No matter how much I love social media, there are some annoying patterns that work better than most sincere ones. None of these bugs me more than the “Why don’t you work/what’s keeping you working like this?” posts. Most of these posts are just engagement farming fertilizer, but they do in fact bring up an interesting question. Are there other methods of working that aren’t just sitting behind a desk?

Examples

Of course, there are tons of great ways to work other than sitting in a barren office beside 100 of your 8-hour-a-day friends talking about everything on the earth other than what you are trying to concentrate on. Not to say I don’t also want to be talking about something else sometimes. And I cherish a few weeks a year in an office with my coworkers, because I too want to put a human face and voice to the online personalities (and of course, discuss sports, food, family, and even occasionally work).

Sharing space with people is a good way to keep connected and not rapidly regress to a hermit-like state, doing all you can do to avoid even the slightest human connection. But when I need to get work done, especially the type that requires concentration, I prefer to be away from people I know and have some desire to speak to. My primary office is at my home.

Obviously, I did my best to clean it up before taking a picture, but this is my little cave where I do my work and record podcasts. At least 80% of my work is done here, and usually more. Simple, comfortable, with enough entertainment to keep me happy, and big screens to see as much as I need.

When I was a full-time programmer, I used the exact same setup, and it was more like 99% of my work was done there. But as a lot of my current job is being somewhat creative, there are times when I work in different places with different devices. For example, as I wrote this, I sat in this coffee shop waiting for a doctor’s appointment:

And afterwards I worked some more in my favorite hot chicken joint in Nashville.

The first draft was done on my iPhone in OneNote. And then a week later, I am doing a final edit on the text in a café/coffee shop eating a bagel and drinking a latte.

I did the same things as a programmer, just far less. Using my iPad to write on is a reasonable task, and when I am coding, there are times when I need to step away from my desk and think and take notes. Sometimes with a full-sized device, and often with my phone stuck in my face.

Writing, programming, whatever, I take inspiration when it comes. I have many times been standing in line to get on a theme park attraction typing away (a few times I have actually been typing in the lesser thrilling parts of an attraction when I had to get it down that moment). When I wrote my first book, a lot of the text was written on an old Palm Pilot phone (green screen!) when I was watching a sporting event (like before the game and halftime… mostly) that my daughter was involved in. I would take it back to my desk and edit it into the text.

But let’s not get completely ridiculous.

Considering I just wrote that I have written on a theme park attraction, what would ridiculous mean? Well, I have frequently seen people ask things like “Why don’t you work on the beach?” Or “..in a hammock?” I just searched for inspiration and a posts says “what’s stopping you from coding like this?” And it has a picture of a computer on a horse. Another has someone hanging off a cliff held up by a wire. Another at a sea with a steering wheel instead of a keyboard.

That’s not the ridiculous I am referring to. Those people are really only trying to get clicks from rage bait. Hey, it works. But my ridiculous is honestly just based on a couple of things. Your surroundings. Some of it is dirt, water, sand. Unless you actually do have a rugged device, those are silly things to try. When the horse gets mad, you are going to be on the ground with that computer.

The one that hits me the most is light. Most inside locations work great, but when people show they are working outside, on a clear day, I can barely see my iPad, and they are very bright devices. I didn’t get a lot of work done the day I tried to work here (which is when this idea for a blog came about!):

So you are always going to need shade or it is going to be tough:

Even in this setup I had to move around a few times to keep out of the direct sun! Tip: anytime you venture out with your electronic devices, you are going to need a waterproof bag. It rains sometimes and you can get really stuck if you aren’t careful.

Conclusion

I personally recommend you work the best way that gets the work done. Especially if you don’t work at home, try to get away a little if you are allowed. Thinking time goes a lot better with fresh coffee made from a human barista.

Big fan of the last sip too.