Notes from the virtual office: Spend on yourself
· Hourly vs. Project Billing - some pros and cons
· 4 Ways to Get Organized - organization is key!
· Dos and Do Nots of a good web bug report - something to try to educate clients with
When you’re working in an office you generally don’t have a lot of control over your environment, but when you’re in the virtual office you’ve got a lot more flexibility. My advice? Don’t skimp on outfitting your home office, it doesn’t save you anything in the long run. Here’s some ideas on what you might want to make sure you’re doing. All this assuming that most of the time you’re working from home, if you’re a mobile warrior the set of expenditures changes drastically, but that’s for another time. And we take for granted that you have enough computer to do what you need to do!
· Bandwidth
Make sure you’ve got enough bandwidth (and it’s reliable) to your place. I do a lot of uploading and voip and found that Road Runner was slowing down noticeably at times. I upgraded to RR premium and those problems went away. Sure it costs an extra $30/mo or so, I’ll tell you what, though. If it saves me an aggregate hour of time over the course of a month, it more than pays for itself - and believe me it does. I mean, don’t get nuts and spend a grand installing a T1 into your place (unless you’re doing really well!) but if you’re noticing lag periodically and getting annoyed with it, it’s worth your time to investigate your ISP and see if they’ve got a faster service level.
· Screen
Whether you’ve got a desktop or a laptop, you should have a big, bright external monitor (or two… or three..). This is the thing that you stare at 8, 10, 16 hours a day! Spend a few extra ducats to make it something that gives you enough workspace to spread out and to be sharp and crisp enough to not ruin your eyes. I had two decent 17″ Samsungs several years ago, I thought they were fine - until I replaced it with an Apple 23″. The difference was stunning and my eyes thanked me for it. It let’s you work with less eye fatigue, which makes you happier!
· Chair
Stop sitting on that folding chair. You sit on this chair all day, get a good ergonomic chair to make yourself comfortable and keep your posture good. Your back will thank you for this one. I used to sit on a ratty old swivel chair, it seemed ok, but a year or so ago I became the happy owner of a Herman Miller Celle chair - it makes a genuine difference - I work a lot better when I’m comfortable and my back doesn’t hurt. There’s a ton of choices and they’re not all crazy expensive (well, ok, they’re all quite expensive, but some are less crazy than others) - the Mirra and the Celle are at the lower end of the spectrum and you can grab an Aeron or a Freedom or a Leap Chair at the higher end. Go to a couple stores and sit on them and see which you like.
Those are the three key ones. Get those sorted out first, it’ll make a difference to you. Once you’ve got that you can think about adding an ergonomic keyboard tray - this helps you keep your carpal tunnel under control and also lets you conveniently slide your keyboard out of the way and you can use your desk without any keyboard taking up valuable space. Make sure you get one with a mouse area next to the keyboard. Keep some shelves around you for your books. I need to work more on this, but it helps to have a space to keep all your books within arms reach. Check out my survival tips for suggestions on why it’s a good idea to use voip and get a smartphone.
In general, it’s worth it to spend this money on your office. They’re mostly one time costs and they’ll save you money in the long run either directly or indirectly (you’re more productive when you’re comfortable and alert). Think I missed anything? Am I off my rocker?
July 13th, 2007 at 10:42 am
If you really want say an Aeron and don’t mind buying used, you can often pick one up on craigslist for a pretty good discount.
I like trying to keep my desk as cord-free as possible so I like going wireless for keyboard and pointing device. Now if only the braniacs can figure out how to make DVI and power wireless. ;-p
And if we’re talking ergonomics to help against carpal tunnel, I still favor trackballs but apparently I’m in the minority as I can’t even find a decent Bluetooth one.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:04 am
I use a wireless mouse, but it’s an RF logitech mouse. I don’t love it because sometimes the connection isn’t so good. But it’s all curvy and comfortable and I couldn’t find one as comfortable with wires. Sometimes when caitlin takes a nap right in front of the receiver it makes the mouse all choppy, so I have to move the receiver out of the way. Heh.
I never really took to trackballs. I likes the mouse!
July 15th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Here are a few things I can’t live without in my home office, which I use every day…
1. Trackball mouse - I find that when your not actually using your mouse, your not gripping it, cause it’s a trackball. Very comfy.
