successful home working
Posts tagged Jelly
How to shift from solo working to coworking
564 months ago
Coworking spaces are popping up all over the place these days, in rural areas as well as town and city centres. If you’re used to working at home alone, like me, you might wonder how on earth you could possibly work surrounded by people you don’t know and who have no connection with your business.
Don’t let doubts like these put you off, as coworking can both brighten up your usual routine and give you a supportive network – without requiring you to go to any events!
Here are some tips to help you acclimatize to coworking:
Check out the space – If you’re lucky enough to have a choice of coworking spaces, check out each one (they often offer a free trial) for factors such as facilities, atmosphere, noise and levels of interaction. Choose the one most suited to your business requirements, personality and whether you simply want another place to work or to become part of a community.
Introduce yourself straightaway – As it can be awkward to do so later when you’ve been working alongside people for a while. Take in some snacks to hand round if you’re a bit shy about doing this and not only will you get to meet everybody but you’ll be guaranteed instant popularity.
Take headphones – If you prefer working in silence you might be distracted at first by people moving around the space and talking on the phone or face to face. Bring in headphones so you can play your own music or one of the white noise apps; do try not to hum along!
Start with easy tasks – If you’re worried about being distracted, at first just take along some routine work that doesn’t require massive concentration. It’s the ideal time to do that computer housekeeping you’ve been meaning to get round to, or research to keep up with your industry. You will adapt to being surrounded by activity and gradually be able to introduce jobs needing more application.
Learn the phone policy – Make sure you know the policy on dealing with phone calls and follow it. That may mean leaving the room to take a call or simply keeping your voice down. It shows consideration if you put your phone on the Meeting setting so that your colleagues don’t have to listen repeatedly to your ring tone.
Chat a bit – Don’t feel guilty about spending time chatting and view it instead as relationship building. You’ll be amazed how much information and advice emerges from these casual exchanges and they can give you enough inspiration to last the rest of the week. And you never know who might be a potential partner – one of your coworkers might be actively looking for just your skills.
The great thing about coworking is that you can choose how much or how little you want to participate, and slot it into your routine where it fits best. Good luck in finding your own perfect balance for maximum happiness and efficiency, and I’d love to hear your own tips for acclimatising.
This post was first published on www.workshifting.com, the site for people who work out of coffee shops, hotels, airports and their homes every bit as much as the office
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?
39
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.
The BIG Jelly – we did it!
1110 months ago
What a day! Here are my impressions of last Friday:
Blue sky and sunshine at 7.30 am, what a start, hope it’s an omen. Jelly green banners going up, badges to sort, muffins laid out next to coffee for arrivals, trade stands to explore.
The doors open to the soundtrack of the Shropshire Jelly video filmed last week at Enterprise HQ – ‘It ain’t about the money, money..we just want to make the world dance…’
Jelly beans to munch, Emma Jones in a great pair of boots, down-to-earth and inspirational at the same time.
Louise Findlay-Wilson, aptly named PrPro, that new haircut and colour fooled us completely, we were expecting a longhaired blonde, how shameful not to recognise your own speaker. People scribbling notes with fat green BIG Jelly pens.
‘Move in together. Bit more. A bit to the left. Big smile please.’
12 o’clock and Brown Bags lined up, actually I’m hungry, ploughmans sounds just the job. You’ve got a banana, I’ve got a pear, mm, chocolate roll, nice.
The Jelly session, oh my goodness that’s Caroline from Wales and…Verity from Edinburgh, lovely to meet you at last. And Judy, all the way from Normandy to pick up tips on starting Jelly en France.
And here’s Daniel, our third speaker, here despite train strikes and late taxis, better feed the man and find him a quiet place to work before his talk.
Back to the Main Hall for the Q&A, Gavin chairs it with his usual humour and aplomb. Introducing Daniel, stealing one of his own introductions – ‘He’ll share his knowledge in direct proportion to the applause he receives’ – much clapping.
Daniel has the audience in the palm of his hand. I’ve heard the content of the talk several times before, but I’m still gripped and realise he’s down walking about in front of the tables and I’d never even noticed him leave the stage.
But better close it down now, only 5 minutes after the schedule, although people seem happy to keep asking questions and he to answer them. After Fay’s closing remarks she comes down from the stage and gives us both a hug. We’ve done it and it was great!
