Working From Home

over 2 years ago

Episode 2 of Craig Ambrose's podcast series on freelancing is excellent, and relevant to those outside the Rails crowd too. Highly recommended listening.

In it he talks about how to build good work habits without the routine of an office. I've learnt a lot of the lessons in there the hard way, and am still learning some.

I find it very hard to build good habits, simply because I'm easily sidetracked. For example, I'm currently trying to get back into regular exercise again, but I can easily get to the end of the day without even thinking about it.

To help remember, I have Joe's Goals set as my browser home page. I put things like "Go for a run" or "Start work by 9" in there, and it gives me a nice mental prod every time I open a new browser window. I also get to put nice green ticks in when I do things, and seeing how I'm doing over time is good reinforcement. (I'd prefer gold stars or elephant stamps, but nothing's perfect.)

Finally, my favourite quote from Craig's podcast:

"Even if you're crippled, at least you can still code."

Priceless advice.