Your experience of working from multiple places

MiroJB

Registered
I heard this quote from David Allen and it inspired me.

"You can work virtually everywhere if you have a clean compact system and know how to process your stuff rapidly and portably"

I am going to be travelling lots this year and I'm wondering what your experience of this is.

Thanks!
 

kglade

Registered
I have had jobs in which I traveled a lot, at least 50% of the time. It is certainly doable, and you need to prepare your systems for that kind of work.

What helped me most was email, mobile phone, skype, and a good international calling card.
The basic GTD system works well, but I went a little more to paper-based during periods of peak travel. Just my preference to deal with cranky computers, dead batteries, etc.

I also found it worthwhile to buy an airport lounge access card (priority pass). Working in a lounge is much more productive than in the general airport waiting area.

Ken
 

enyonam

Registered
Support Folders

The other thing that's really helped me work on the go, is my action support folder ... as well as my project support folders. So if I need the hard copy version of something to complete a next action, the next action is tagged with an [ASF] for action support folder or [PSF] for project support folder. So a simple review of my next action lists let's me know what supporting folders I grab to take on the go with me.
 
G

Guest

Guest
My laptop is my world. I have a big one and a small one with a hard drive. It saves some space if I just need to work on something outside the office. :)
 

speeding

Registered
I have used GTD with my iPhone & omnifocus since 1 year ago. I collect, think meaning, organize, review, action, I become efficiently than before.
 

ALECPINTO

Registered
Hi,
Great opportunity to create a Travel checklist and a Next time in airport/city checklist.
I updated my agenda to include my wife and son.
Project support folders and a travel stationery kit help (paperclips, selotape, highlighters.)
Your travel bag is your office, so everything MUST fit, have a place, and weigh
 

traveler

Registered
I don't have a real physical office

My job is almost 100% mobile. I have a spot at home to connect up as my "home base" and anywhere I am is my "office. In GTD David Allen refered to this as "hoteling" and at the time of the writing did not see it as effecient or effective because of "mine" thinking. I am curious to know how he feels about it now with the technological advancements like iPads, Evernote, etc. I need a 100% mobile set up and am struggling with how to alter his system to fit my needs. I have not red his other books, does he answer this question in one of them?
 

JStevenson

GTD Connect
Full Time Traveler

MiroJB,

As a Facilitator for the David Allen Company, I am 100% travel (I was on the road 231 of the 250 working days last year). For me, it was more about the approach than it was about the tools. You can be effective regardless of whether you are digital or paper-based. What is important is to set yourself up for success as a road warrior. Some things to consider...

* Airplanes are a great place for me to do my weekly review. No distractions, no interruptions from calls, email, or office drive-bys. Use this time to regain control and perspective.
* Airplanes are also a great place to reduce the volume of your "Read/Review" stack. I carry a Read/Review folder for my physical reading material and keep it in my carry-on. It means I have something more significant for me to read than another airline magazine. I also keep an email folder for Read/Review for the digital reading material for those times when I can/want to get my laptop out.
* I keep my "In" folder in the outside pocket of my bag so that I can drop the things that I collect on the road in to my In Folder easily. One of the bigger challenges I faced as a new road warrior was dealing with all the things that I was collecting on the road (meeting notes, business cards, customer information/requests, etc). Find a way that works for you to capture what is incoming for you.
* While any system can work for you, you will need to consider your ability to access the system when you want. If your trusted system is a web-based or cloud-based system, you are going to find it more challenging to work with if you travel a lot by plane. More and more flights are providing access to Wi-Fi, but many still don't...and the ones that do can be expensive.

Bottom line is that you can make it work! In fact, in a lot of ways, I find that it is easier for me to maintain things now than I did when I was working in the corporate world and spent my days at a desk.

I hope that helps!
 
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