successful home working
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Noteworthy and new things of interest to the home worker
Home working survey continues for 1 more week
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I’m very grateful to everyone who has already taken the time to complete my home working survey.
The answers are helping me to understand what you see as the main challenges of working from home and how I can provide relevant information and support. They’ve also made me chuckle, and produced many feelings of ‘I know how you feel’.
I’ve now added a pop-up link to the survey in the hope of attracting some more responses. It will only be there for a week and of course you won’t see it if you have a pop-up blocker. And if you click on the Never button it won’t pop up again. (If you’re not getting the pop-up and you’d like to do the survey, then click here: home working survey).
Many people have told me that they’ve enjoyed answering the questions and have recommended it to their friends. I hope you find it a useful exercise.
Home working survey
33Can you spare about 10 minutes to take a step back from your business and identify what’s helping you and what might be holding you back?
I’ve just embarked on my very first home working survey, and in a sense it’s a mini Work from Home Audit that allows you perspective to look at your progress and at how you might be able to improve things.
All answers are entirely anonymous, and if you’d like to be updated on progress, you can leave your email address at the end safe in the knowledge I can’t match it with your responses!
The feedback I’m getting is that it’s an enjoyable and thought-provoking process. Tempted? You can complete my home working survey here now.
The purpose of the survey is to find out the kind of information and support home workers need, and the results will help me design new products and services over the next six months or so.
I’m very grateful for all responses 
Home working survey
Home working news
44 months ago
I’ve been away for much of the last 10 days, enjoying Cornwall in early autumn and then brushing up my marketing skills in London. Here’s a quick pick of information useful for home workers and freelancers to break my blog silence:
Pinterest has been in the news this week. Apparently it’s considered one of the hottest new online startups, so one you’re likely to hear a lot more about. It’s described as ‘a visual bookmarking site used primarily by women’, but if that means nothing or sounds utterly dreary, take a look at my Work from Home Offices board, where I pin images from the web related to home offices and their accoutrements. It’s simple, fun and a great way to share extra visual content that might not fit too well on your website or blog.
I’m just planning the next How to Work from Home – The Inside Guide event that’s happening at Central a week on Thursday. You may well know San Sharma from #watercoolermoment on Twitter or WorkSnug and he’s our special guest for Top 10 Tech Tools to save Time. As a keen early adopter and fluent translator of geek-speak he’s the perfect person to tell us less IT-savvy folk what works and what’s worth investing in. Do contribute to the discussion by visiting the Central Linkedin group and telling us your favourite app, software or piece of kit. And don’t forget to book your place – previous meet-ups have resulted in some big wins for participants, so don’t miss out.
Better get on with my catching up – happy pinning and don’t forget to tell me if you start your own board. San and I hope to see you next week to talk tech!
PS I’m not giving Jelly up completely!
96 months ago
Just a quick postscript to my previous post about passing on the organisation of Frome Jelly to someone else. I should have made it clearer that although I can’t continue as organiser – and often I’m not even in Frome on Jelly days, which makes hosting a little difficult! – I’m still just as interested as ever in coworking, mobile and flexible working and so on.
In fact the more I get out and about, the more I’m meeting people involved in those fields, such as Richard Leyland of WorkSnug, the app that lets you find not only your nearest place to work, but now also places where you can do printing. Clare Flynn Levy, flexible working champion, was our special guest at How to Work from Home at Central last week.
And I’m thrilled to have just secured two more guests for future How to Work from Home meetups. San Sharma, Community Manager for both Bitsy and WorkSnug, will be leading a discussion on the Top 10 Tech Tools to Save Time on Thursday 29 September.
On Thursday 27 October, Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation and Bitsy, and the person the Government consults about home business, will be the guest at our session on organisation. I’m still working on details of the event for 25 August, but that should be finalised very soon!
All the Jelly information will be freely available on my site, and I’ll continue to post articles on my Work from Home Wisdom Facebook page and to retweet details of new Jellys. (I stopped RTing existing Jellys some time ago, as there are now so many and UK Jelly does an excellent job of that!) I’m happy to keep answering enquiries, like the two emails I’ve received this week about setting up new Jellys, and I’ll be continuing to spread the word about Jelly at my own and other events and to whoever I meet.
