More remote-work Stories

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Web workers are required to display the same level of professionalism as their office-bound colleagues, particularly in their interactions with co-workers, business partners and customers. However, if they are not using effective technology, displaying that professionalism can be a difficult task. Read more »

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Working remotely with success takes more than a good playlist: it requires real discipline. The kind of discipline that keeps you at your desk when no one will know if you’re not. The kind of discipline that keeps the television off, and your brain switched on. Read more »

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At the beginning of a new project, it’s easy for the freelance remote worker to leave the decision-making about the project to the client. Often, I find myself thinking, “Well, they know what they want; I’ll let them explain it.” Read more »

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Great companies make it easy for employees to do their jobs, whether they have a cubicle in the corporate headquarters, work out of a remote office or work from their home. By giving everyone remote participation options, you make everyone more productive. Read more »

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We’re always talking about tough clients, bad clients, boring clients. But what about the great clients who are simply having a hard time? When you work remotely, it can be difficult to tell when clients are having trouble achieving a task you need them to do. Read more »

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These days, I tend to think of my approach to work in terms of “work policies”. That way, I get a degree of distance — the kind of distance that makes it easier to see things objectively, and change them relatively painlessly to greater effect. Read more »

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The holiday season gives us many opportunities to make memories. 20 years from now, we’ll reflect back on the fun times and the sad times we’ve had. Many of us are web workers because we want to spend less time commuting to work and more quality […] Read more »

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In planning to work from home, we consider in detail the technicalities, the home office setup, and all the fun, exciting things we’ll do to fill in all that extra time we’ll have. This is, after all, a lifestyle change, and there’s a lot to think […] Read more »

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We’re well and truly into the “business end” of the year. The business end is also the thin end: time, patience, concentration and stamina are all wearing thin right now. Recently, I’ve overheard a few web workers who say they’re sick of working remotely. It can […] Read more »

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We’ve all read the news stories that identify social implications of a world increasingly conducted electronically, rather than in person. It seems that in an environment where individuals and organizations can manufacture themselves new personas, and nothing’s real until we broadcast it across a network of […] Read more »

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In the age of continuous connectivity, many a web worker may feel a sense of wry irony in the fact that often, when we need answers on something, the person we need those answers from is uncontactable. We all diligently plan ahead, so we allow plenty […] Read more »

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Video conferencing is hot, and as such, companies are jockeying for position in the space. The latest to do so is Cisco, which as Stacey reported over at GigaOM, today offered $3 billion — in cash — for Norwegian video conferencing equipment manufacturer Tandberg. As Stacey […] Read more »

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I’ve been working on the web — in one form or another — since 1994, and on the Internet since 1987, so I’ve had a number of years to learn some very tough lessons along the way. In trying to summarize my best advice to someone […] Read more »

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I use public transport a lot. And where I live, public transport is notoriously unreliable. This was getting to be quite annoying, since waiting for trains and trams meant wasting precious work time. Or so I thought. But then one day, standing on a deserted platform […] Read more »

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If you’ve ever been robbed in a public place, you’ll know all too well the feeling of horror that ensues. For the remote worker on the road, that horror increases exponentially with the realization that you’ve lost your work, your colleagues’ details and data, your stored […] Read more »

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It doesn’t matter how focused you are, working from your remote office likely entails more than a few distractions. For each of us those distractions will be different (I just had to break my morning’s work to move my goat to a new patch of grass; […] Read more »

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When a friend of mine heard that I was teleworking, she said “I can’t imagine doing my work without my boss watching my back. What motivates you to get anything done?” I paused for a second, then replied, “I love doing it.” Fast forward to a […] Read more »

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It’s Monday morning — time to get back into the swing of things for another week. When I worked on-site I used to use this time to slide back into office culture and catch up with friends. But if I wasn’t careful, I’d have trouble getting […] Read more »

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Creative block affects us all — not just novelists or artists. Most web working roles involve some sort of creativity. Perhaps we don’t know where to start when we’re commencing a new project (I call this “blank page syndrome”). Or maybe you’re faced with a challenge […] Read more »

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Have you had a break today? It sounds simple enough, but we all know how difficult it can be to drag ourselves away from our desks during the work day. Since we’re not surrounded by colleagues heading out for lunch or coffee, and we all have […] Read more »

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Which days of the week are the most productive for you? We all know that we have different ways of working, and that for each of us, a week (or given work period) represents a cycle, as Angus Kidman reminded us this week. That cycle has […] Read more »

