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the daily excursion

9/26/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4800

Most days I only leave the homeplaceofthefuture to take my kids to school. It's a 
treacherous commute filled with school zones, police cameras, speedy moms in Honda Odysseys (or is Odysseys') and of course the businessmen in BMWs...regardless of the danger it's a frustrating 10 minutes each way that has the ability to dictate my entire day.

As I mentioned I don't get out much, but when I do I notice that the driving styles over the years have changed significantly. Is there a connection between mobile phones and our attention spans? I bet there is! Next time you're out driving around take a minute to notice the people behind you -- you'll see either 1 of 3 things:

  1. All you'll see is their ugly face in your rearview mirror. They'll be riding you so close that you won't even know what kind of car they have.
  2. In the distance a zippy car will be going in and out of lanes to pass people. If you're lucky enough to pull up next to them (or them pull up to you), you'll notice a phone and a cup of coffee in their hand
  3. They'll be looking down to see their phone.

You've been warned. In later posts we'll explore some games you can play with these people in order to make your day a little more fun. 
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thank you for your fire drill

9/20/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4794

I'm tired of the thankless fire drills that leave me depleted at the end of my working day

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have computer will travel

9/18/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4792

Either you travel or you don't. Some of us are lucky enough to travel our home countries or the world on the company's dollar and whether it's weekly, monthly or annually you have to admit it's nice to go other places and if you hate your clients and hate seeing the same hotels and conference centers all the time, at least you can rack up the miles & reward points to supply your family with a lifetime subscription to US Weekly and maybe some Omaha Steaks.

For those of us that rarely travel or don't it's tough sitting in our home offices...ehem the homeplaceofthefuture and hearing about other colleagues travel. I am doing everything I can (besides quitting my job) to not become a hermit. Days like today I begin to wonder if I've got the face for the radio and will always be the one keeping the lights on while my colleagues travel the world....yes the world and here I am wondering if I can get another load of laundry in the wash before my next call.
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wear it with pride (yesterday's shirt that is)

9/17/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4791

If you do happen to be seen in public for at least 2 days in a row and you're wearing the same shirt -- it's perfectly fine. Wear it with pride you work from home!

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focus on that nap

9/13/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4791

Even the most organized & 'on it' virtual employee has problems with focusing at the task at the hand. It could be a day or a week -- this is one of those weeks for me. The Europeans are back from their summer holidays and the kids are back in school and per the usual the workload is piling up. Most days we can manage and we get the work done, this week however is not one of those weeks.

I'll say it best with a quote I heard once "
When you have so much to do and you decide to take a nap instead." That's been this week, family issues, car issues, health issues and all while the emails keep coming in, the texts are pouring in and everything is marked URGENT! Like I've said in previous posts when you ignore people long enough they pick up the phone and call and well the phone has been ringing off the hook this week because the homeplaceofthefuture hasn't been as responsive to my 300 emails a day.

Nap time!
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consistency

9/10/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4788

If there's one thing that's consistent in the homeplaceofthefuture it's emails. My Christmas wish every year is to abolish Microsoft Outlook from my life. The more I try, the more emails seems to come into my life.  A zero-based inbox is a myth because once you send out those emails, eventually they come back to you. It's a never ending cycle and it's the most consistent thing in your life. Every organization, every non-profit, everything I'm involved in brings more email into my life. You are a slave to email!

Lately as I've been more vocal about email, my phone rings more. I'm beginning to think it's the cycle of ignoring email and not so much in me telling colleagues to stop emailing me. If you ignore an email long enough you'll get this call.

"Hey _____, this is Jewel did you get my email from Friday night at 11:07 PM?"

I have a set response to this person who we'll call annoying email follow upper.

"Sorry Jewel, I get 300 emails a day and yours is at the bottom of the pile. Why is your email from 11:07 PM on a Friday night so urgent? Are there lives at stake?"

I have literally said that and the response I get is yes, my client is waiting for this update. Really? Is your client really waiting all weekend for your response. I too am a client and I never wait over the weekend for my service providers to get back to me because I know that we are not saving lives here.

