The Moveable Office

Community Manager — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:56:00 GMT

Is the corner office passé? For many, the hottest trend in office space is the moveable office.

On-the-Go Offices

Are you a digital nomad?Can you frequently be found working at the best coffeehouse in town? Are you often on the road, working in airports or hotel lobbies?

If you're part of the growing tribe of digital nomads, turn your flash drive into a secret weapon with portable software and a host of efficiency apps.

For a crash-course in on-the-go-offices read Create Your Portable Office with a Flash Drive and 100 Portable Apps for Your USB Stick.

Both articles provide insight into browsers, email programs, and even operating systems that can store your data and settings on a thumbnail drive, allowing you to work from anywhere.

Another upside: once unplugged, your personal data leaves with you, rather than being left behind.

Room-to-Room Offices

If you work from home, your office may be the kitchen or dining room. Home office workers can benefit from a portable office that allows room-to-room moves to take advantage of optimal working conditions.

Home design site Remodelista.com culls through design sources to offer an edited selection of portable office solutions. Check out Office Furniture Carts on Wheels for the "have-files-will-travel" workers amongst us.

Do you have a portable office? What tools or resources allow you to work as a digital nomad? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Road Warrior Rules for Infrequent Flyers

Community Manager — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:04:00 GMT

If you rack up enough travel miles each year to score free round-trip flights to Bora Bora for the extended family, this post is not for you. In fact, you could probably write this post so feel free to chime in with your road-tested expertise. But if you hop only the occasional flight for work, read on to upgrade your road warrior skills.

Low Tech Tips

The term road warrior conjures up ultra-modern imagery but certain low tech tips will make your travel immeasurably more pleasant. Make use of the humble zip lock baggy to corral like items (i.e. cords, batteries, chargers) and to safe-guard against leaking toiletries.

Invest in a wheeled bag that comports to overhead bin sizing as well as a few wrinkle-free dress items such as non-iron shirts, trousers or wrap dresses. Switch up your look with different ties, scarves or jewelry. For additional dress-for-travel-success advice, read Fast Company's Work/Life: Business Travel Vagabond - Fashion Edition.

Finally, book flights that have free WiFi so you can work on the plane and always travel with reading material for the inevitable delays or power-down times when electronic devices cannot be used. For more, read our past post When Your Office is a Starbucks (or a Safari): Tips for the Digital Nomad.

High Tech Tips

Embrace technology. A smartphone doubles as a personal computer so load up on apps that make travel seamless. TripIt is an all-encompassing itineary organizer requiring zero data entry. Just forward all flight, hotel, restaurant reservation e-mails to TripIt and it sorts out an itinerary that can be shared with colleagues or your spouse.

Smartphones can also provide GPS and mapping through Google Maps for navigating unfamiliar cities and review site Yelp makes you feel like a local by providing recommendations on restaurant, salons, bars and other attractions. For more high-tech tools, read these tips from the Travel Insider and Inc.com's Road Tested Technology.

Finally, we also like the first-hand advice in The Secrets of a Road Warrior: How entrepreneur Jeremy Shepherd of PearlParadise.com keeps his sanity on long flights.

Have any road-tested travel advice to share? How do you stay in touch and stay productive when traveling for work? Share your thoughts here by posting a comment!

by Bradley Eggers

Beyond Folders : remote office, mobile office

The Moveable Office

Road Warrior Rules for Infrequent Flyers