The author states ” In upstate New York, a growing accpetance of teleworking could eventually spur a population migration toward rural towns throught of as nice places to live, but far from where the majority of jobs are located.”  Wouldn’t that be wonderful? The problem is getting more acceptance of telecommuting, which often (and maybe rightly so) requires proving yourself to your employer first as a full-time in-the-office worker and branching out to telecommuting gradually.

With the option of telecommuting, at least part of the time, my husband can now work from his hometown in Maine -allowing us to take that extra day of travel and avoid some of the heavy weekend traffic when we visit. And with ancillary devices, such as smart phones, one can even create their own mobile hot spot for accessing the Internet.   

The site says “With drop-and-go charging for up to four devices at once, myGrid takes the hassle—and the cords—out of charging your mobile devices. Just put a Power Sleeve™ or Power Clip on each of your handheld devices and then you can simply place them on myGrid to charge. myGrid works with most cell phones, including Apple,® BlackBerry, Motorola, and Nokia as well as most handheld MP3 players.”

I’d like to hear how well it works. It looks pretty neat to me.

And if these pricey but planet friendly items don’t appeal to you I think everyone will get a kick out of the electric piano dining table. It’s a space saver that is pretty cool!

I have been slow to embrace all that technology has to offer. Really. I mean, I just started texting this year and I think I’ve hit the 10 texts mark. My main problem with technology is that there will always be something better, something faster, something sexier.  And these gadgets are not cheap.  The question is, for how long will I just dip my toes in the water, lurking at the edge, hesitating? When will be the right time to pony up the cash and just do it?  I decided I really need to get my act together and embrace this digital age in which we live.

Alas, I was very sad when I went to the Verizon store to upgrade to a smart phone and realized that unless I want to pay $600 for the Palm Pre (which I really, really want) I will have to wait an entire year before I am eligible for another upgrade. (My last phone met its watery death thanks to a wayward bottle of apple juice and I had to buy a new phone out of sync with my plan).

Drat. I don’t want to switch service providers unless someone can give me a great (I mean really great) reason to get the iPhone, so I suppose I’ll spend the next year reviewing the 50 new phones that come on the market. And making sure it’s time to swim.

I watched the video and while I can certainly see the benefit I have to admit I thought it was a little creepy. It got me to thinking about privacy issues as well. It’s easy to hear the footsteps of someone walking up behind you, however this robot is a bit like Elaine’s sidler. It’s hard to tell how much noise the robot puts out on the video but maybe a few jangly bells around its “neck” are in order.

The benefits, once you get past the silliness of talking to a robot as if it is a physical human, could be quite valuable. Despite conference calls and web sharing, it is important to have face time with colleagues. It is easy to forget or to pay little attention to someone who isn’t in front of you on a day-to-day basis. I never bought that absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder line. I think absence makes you forget, simple.

But the cost of a robot? There are no figures available for this robot, however using Skype a couple times a week for meetings might be a better bet. And a little less creepy.

As a work-from-homer I  agree with this . Just ask my husband. My organization skills sometimes drive him crazy. In fact one of my favorite “hobbies” is purging the house of stuff. If I haven’t used it in the last six months it’s outta here.

To maintain productivity in the home office and simply keep track of what projects I am working on I create folders for each of the three societies I manage. The folders are key to my organization, though my system certainly wouldn’t work for everyone. I have one file drawer next to my desk for Open Projects. In that file drawer are three file folders, one for each client. Within each folder is a notepad with a list of current projects, notes for follow-ups, etc. On any given day that I am working I can take out one file folder and know exactly what needs to be worked on and what needs to be followed up. I also keep a master calendar with the dates for each Board meeting I attend as well as the workshops I organize.

Each association also has it’s own filing cabinet. Each cabinet is well organized and I credit that to lack of actual paper. I could have years of membership applications stuffing the files full, however I digitize the past years materials every month, using a document scanning service called Pixily.  This not only provides greater ease when searching for a document, but I can also create multiple back-ups to distribute to the Presidents of the societies. I once heard a horror story about years worth of paper destroyed from a flooded basement where the files were being kept. No one wants boxes of materials filling their office or their basement, but a few discs are okay by most everyone.

As a telecommuter I really believe organization is key to success.

I picked out. Most mornings it is a pleasant place in which to work.  This morning, however, I feel like I am at the zoo. I live in a neighborhood, but the area is somewhat rural meaning I see the occasional turkey trotting through the yard, some bunnies, something that appears to be a woodchuck, and this morning a swarm of geese.

For the past 30 minutes they have been honking away, LOUDLY. Shutting the windows doesn’t drown out their noise. It is like nothing I have ever heard at my house – it appears they are having some type of “discussion”- and it is completely and totally distracting.

A telecommuting background is enormously helpful when one is away on vacation or business. You might argue that no one should be working while on vacation (with which I agree) but in today’s world it is usually necessary to at least check email. I find this is necessary just to avoid the deluge in my inbox upon returning (I find it incredibly stressful having to spend an entire day sorting through those emails to make sure I haven’t missed something of extreme importance).

I am on vacation this week but working a couple of hours in preparation for an upcoming workshop that I must coordinate when I return. If I wasn’t already used to finding wireless hotspots, handling almost all communications by email and, occasionally, cell phone, and comfortable working alone, I would have a great deal more stress about accomplishing what needs to be done so that all is in order when I get back.

If employers get their employees used to telecommuting and comfortable with accomplishing their tasks away from the office desk, it will be easier for employees to handle, quickly and effectively, emergencies that may come up when they are away.

There’s a good interview on US News & World Report’s site about moms finding creative ways to work.  The interview is  with author Sharon Reed Abboud about her book “All Moms Work: Short-Term Career Strategies for Long-Range Success”.