disengage.ca a quest for the technomadic lifestyle

hmm.

Posted by drew

Well, judging by the fact that it's been a month since my last post, combined with the fact that I'm only blogging when I'm working outside the home, it would seem that my quest is not going quite as well as I'd have liked. Turns out it's actually very difficult to get motivated to leave the house in the morning when you don't technically have to...

Well - I guess I can't really count it as a full month, seeing as eight (of a possible 20) working days were spent travelling to, partying in and returning from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Burning Man was amazing, as expected - really it was far, far more than that, but as our travelling crew decided on the way home, trying to describe the experience to someone who hasn't been there is pretty much futile - you come off sounding like a cross between a religious zealot and a Pigeon Park loony. The closest I could come up with was "the universe constantly astounding me with how spectacularly beautiful it can be". See? Loony.

Returning from my epic adventures, I seem to have slipped into a routine that isn't at all what I was trying to achieve - in fact, I'm a lot less productive than I was in New Brunswick. This is serving to reinforce my belief that working in an office is better than working at home simply because it's a different environment. Lately I've been getting up in the morning, making breakfast and coffee, and sitting at my desk for the next eight to ten hours, getting perhaps four to six hours of work done. This is wasting both my time and what remains of the beautiful Vancouver summer weather we've been having. There'll be plenty of time to slack at home once the rains set in. So why can't I seem to get motivated to get out and ride my bike to a coffee shop somewhere?

I guess the question becomes - is an office more productive because it's an environment tailored to (or mentally associated with) working, or is it more productive simply because it's not home? I find myself constantly distracted in my home "office", due in no small part to my being surrounded by my favourite things.

The most productive working environment so far was working in an unused meeting room in my father's law office in New Brunswick - basically a featureless white room. I mean, there were a few unremarkable paintings on the wall, but apart from that it was a table, a few chairs, and that's it.

Anyhow - today I'm splitting tasks - I spent a few hours this morning working from my desk in my apartment, then showered, shaved, and responded to an emergency tech support housecall from a girl I've been seeing. Sweet! An actual excuse to get off my ass and get out of the house - and you know what? It's not so bad. I'm writing this from a Blendz coffee shop (note to self: Blendz has free wireless) on Robson Street. Robson isn't exactly the most calm, quiet street in the city, so it's been somewhat difficult to maintain focus - but at least I'm out of the house.