Oh, and I’ve just had a tweet about Fiona no longer organising Jelly at Monk’s Yard near Ilminster in Somerset, so perhaps a piece about finding a replacement organiser is called for – Jelly never sleeps!
Anyone for Jelly?
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A while ago I reported that Lee Cottier, who did so much to introduce Jelly to the UK, had stepped down from his duties as organiser in Bristol due to business commitments and was passing the Jelly mantle forward.
I now find myself in the same position, having organised Frome Jelly for over 18 months, and I’m looking for someone to take over the voluntary organisation and hosting duties from August. Who might it suit?
Well, a start-up business or anyone wishing to make widespread contacts with forward-thinking people across all industries. Here in Frome we are very fortunate in not only having a workhub of superb quality like The Old Church School, but also its owner, Gavin Eddy, who instantly understood the concept of Jelly and offered a monthly space before I even had to ask! He and Rebecca Krzyzosiak, the Office Manager, are very keen for Jelly to continue uninterrupted after the August Jelly, which is a week earlier than usual in order to be part of Old School Start-ups, the small business festival being hosted by The Old Church School.
Already having a venue and the systems I’ve put in place for organising each Jelly means you’ll have much less to do than the 70 or so other organisers who have set up Jelly from scratch!
You’ll need to appreciate that Jelly is not about selling, but about likeminded people getting together to work for a day away from their usual surroundings, to exchange help and advice and catch up on the local news. Because nobody is required to pitch their business, Jelly has a uniquely laidback and friendly atmosphere.
You’ll not only meet local home workers and freelancers, but through Twitter immediately be in touch with many Jelly organisers and attendees from all over the UK and further afield, who are a rich source of friendly help and information.
Who knows what opportunities might arise? I was lucky enough to be asked to help organise The BIG Jelly in March this year. Working with Jan Minihane, founder of Shropshire Jelly, and Fay Easton of Enterprise HQ taught me so much, and has definitely helped me to develop my business to the point where it demands all my commitment and energy. I’m organising monthly meet-ups for home workers in London and planning a programme to launch in the autumn to support women who want to start their own business from home, and of course I’ll keep in touch with all my Jelly friends through Twitter.
So it’s time to pass Frome Jelly over to someone who can benefit as I have from the positive connections it brings. Do get in touch if you find the prospect intriguing and would like to know more.
Kill procrastination at How to Work from Home
117 months ago
I don’t think I’ve ever come across a home worker who doesn’t think they are guilty of putting things off. This may partly be due to spending time alone and dwelling on that dreaded job we’re avoiding, whereas in a busy office it’s easier to put it out of your mind and concentrate on other things. Or it might be the tendency of folk who work from home to give themselves grief over what they’re achieving, not having anyone to compare themselves or commiserate with.
Whatever the reason, I’ve chosen procrastination as the topic for the next How to Work from Home – The Inside Guide meet-up at Central on Thursday 21 July, between 7 and 9 pm. We’ll be talking about why and how we procrastinate, when it can actually be helpful, and what we can do to kickstart ourselves on the jobs we need to do.
If you came along the the first meet-up in June I’m looking forward to hearing how you’ve got on with the tips you picked up that evening, and whether the changes you’ve made in your routine have been for the better. If you didn’t make it last time, come along and meet some fellow home workers in a friendly environment – it really is a great help to realise we all share the same highs and lows! As Catherine Raynor said afterwards – ‘I had such a boost from the experience.’
Members of Central come free of charge (but space is limited so please book a place) and for non-members it’s just £11 plus booking fee. It’s an ideal opportunity to check out what’s on offer at Central, and even if you don’t live in London it might be just the base you need when you go up for meetings. On my last trip it was an oasis after battling crowds, heat and dodgy internet connections!
Don’t put it off – come to How to Work from Home – The Inside Guide this month!