If there's one thing you can count on in the homeplaceofthefuture or the workplaceofthepast it's email. It's always there, it's always on your mind and it's generally not worth responding to.
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the biannual cleaning of the home office

9/6/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4784

You know those home office pictures you see on Pinterest? The perfectly stained wood desk, the natural light, limited number of items on a desk with the perfectly brewed cup of coffee next to a Macbook....yeah that's not me (except for the coffee) and I'm guessing it's not you either. For years my home office was a spare bedroom complete with a closet full of clothes and my kids sporting equipment. A few years ago we moved to a new home with an actual home office the size of a New York apartment - small and cramped. I've made it work and I have some ideas on pictures to post later on, but I don't do a lot of cleaning or organizing in there because I work there.
  1. Log in
  2. Sit on some calls
  3. Log off
  4. Shut the door
I spent a good part of Labor Day here in the US cleaning my home office. Why? I don't know, I had the itch to move some things around, throw some old paperwork away and start fresh for the fall season that leads into the holidays. As they say September is the new January and I wanted to get organized and motivated before the holidays. Next cleaning session happens during the holiday when I have more junk to find hiding places for!

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your future is what you make it - so have fun

9/5/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4783

I've realized today that I might be destined to wear the uniform of the virtual worker for the rest of my life. I caught myself daydreaming of working in an office environment again with actual people and dressing up. After years of being home I can't imagine what it's like anymore and I don't think I could do it physically or mentally, but that didn't stop me from wishing I had some physical coworkers to commiserate with today - that's what I miss the most. Complaining over the phone (VPN of course) isn't the same and even though it's a 'secure' line, there's always the concern that my company records the calls or listens for keywords, so I can never really fully vent virtually with my colleagues. Thank goodness for Whatsapp!

Being home is great and there are a lot of perks. It's flexible working hours, I've saved a ton of cash over the years, no commute and my neighbors think I'm a drug dealer. Seriously I have gotten the mail wearing sunglasses and sometimes a hoodie. I've signed for packages looking over my shoulder and my favorite technique is keeping borrowed items in my trunk. Why? Glad you asked...when people come over to get these borrowed items I have to open up the trunk of my car to get them - it looks shady and it drives the retirees NUTS. All they know is I work from home and always wear black.

So there is some fun you can having working from home. It's not the same as placing passive aggressive signage around the office, but it does the trick -- you just have to be creative with your homeplaceofthefuture fun and enjoy it!

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dump & RUN before a three day weekend

9/1/2018

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homeplaceofthefuture daily log 4779

Coming to you live from the homeplaceofthefuture on a Saturday!

What is it about 3 day weekends that make your coworkers go CRAZY? This is some universal insight that I've experienced when in my office days and lucky me it continues to my virtual office. The day before a 3 day weekend is pure anarchy in the business world, everyone fends for themselves.....clean that inbox, request a last minute report, dump all your work on others and it's fine I'll manage! It's a vicious day of the "dump and run".

To drive this home think about the fight scene in Anchorman (the first one). The last group standing is victorious and can leave for the weekend with zero stress and the enjoy 3 days of rest. The other broadcasters (including me) are still on the ground reeling from the virtual trident in my chest.

It's a hard trident to take to the chest when you're virtual because you're home, it's a place of safety, fun and rest but days like yesterday send me to the ground and leave me feeling defeated and also extremely anxious after the rush of dealing with everybody's "dumps". So anxious in fact that you wake up at 5 AM on a Saturday thinking about the brawl from yesterday. 

Did I forget something?
Am I going to get fired?
Did I cross everything off the list?
I owe somebody something right?
Why did my boss ping me right before I logged off double-checking my sales figures?
What else could I be doing at home and making revenue without the stress?
Should I check my email?
Would my coworkers think I'm a complete moron if I checked my email?

Just another day in the homeplaceofthefuture!
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    big cheese

    homeplaceofthefuture thoughts and comments from the boss

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