Happy, excited people clutching Key Person of Influence books and a bag of jelly beans to fuel the journey home. ‘What a fantastic day. When’s the next one?’
Packing of boxes and cloths taken off tables. Poor Rob, the AV man is the first to arrive and the last to leave. A large glass of white wine in the bar – thanks, Jan!
Maybe not the world, but today we made part of Shropshire dance and that’s good enough for me 
Please can you lovely home workers help me spread the word about The BIG Jelly?
511 year ago
The BIG Jelly is now only two months away, on Friday 25 March, and it’s high time I told you what’s happening.
The BIG Jelly was the idea of Jan Minihane, my Jelly friend and the founder of Shropshire Jelly, who was so thrilled at the collaborations that came out of her local Jellys that she wondered what wonderful things might happen if home workers, freelancers and micro business owners from all over the UK met up for the day.
She also wanted to tell more people about Jelly and how simple it is to start, with the ultimate aim of a Jelly within reach of every home worker in the UK.
But obviously nobody would bother to travel to a central point for a national Jelly when they’ve got one much closer, so the day had to be really special. The Jelly team (me, Jan and Fay Easton of Enterprise HQ in Coalport, which hosts Jan’s Jelly) have planned a day for all small businesses that is not only Jelly, a space with free wi fi where you can catch up with work and emails, but also all of the following:
3 inspirational speakers – Louise Findlay-Wilson of PR Pro
Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation & Bitsy
Daniel Priestley of Triumphant Events – all well-known champions of small business
A choice of breakout sessions run by experts:
Home Working Wisdom
The Money Go Round
Demystifying Social Media
Marketing for Micro Businesses
Setting up & Running a Jelly
Website/SEO Clinic
And:
Mini expo
Refreshments provided throughout the day from coffee and Danish on arrival to brown bag lunch and cookies, and tea and coffee all day
Event bag with useful content to take away
Special rates for overnight accommodation at host venue, 4* QHotels Telford
Plenty of time for meeting new people in the uniquely friendly Jelly atmosphere
The BIG Jelly is for all micro and small business owners, freelancers, home workers, coworkers, new start-ups, business advisers, workhub operators, business support agencies, government ministers and anyone interested in the future of small and home business, whether you have heard of Jelly or not!
Some people have asked why The BIG Jelly isn’t free, when one of the main principles of Jelly is that it’s free to attend. Well, we’d have loved to bring you all this for nothing, but with the economy the way it is, it simply isn’t possible to cover the costs of a national event through goodwill and sponsorship alone. Even the big blue chip companies have tightened their belts. The people and organisations supporting us have been extremely generous and that’s how we’ve been able to keep the ticket price to £50 + VAT if you book before 28th February 2010, and £75 + VAT thereafter.
The BIG Jelly is a not-for-profit event and so we don’t have a big marketing and PR budget. You will soon be reading about the day in the press, but it would be a huge help if home workers and small businesses can create a strong word-of-mouth buzz through Twitter, Facebook and your personal contacts.
Wherever you are in the UK or the world, whether you can come to The BIG Jelly or not, we would be so grateful if you can start talking about the day both on and offline. The hashtag is #BIGJelly, and more information and booking is at www.uk-jelly.org.uk
Thank you so much if you can support us in making this day a huge success and helping to spread the many benefits of Jelly throughout the UK. I really hope to see you there!
Best wishes
Judy
The Big Jelly takes shape
71 year ago
Yesterday was a very exciting day as I had three breakthroughs – I published my first video blog, or vlog, as I’m reliably informed it should be called. I was featured on the website of Lisa Kanarek, American home working expert, who was a guest here recently talking about her home office. And I confirmed the third speaker for The Big Jelly, the first national UK Jelly event, which will take place on Friday 25 March next year.
It’s early days yet in the planning of The Big Jelly, but the level of enthusiasm, goodwill and generosity we’ve encountered so far is a very positive start. We have some really inspiring people lined up to take part, with different kinds of expertise to share.
What we’re aiming for is a day that reflects the spirit of Jelly – particularly its friendliness, quirkiness, and new way of doing things! Jelly organisers will be the first to receive details of our plans, we hope in the very near future.
So on this Thankful Thursday I’m feeling grateful to be involved with such a great bunch of home workers and to be meeting experts who quickly understand the spirit of Jelly and are eager to come along to help us move our businesses forward. Can’t wait for March!
