Mobile/remote working
This is particularly necessary now that my partner and I divide our time between Sydney and the Yarra Valley. I’m currently writing this on my Dell Latitude Z from the back deck of the house in the Yarra Valley (yes hooked into wifi). This has probably been my longest stint here so far – about 10 days – and I’ll admit, it has had it’s challenges! The remote working has actually worked well – apart from the fact that this place must have the S.L.O.W.E.S.T. internet speed in the world. Seriously, I’ve been to third world countries with much faster internet speed. Bring on the National Broadband Network!
The bigger challenge
However, the challenges have come about because I’ve also brought my three furry babies with me – Rex, Rocky and Rambo. Let me tell you, trying to get to the airport with 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 piece of luggage, 1 handbag, and 1 wheelie laptop bag (complete with Dell Lat Z, iphone, ipod classic , ipod shuffle, FIip video camera, digital voice recorder, Logitech headset, USB stick, digital camera – and all the assorted cords) is no mean feat. I looked like a crazy cat lady with a weird technology obsession. And that was just the beginning. Once I got to here, my babies had to integrate with the two dogs who live here – Dougal and Groucho – who are not used to sharing the house with three new fluffy white creatures. Oh, and did I mention there are also 3 chickens (Sophie, Emma and Amelia) thrown into the mix?
In case you’re interested, I’m happy to say that little doggie Rambo fit in as if he’s lived here for years. But the cats and dogs are fighting like … well, cats and dogs. I’m hoping there will be a truce soon. In the meantime, we’ve had to separate the house into a dog-wing and a cat-wing. When the dogs do venture into the cat-wing, the kitties have found an old cupboard in which to hide.It’s like The Brady Bunch, with a helluva lot of fur involved.
Work from anywhere
On the plus side, the remote/mobile networking has been a success. Here are my tips:
A road warrior notebook: I’m using the Dell Latitude Z and loving it. If you are serious about working properly when you travel, I just don’t think the little netbooks cut it. I tried them and was forever scrolling up, down and across just to be able to read web pages and documents properly. My Dell has a 16-inch screen and very comfortable keyboard so I don’t even feel that I’m on a laptop. But it’s super skinny so I have the advantage of a sleek mobile computer. Plus with the 8-cell battery I can sit on the deck or work from the nearby wineries (The Innocent Bystander Winery has free wifi!) all day without losing power. (The 4-cell battery lasts about 3 hours).
Syncing applications: I want to be able to access the files on my server in my main office. Currently, I’m using a combination of Google Docs (free) and Sugar Sync (very small fee depending on level of data storage). Although it may make sense to move everything over to the Google Docs platform, as I’ve mentioned, this part of the Yarra Valley can sometimes have the S.L.O.W.E.S.T internet in the world and if you use Google Docs you need to access your documents via the internet. With Sugar Sync, I can sync my files across multiple computers and I don’t have to be connected to the internet to work on them. If I make changes to the documents while I am offline, the changes are automatically updated when I’m next connected. (Thanks to @helencrozier for putting me on to this great app).
Evernote: If you haven’t tried Evernote yet, it’s like having a digital notebook which you can access across all your computers and your iphone. Ok, I admit, I have not done away with a physical notebook (my pink Moleskine is often in my handbag) but I use Evernote for everything from recipes to grabbing bits of text from websites I stumble on, keeping URLs handy and jotting down notes about upcoming projects. I can categorise each “note” into a different “notebook” and the best part is that, unlike my pink Moleskine, there’s no chance I’ll ever forget to pack my notebook because everything is stored in the cloud, ready to access from any computer.
- Other essentials: I love Skype Unlimited World because I can call
over 40 countries (including any landline in Australia) for US$12.95 a
month. Very handy and very cheap because I call the US a lot.
Okay, you don’t really need all the gadgets in this picture to work remotely. But you know what? If I’m going to look like a crazy cat lady with a techno-obsession, I may as well live up to it!
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