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When was the last time you stepped outside your working comfort zone? Amber’s recent post about business success mentioned having to “do things we’re uncomfortable doing, like … ‘putting ourselves out there.’” Her post reminded us how often we deny ourselves certain possibilities simply because we’re […] Read more »

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It’s become almost commonplace to consider teleworking as a career move. From companies wanting to reduce costs to individuals looking for alternative income streams, there’s no shortage of people interested in this option. But no matter how easy it looks on paper, successful teleworking takes time […] Read more »

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Freelancers can be stubborn about taking vacations. We know that money usually doesn’t come in when we go on a holiday, so we skip vacations and relax during off hours. But we all need vacations or else we’ll head straight for Burnout City, a place no […] Read more »

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Trust is probably the most crucial factor in any working relationship — indeed, in any human relationship. It can be a challenge to engender trust in your colleagues at the best of times, but when you’re not on site with them, it’s even harder. In a […] Read more »

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My employer’s currently on a kick to reduce printing costs, so those in the office are being strenuously encouraged to reduce our print output, and when we do print, to print everything double-sided with black ink only, unless single-sided or colored printing is absolutely imperative. Of […] Read more »

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Many large corporations, and even Federal government agencies, are increasingly interested in launching telecommuting programs as a tool for reducing overhead and for employee retention. However, such programs aren’t turnkey affairs. They require infrastructure, planning and strategy in order to be successful. This post is going […] Read more »

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Employers are increasingly concerned about the risks to their data security posed by telecommuting employees. As a telecommuter, your ability to discuss and address those concerns is important, to make sure that you’re allowed to continue telecommuting, or to convince an employer to let you start […] Read more »

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There will always be times when we need to work overtime to get something finished, or because we take on responsibilities for a colleague who’s on leave, or because we’re trying to get ahead of the game for some reason.

But even without such triggers, many of us find ourselves blurring the lines between work time and down time, which is easy enough to do when your home space is your work space.

If you’re the type of person who tends to find themselves working longer hours, or doing little bits of work when you have spare moments on the weekend, these tips might help you to keep the boundaries between work and personal time nice and clear. Read more »

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I’ve just experienced the worst phone conference of my career. It was a complete shambles, which certainly didn’t inspire any confidence in me about the project the “team” is supposed to be working on.

I’d prepped detailed questions about the project, set a timer on my computer so I was ready to expect the call, and had my project notes handy. I was all ready to go. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t, and the meeting was a failure — almost!

Here’s a quick refresher on the ingredients for a successful phone conference. Read more »

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One of the great things about being a web worker is that you can travel easily: just pack up the laptop, make sure the hotel has Wi-Fi and away you go. But a hotel room just isn’t meant to be an office. While you may have […] Read more »

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Like most people, I’ve worked on both sides of the remote working fence — as a remote worker, and as an office-bound staffer working with remote colleagues. From the latter perspective, there are three things that I really found difficult about working with remote colleagues. If you can overcome these in your day-to-day work, you’ll likely make life easier for yourself, as well as your on-site colleagues. Read more »

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You’ve considered it. You’ve researched the implications. You’ve spoken to your significant other/landlord/dog and made sure they’re comfortable with the idea. You’re all ready to work remotely. All that remains is (cue suspenseful music) to ask the boss. Read more »

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Many of us have left the world of cubicles behind as our jobs increasingly move into the online realm, where physical presence becomes just an occasional part of our work lives rather than a daily grind of commuting in traffic and cubicle dwelling for 40 hours a week. I see more and more people joining the remote web worker ranks every day, and I’m not the only one seeing this trend. What does this mean for us? Read more »

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If sheer consumer will alone could ever put a piece of hardware into production, then the Apple netbook would’ve been made a hundred times over by now, and in some ways it has, thanks to DIY hackintosh machines. Rumors of the real thing are gaining steam […] Read more »

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Let me peel back the curtain here a little. We at NewTeeVee Station are frequently contacted by creators who want us to look at their new web projects, some of which are great, and some of which are so-so. We try and emphasize the great stuff […] Read more »

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Sling to Launch Blackberry Application; SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry, which lets you control your home TV and DVR while on the go, will be available as a public beta starting on Dec. 30. (jkOnTheRun) Macrovision Sells Off TV Guide Network and TV Guide Online; units sold […] Read more »

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Clever founders always eke the most out of every buck. But economic conditions being what they are, even the best bootstrappers could use a little extra help. By now you’ve probably heard of web sites like GasPriceWatch.com, GasBuddy and MSNAutos, which help consumers find the cheapest […] Read more »

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