Break free from your desk and get to work!
There is something about the first real day of Spring. Winter is firmly defeated and you awake from a dark state of hibernation; there is a world out there, people really do live around you, and you really should stop eating chocolate.
Today was certainly that day, and to celebrate I took a walk in the local park and sat down to a coffee, outside! I took out my mobile phone, made two work related calls, replied to six messages, came up with two new ideas, updated Facebook and serendipitously made a new contact; the bloke at the opposite table.
In that small space of time, I did more work than when I glare into my laptop for hours on end. It struck me that work is process. Work is not a desk.
The desktop computer, with all its excitement, chained us to our booth, and for all the promise and freedom of laptops, they still resembled the layout of a desk. They promote hunched shoulders and tired eyes.
Work is, always was, about location, people, event and moment. A new idea is not inspired from an office booth, productivity isn’t just a word count, and a job well-done is not an empty inbox. A job well-done has a human end – a happy client, a child inspired or a baby born.
Advancements in mobile technology, and now tablets, we are again being presented with a really opportunity to unchain ourselves and get to work. Our only obstruction is our own prejudices of where and when work should be done.
I don’t own a tablet PC. I don’t actually think I need one (technology is now much like a menu that fits individual needs), but I will try harder to stop pretending that work is always done at my desk. I need to utilise one of the greatest tools available to me – my legs.
Do you feel like your time would be better spent away from the machine? What new approaches to work have you developed with mobile and mobile related technologies? Lawyers, Midwives, Managers, Musicians, please feel feel free to leave your comments below.
