Efficiency station or time-wasting cauldron?
Do you work best at home? At Starbucks? Perhaps a Library? I do a lot of web design and development in my spare time, and I’ve noticed some interesting patterns in my productivity over the past few years. I used to think that I could work anywhere and be equally effective, but I’ve come to realize that my assumption was simply untrue.
I don’t work very well at home. As a matter of fact, I don’t even work well on my main PC (a fire-breathing custom-built Vista box with two widescreen monitors and an obnoxiously powerful sound system). I have a comfortable computer chair, a wireless keyboard/mouse combo, and everything that should turn me into a bastion of efficiency when I slide into the command center.
The problem is…I rarely do creative work there. At all.
At home, I typically find myself using my massive screen real estate to fiddle on Facebook and TweetDeck simultaneously. What a waste! I almost feel like the huge screens make me less focused. Believe it or not, I do my best work in Coffee Shops or unfamiliar work locations. On my two year-old work laptop, no less. No Photoshop, no 24” monitor, no fancy keyboard. Just my plain-jane HP notebook.
Imagine that.
Do you have a favorite location for your creative work? Am I the only one who doesn’t make good use of their desktop PC? Should I just stick to laptops?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Laptop all the way…I like having the additional screen real estate too so I plug in my external when I’m at home…it’s hard to give it up.
As for a favorite location—not really. I like the ease of being mobile with my laptop. When it’s not too hot out I like to sit by the pool or stretch out in the grass and just work away…it clears my mind.
Not a big work @ Starbucks fan. If it’s a heavy traffic store it can get really annoying…I opt for Borders instead.
I hear you on the laptop bit — I’m glad I’m not the only one. Strangely enough, the busyness of foreign locations helps me focus. Isn’t that crazy? I don’t even need a comfortable chair.
Thanks for stopping by, man. It’s always good to “meet” fellow Thesis bloggers :-D
Without a doubt, my best work happens on my trusty pal Elrond #6, a 17″ Precision laptop who follows me everywhere I go in his red Italian leather chariot. I do like the second screen and I do work best at home with it attached but mostly because I find my office at FSU is a hub of activity that makes it hard to concentrate I work best from 5 in the afternoon till 10:30 at night because I can focus without interruption on the task at hand. It has been my experience, however, that most people do not share .my ability to work at home and I have had employees try it only to end up back at the office because they could not focus when at home. I am totally the opposite, which I guess makes me an oddball….
Heh, I remember that beast. 17 inches of complacency-destroying power. It’s the one you’ve had for a while, right?
I can understand how working in a familiar environment that’s devoid of distractions would be best. You’re kind of a social hub already, and having a desk where people can find you makes it pretty much a done deal.
I’d bother all the time if I were still on campus. I’m going to do it on Friday if I can, as a matter of fact!
Yes, I carry a 17″ Precision lug-of-a-machine – weighs a ton and I would not trade it for another (unless it was another of its same species…) for anything! I can work in busy, noisy places like airports and lobbies – IF I am an anonymous stranger that can just sit quietly and work. That is NOT the case in my office, as everyone knows. It is not the noise, the confusion, the chocolate cake or candy bars that distract – it is the steady flow of peeps who need something from me and break my flow of concentration. Be sure to come by before I leave for Children’s Campaign at three to break my flow. It will be most enjoyable…..
Sure thing. We’re meeting in Strozier, so I’ll plan to break away during lunch. See you then.