for four weeks. As a member I could have an hour’s free internet access a day, which meant I could at least check emails and do a bit of research for the book, with the deadline only six weeks away.
I still find it quite amazing that I can order a book online at home, and just a few days or maybe a couple of weeks later, get an email telling me it’s ready for collection, all for the princely sum of 60p. Even a recently published book, still only available in hardback. I’m making the most of this extraordinary service, as I hear newspapers are no longer available and the internet access time has been halved. How long before the powers-that-be decide it’s too expensive to move books around the countryside at a member’s whim?
Note to self
May 7th
Lately I’ve been ignoring my own advice to always keep a pad of paper and a pen handy, which makes no sense as I know full well I tend to think about writing when I’m in bed, about shopping when I’m at the computer and so on.
So the other night I eventually got out of bed in the early hours and crept downstairs to write down the vital few sentences that had been eluding me all day. I had to use a thick felt tip so I could vaguely make out what I was writing in the light from the street lamps. Putting on a light would have been too much of a shock to a semi-comatose sleepwalker.
Today as I tackled my emails I had the brilliant idea of taking the coolbag and ice packs to Bath so I could stock up on my favourite Waitrose stem ginger ice cream, which is on special offer. But it was one of those brainwaves that zoom in and out too fast to record, and I was halfway to Bath before I realised the coolbag was still in the kitchen. Just as well, as A isn’t around tonight and I might well have taken sly advantage of his absence to eat a whole tub for supper, instead of the nutritious local vegetables from the box that was delivered today.
I digress. From now on I’m sticking to my advice and equipping myself with pen and paper everywhere.
Who’s a homeworking early bird?
May 6th
I’ve always thought I was one of those people who likes to get things done and out of the way before giving themselves permission to relax, the type who gets up early and revels in having the world to themselves before anyone else is about.
But I’m beginning to wonder whether it’s just strong childhood conditioning, reinforced by years of running an office cleaning company when early mornings were essential, and topped off by many years of self-deception.
I discovered while on my MA writing course and later while writing the book that I struggled to get going with work during the day, whereas in the evening I somehow relaxed and slipped into it, it became much easier and time just slid by. But I didn’t want to accept that might be my preferred style of working. I liked the idea of experiencing that virtuous feeling when you’ve done all you can and feel justified in relaxing for the evening. It seems more logical too – shouldn’t one be brighter after a good night’s sleep and wind down with the day?
Or maybe I need to accept that the Muse is an elusive creature and doesn’t always descend to fit in with human timetables. Although Somerset Maugham apparently said ‘I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.’
Or maybe we’re all completely different and what is procrastination for one person can simply be acknowledged by another as the wrong timing.
Eating my hat
May 5th
I’ve already written about the learning curve I’m on, developing this site, and how we’ve discovered it’s not so simple after all to take photos that look good within the overall design. I also wrote in the introduction to the book how much I dislike those stock homeworking photos you see in the media of models sitting on white sofas tapping on laptops.
So I didn’t expect to find myself, not only not getting rid of the stock photos on the Home page and 6 Secrets page, as I thought I would when I took over the site, but actually buying more for the new pages I’m planning! Like the one on this post.
An important part of the brief I gave to the web designer was that the site should be clean and clear, with easy navigation. Do I think he’s achieved that? I certainly do, and the feedback I’m getting shows other people think so too.
What I hadn’t appreciated was how much the stock photos are part of the overall design, until we tried replacing them with photos of me doing homeworker-type things. My intention was to make the site more personal, but in fact it just looked messy and amateurish.
So I have decided to go with the photos Tony chose, and use more of the same people on other pages. They are clean and clear, just like the rest of the site, and continue the colour theme. I also hope they aren’t too ‘model-ish’. Some photographers seem to think that if you plonk an impossibly good-looking model at a table with a laptop and a mug, the photo shouts ‘working from home’. Nope, it shouts ‘irritating model with stupid grin pretending to work from home, how dim do you think I am?’
There will be photos of me on various pages, and of course photos of your workspaces, but that is a different kind of page entirely. I hope my posts and your comments will make the site the friendly, down-to-earth and practical resource for homeworkers that I intended the book to be.
