Going Officeless

interviewing tips for new grads(1)Take iPhone out of hand during 30min. interview(2)don’t tell...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:53:14 -0700

interviewing tips for new grads(1)Take iPhone out of hand during 30min. interview(2)don’t tell me you’re “taking lunches” in New York and LA

Matt Sganga and Robin Lee at #Deutsch Media Boot Camp talking civility between salespeople and...

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:45:51 -0700

Matt Sganga and Robin Lee at #Deutsch Media Boot Camp talking civility between salespeople and media. Awesome talk! Thx #SportsIllustrated

Gone from going officeless… - This post is mostly ceremonial at this point. I have been seen...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:39:48 -0700

Gone from going officeless… - This post is mostly ceremonial at this point. I have been seen for a few… http://t.co/tWfriNQe

Gone from going officeless...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:02:53 -0700

This post is mostly ceremonial at this point. I have been seen for a few months now in an office. Caged, like an animal at some demented business-zoo.

Ok, that’s rather dramatic. But I must admit that my experiment has ended. Not in failure, but in a recognition of practicality: I need a place to sit, more often than not. But the lessons were many and valuable, so let me reduce them to insignificant cliches:

- Paper sucks: I will retain my (mostly) paperless habits

- Get out: Being in an office doesn’t mean you HAVE to stay there

- Real-time rules: “The I must deal with it now” ethic that having no space demands, is a damn good one.

- Change is good; real good.

Good luck to the few people who have done the same thing and stuck with it.

See you around, literally.

Vote for VW’s “The Force” as best US spot! http://t.co/dFGn1wj

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:34:33 -0700

Vote for VW’s “The Force” as best US spot! http://t.co/dFGn1wj

I just realized where my inspiration to go officeless came from:...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:27:40 -0700

I just realized where my inspiration to go officeless came from: my neighbor lives in a tent in his backyard. Really. No, I don’t live in a Dorothea Lange photo…

Old habits die hard...

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:59:24 -0700

Back from vacation and just realized that I spent the few days before and after vacation in an office. I hid out in an empty office to focus before leaving. It was helpful on some level to have a door to shut…but after almost four days in an office, old unproductive habits return: a small stack of paper is forming next to a coffee cup next to a tangle of cords next to a stack of business cards.

Not the direction this experiment was meant to go. Time to step back out!

Going workless...

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 02:32:26 -0700

Off for a vacation to truly be officeless…see you in a week.

Stay free range!

Dropbox is from Heaven

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 21:26:09 -0700

Heading out to vacation with just my HTC Inspire. Critical files safely tucked in my Dropbox…nestled in the cloud. Easy peezy…

Best coffee mug evar.

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:38:02 -0700

Best coffee mug evar.

#corporatehobo downside numero uno

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:08:53 -0700

Finding space to truly focus. It’s easy to find space to do bullshit (email etc). But true creation demands space. Must solve…

Battery life?

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:34:33 -0700

Being officeless means I run on battery all day which means a full discharge cycle everyday which means a new battery every year. Hmm…

One Month with no office...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:34:46 -0700

I have now gone a full month with no desk or chair and not only have I survived - I have completely thrived with the change.

As someone who spends 70% of my time in meetings, not having a place to sit has mattered little. Time spent out of meetings is now a mindful decision; I don’t just automatically wander back to my office and slip back into bad habits (ie things that are work-adjacent but don’t really make a difference).

Instead, I have to constantly think about the task at hand and pick the right physical space to support that. It forces a degree of consideration that constantly has me making better choices. Harder? Yes, a bit. But worth it.

Ultimately, the pattern interrupt of not automatically going back to an office has a slight Zen effect of thoughtfulness and consideration. At the risk of being too meta for this little blog, it is a small but profound impact.

Next time: the secret to going paperless is to go officeless…

#CorporateHobo army might grow...

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:10:17 -0700

Someone just told me they are going to join the ranks of The Free!

"I've always wanted to do that."

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:27:27 -0700

I am surprised how many people respond that way when I tell them about this experiment. You start talking with people and they open up about how they have wanted to try a different mode of work, maybe not exactly my version of corproratehobo-ness, but something different.

Something different. So many people just want to try something - anything - dfferent. They whisper it to me in hushed tones like their boss or spouse might be listening with disapproval. They want to change where they sit, what time they come in, what they drive, how they dress. Then the sad part: someone tries to talk them out of it. Always. We start talking about making change and the story takes a turn into a cul-de-sac: “then they talked me out of it”

I have learned in a small way how many people fear change. Ok, thats not revaltory, we all fear change. But it’s surprising how people fear when OTHER people want to make change. Even if that change has no really bearing on them. People seem want to talk each other out of meaningful change. That’s sad.

What’s the answer? I don’t know if I am that smart, but I do know the way to avoid getting talked out of things is to just do them without telling people. Don’t give people the chance to unwind your change. Of course, there are practical limits to that simplistic advice: we need to tell our spouses that we are quitting our jobs; we need to tell our coworkers that we are changing polciies that have a dramatic impact on them. But when the change is personal and principally impacts you and only you, then I encourage swifter motion.

First real time behind a desk in 4 weeks. Feels like a cage!...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:14:07 -0700

First real time behind a desk in 4 weeks. Feels like a cage! Thanks for sharing, JW & CC

Sage: Identify what you are good at by paying attention to what people ask you to do...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:34:36 -0700

Sage: Identify what you are good at by paying attention to what people ask you to do http://t.co/scrQksN

Tools of the trade… For me, any new endeavor is simply an...

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 11:12:58 -0700

Tools of the trade…

For me, any new endeavor is simply an exciting opportunity to buy new gear. However, this being an exercise in minimalism, I had to exercise restraint and stick with essentials:

MacBook Air: This experiment would simply not work without this ninja throwing-star of a laptop. Size and weight are spectacular, yes. But it is the all-day battery life that is magical. 256 gigs of flash memory mean no spinning drive, no noise, no heat. This is my second Air; the first one was a novelty; this one is a mandate.
HTC Inspire: Having content and functionality on the home screen - instead of just icons - is such a vastly better way than the iPhone.
Jawbone Icon headset: I hate Bluetooth headsets. Deeply. They are the tech equivalent of pleated khakis. HOWEVER, with no land-line at work, I am using my mobile a lot now. A headset is a must for semi-paranoid tumor-avoidance.
LaCie iamakey: Sam Grobart of the NY Times recently said to ditch USB thumb drives, made irrelevant by Dropbox et al. While he’s right (mostly), I have found it refreshingly easy while roaming the halls to just grab stuff from people via this artful little aluminum drive. It takes seconds and always works, while many people still fumble in the Cloud.
Incase laptop sleeve: Despite my poor choice of white, this simple little sleeve has proven to be perfect. The outside pocket is big enough for a few pens, cards, etc. This has essentially become my office.

As much as I want to over-do the hardware, this is all I need. I’ll cover software in the future…

I am thinking of ACTUALLY dressing like a hobo while I do my #corporatehobo experiment at work....

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:26:14 -0700

I am thinking of ACTUALLY dressing like a hobo while I do my #corporatehobo experiment at work. #GoodIdea

RT @Behance: Scott Belsky: How To Avoid The Idea Generation Trap :: http://t.co/M4F3wZE RT...

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:31:03 -0700

RT @Behance: Scott Belsky: How To Avoid The Idea Generation Trap :: http://t.co/M4F3wZE RT @the99percent