2. Sliding keyboard tray - Keyboard can slide under my desk for when I need more room. Great for just getting up, a quick little push and your keyboard is gone.
3. Stereo - Don’t skimp on yer sound. Get a nice sub woofer system so you can feel your music. Blast Slayer all day just because you can.
4. - Shredder - Once I got a paper shredder I felt guilty about all the paper I threw out before. Nice to shred stuff too, when your business address is your home address. Who knows these days, right?
5. - Glass Bong - Don’t skimp on plastic here fellas. Priorities!
July 16th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Stereo’s a good idea - I got a slingbox which let’s me easily (when it isn’t being cranky) stream my itunes to my stereo, which is really nice and it has it’s own remote. Yo.
Shredder is a great idea - get a good one to shred all that stuff that shouldn’t be for public eyes, don’t get one that just cuts into long strips, but a cross cutting one, or at least one that kinda cuts into little crinkly bits like mine (which also shreds cds and credit cards and what not).
July 16th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
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October 19th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
[...] has Notes From The Virtual Office: Spend On Yourself. I agree - these are the three things you shouldn’t skimp on when setting up a home [...]
October 19th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
[...] has Notes From The Virtual Office: Spend On Yourself. I agree - these are the three things you shouldn’t skimp on when setting up a home [...]
October 20th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Two other things not to eek by on:
1. A way decent keyboard. I use a Logitech G11 (which is technically a gaming keyboard, but you can use the extra 18 keys for macros in any program (like Dreamweaver). The G11 and G15 both have glow behind illumination (done nicely). Great for late nights when the wife is sleeping or in low-light situations (since I tend to like the dungeon approach to work). I had a Saitek and its tactile feel was horrible. And some of the keys wouldn’t press unless you pounded them with about a 100 foot-pounds of pressure. Go with a quality keyboard from MS or Logitech. The G11 isn’t wireless but I don’t know what the attraction of wireless keyboards are anyway. Heaven forbid you need to access the BIOS. Keep your old PS/2 handy.
2. A high-quality mouse. I use a Logitech Revolution MX and can honestly say it is the best mouse I’ve ever used. Wireless, laser-light, and the scroll wheel is unbelievable. If you haven’t tried one, buy them. I paid the $100 buck (full retail) when it came out - after just two minutes of playing with it, but you can get them on eBay for about $60 now I think. I don’t use a mouse pad (dumb!) and it works great on any surface that I’ve had so far.
I go to other people’s computer setups frequently, and I’m always amazed at what they ‘tolerate’ on a daily basis. I wouldn’t use a computer for more than 10 minutes without my Revolution, but not at all if they had a dirty ball mouse or an icky keyboard. Hey, if you are going to use an old keyboard, at least use an original IBM (that came with the AT) - if you can find an adapter to PS/2. At least you can have the retro look and those loud clicky keys might be kind of cool in a geeky retro way. But if you just have a five year old generic keyboard, dump it. Get a modern keyboard and mouse. Save your fingers and hands for something fun later in life - like playing the piano.
October 20th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Lawrence, definitely! I found myself using the Apple keyboard for years, which is… ok… but, finally got off my butt to switch back to the happy hacker, which I greatly love. It makes a big difference.
And I’m with you on the mice, too. I’m using the older Logitech MX1000, have been thinking about the Revolution MX, but I’ve become addicted to 3 thumb buttons and I believe the Revolution only has two. I suspect I’ll switch before too long, though. :)
The key is to be able to keep trying the peripherals till you find one that you can’t live with out. I think a lot of people simply don’t know what they’re missing!
November 6th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Totally agree with the larger screen space. I have two 19″ LCDs right now and love the space so much I am thinking about getting a third 22″ as a center. My productivity soared when I was able to read my code on one monitor while watching it run on the second.
I will have to look into upgrading my DSL line, I never really thought about how much time I spend transferring files around.
Eric
November 6th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Eric! Nice setup. :) I was rocking with a 23″ and 2x 17″ for awhile, but consolidated to a 23″ and a 24″, since I switched to iMacs and didn’t have the option for 3 monitors. Both work, very, very well - I recommend going for the 22″! It will involve more turning your head from side to side, though. :)
March 18th, 2008 at 11:19 am
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