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Inspired by my own little “ahh” moment, my colleague Steve Masters has drawn on his own experiences as an entrepreneur & stay-at-home working man, to write this piece for us.

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When you go from a corporate environment to working at home, you can’t help but enjoy the sudden freedom you feel. You get access to your own kettle, your own desk or dining table and your own fridge and of course you save all those hours you would otherwise have spent commuting to the office. You can also be more efficient because having less people around you means you have less meetings which, let’s face it, often are nothing more than people wasting time talking about doing what they could actually be doing.

Working from home has great advantages, but it also comes with hazards. You have to be disciplined, avoiding the temptation to stare at the TV or focusing on DIY or sorting out the laundry when you have deadlines to meet. Home working is a lonely affair where you can easily find yourself struggling to get going.

For me, having worked at home for more than a decade, I have no problem with the solitude or the discipline. Instead of being in a room full of people, you surround yourself with virtual colleagues, virtual assistants and clients you “visit” via Skype. No problem there.

There is one thing, though, I have never overcome – the loss of that time I used to spend commuting to London. I would drive to a car park and take a short walk to the train station, then a half hour train journey followed by a tube or bus across London. During that journey I would allow my mind to wander, I would organise my workload or develop ideas. That commuting time allowed me to have my own private brainstorming session, every day. I would get to work energised with a list of actions.

When you work at home, you walk from one room to another and sit down to start working right away – usually checking emails and news first, meaning there is no time to think, to analyse and to plan. Nowadays I find myself seeking out opportunities to get some free-thinking time – I will go to the bank and take an extra half hour to sit in a coffee shop, or I’ll do the school run and then go for a breakfast instead of coming straight home.

Create some time every day to just sit and think, plan, process and brainstorm. That discipline is the hardest one for me to maintain, and for that reason I often find myself envying those who have the luxury of a morning train journey to work.

Steve Masters is an online marketing consultant.
www.dotponto.com/blog

I’m in the market for a Smartphone. Or rather, I’ve been in the market for a mobile phone upgrade since I lost my precious Nokia to the rains of Olivença last October. Give or take, that’s 12 months I’ve been ‘making do.’ And now I’m torn between an iPhone and a Blackberry.

For the majority of those 12 months, that making do hasn’t been a problem. I can still make and receive calls and text messages, but that’s it. On the few occasions that I have been caught short, so to speak, I’ve called in some favours from friends and colleagues and got by.

But now that’s all changed! Recently I upgrade to a sleeker, faster, client base! One where 9-5 just doesn’t cut it anymore. 7-7 more like. 6 Days A Week! Which is great in that my fees have gone up and I can say ‘no’ to ad-hoc-ers if I feel like it. But it does mean that the, “Sorry, I’m out of the office, can I get back to you on that one,” is wearing rather thin.

Blessed are the on-board clients. For they shall offer to pay half.

One of the reasons I am yet to get a smartphone was the outlay. It’s at times like these that I still wish I was in the UK. A handset here would cost me in the region of €500 and that’s before applying tariffs, internet access, 3G or whatever else I needed to get going. AND that’s before Emma goes App Shopping! However, as my ever-insightful hubby says, think of it as a computer, not as a phone and the cost doesn’t seem so hefty. Cost-per-use, say I.

So, I put it off and off and off and then the other week said client says to me that she would offer to pay half the set up costs as it would benefit her enormously and wouldn’t it benefit me with my other clients if I really was fully mobile? “Yes,” I said, “Too right it would. Thank you very much.” And off I went to do my research. My only ‘must have’ is syncing with Outlook. Client requirement. No discussion.

Which is where I became stuck. Because there’s so much choice and not just with a handset. Once you’ve got your phone, choose your tariff, your apps, ring tone… I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

I took a straw pole of my friends on Facebook. iPhone they overwhelmingly said. Although, Karen, bless her heart, said “Blackberry for work, iPhone for play.” The client’s only paying half on one phone, sweetie!

Then I went to What Hi Fi Sound & Vision. It’s a magazine that Loz gets sent over from the UK, by his Mum! Usually, it’s all BlueRay players and cabling (*stifle yawn*), but as the interest and competition in tablets and smartphones has increased, What Hi Fi have taken an interest and undertake great reviews. Much to my joy. They love the iPhone. Period.

I asked a friend in the know. He writes stuff for Apple. “iPhone,” he said. “Can’t be doing with Microsoft.” I’m paraphrasing here as he actual words were unkind (and in Portuguese).

So an iPhone it is. I’m off this weekend to see who’s doing the better deal on their phones and tariffs. And then there’s all the lovely apps one can download.

I may be some time.

About the Author:
Emma Crabtree is a relative new comer to the joys of Apple-ownership. An iMac for a desktop, she supports businesses and individuals worldwide. Red Box Virtual Office can enable you to free yourself from the day to day admin of your business so that you can focus on what you enjoy and what makes you money.  Find out more.