The True Cost of Commuting (Infographic)

The infographic below shows the cost of commuting in both finances and time – then extrapolates the cost over a 10 year period for an eye-opening revelation. Thanks to Jessica Anderson for sharing this infographic she helped to create.

The numbers on this graphic remind me of a lightbulb moment I had many years ago while sitting in traffic during my daily commute to my job in New Jersey. I, also, took a moment to do the math and realized how much time I was losing just getting back and forth to my physical office.

That realization was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” which has led to over 18 years of me helping people be more mobile and work in The Anywhere Office.

Take a look and be prepared for a shock:

 Click image to enlarge

Via: Streamline Refinance

A bit sickening when you think about it, huh?  Amazing that so many companies still insist on having everyone in a central office when it really isn’t necessary considering these costs.

Post a comment below and share your thoughts!

3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office – webinar replay & follow-up Q&A post

Late last year, I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar for Cisco where I shared my three secrets for turning your office into The Anywhere Office®. In the presentation I discussed how the world of work has changed and that whether you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, telecommuter or remote worker, there are smart ways to work without an office.

In case you missed it – you can watch the replay of  3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office®. In this webinar I share three secrets to mobilize your workstyle and make your business and projects more flexible. These simple steps will allow you to work wherever and whenever you want.

We had a lot of questions during the webinar and not all were answered, so I answered the bulk of them in a 2 part guest blog post I did for the WebEx blog. There were some excellent questions – here are the links so you can check it out:

The Anywhere Office: Collaborating While Working Remotely (Part 1)

In this post I answer these questions:

• How can you stay connected with workmates and interact with your team in a virtual office while avoiding feeling isolated?
• What is the best way to convince ‘old school’ management that this will better for yourself and the company?
• How do you keep the team spirit and consistency in the quality of work when everyone is working from home?
• How do you convince a customer to trust in remote management of his/her data?

If you’re currently a mobile worker, or you’re starting to get more involved with virtual teamwork and remote collaboration the tools and strategies I discuss in this Q&A will help. The key to success is embracing the change about what defines work and taking the time to really think about how business gets done.

So check out the webinar and part 1 and part 2 of my Q&A blogpost on the Webex blog.

If you have further questions, you can post them as comments below or over at the webex blog and I’ll answer them there.

3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office – FREE Webinar

I’m excited to be hosting a free webinar with Cisco/Webex on November 17th titled “3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office®“ as part of their No Office Required series.

Business as usual no longer involves working in a centralized office at set times. Whether you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, telecommuter or remote worker, modern workflow is far more dynamic and individual. There are smart ways to work without an office.

As you know, as a reader of this blog, I’ve created a blueprint for virtual work that I call The Anywhere Office®. In this webinar I’ll shares three secrets to mobilize your workstyle and make your business and projects more flexible. These simple steps will allow you to work wherever and whenever you want.

I’ll show you how to:

• Make your work location independent
• Improve communication and keep people connected
• Manage a virtual team, distributed project group, or ebusiness across time and distance

Click here to view Cisco's Interactive Infographic - The Future of Workplace Mobility

This recent Cisco interactive infographic  serves as  a great visual representation of The Anywhere Office® concept I’ve been talking about for the last decade and will be discussing on this upcoming webinar. It shows the current and future state of workplace mobility. As Cisco states “Long commutes and being in an office at a certain time with limited flexibility is gradually becoming a thing of the past. The future will see an increase in workplace mobility creating the “anywhere office,” a place where employees can work anytime from anywhere.” By 2013, mobile workers will make up 35 percent of the worldwide workforce. While that leaves out over half of the global workforce, it shows us a new world of opportunity.  Are you shifting your business to “The Anywhere Office®?”

Who should attend

This webinar is perfect for anyone who must coordinate with co-workers, clients, vendors, or contractors across time and distance: project managers, program directors, team leaders, project coordinators, or anyone in a leadership role for a virtual team or distributed project group. This includes freelancers, entrepreneurs, telecommuters and remote workers.

Make sure to signup today and reserve your spot.  Even if you can’t make the live event you will be emailed a link to the recording so you can still benefit from all the tips and strategies I’ll be sharing.

I’m looking forward to a fun webinar and I hope to see you there!

Mobile Printing with FedEx Office Print & Go (win a free test kit)

If you’re a mobile worker on the go, one of the challenges you’ve probably faced is how to print your documents when you’re on the move.  Maybe you’re on the road meeting with clients, or on your way to make a presentation, and need to get some handouts or a report printed.  Well here’s a solution – a great service I tested recently from FedEx Office called Print & Go. It lets you print from your mobile device or USB flash drive at more than 1600 FedEx Office locations. I was very impressed with how well it worked, so I want to explain what it does and how it works as I know for many of you it’s probably just what you have been looking for.

Let me start by letting you know, in the spirit of transparency, that I was contacted by the folks at FedEx as they were looking for bloggers in the mobile work space to review this new service.  They sent me a “test kit” which included a 512 MB USB flash drive pre-loaded with instructions on how to use the service and a $25 FedEx Office gift card to cover the cost of anything I chose to print with the service.  They also offered to provide a similar “test kit” for me to giveaway, so make sure you read to the end of this post to find out how you can enter to win.

With FedEx Print & Go you can print from your iPhone^®, BlackBerry^® smartphone,  Android^TM phone, or USB flash drive. I tested the service with my iPhone 4 as well as the USB flash drive they sent me.

Their service allows you to print to any of their self-service machines. What can you print you ask?

• Accepted file types include Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe PDF documents. (Update – the service now also supports JPG, TIF, and other image formats)
• To print other formats, or for binding and other finishing options, you can see a FedEx Office employee at the store.

To begin using FedEx Office Print & Go from your iPhone, BlackBerry smartphone, or Android device you first have to download the HP ePrint app.

I jumped to the Apple App store and downloaded the HP ePrint app. This app lets you do more than print to the FedEx Print and Go service.  It also lets you print to other public print locations as well as to wireless HP printers that support AirPrint.

The app wanted to use my current location to find nearby public print locations so I clicked OK.  It then asked me to create an account with my email address. I receive an activation code via email and enter into the app and clicked activate to complete the registration process. Read more

Cloud Constraints: Relieving the Pressures Working at Home Creates

This is only the second guest post we have had here on The Anywhere Office. I was delighted when Ripley Daniels approached me about writing this for the blog. As someone who has been working virtual for years and now works with a company that is completely remote she has some great lessons learned to share about making the shift to virtual work.

I was just talking with someone the other day about when I first started working primarily from my home office.  The adjustment period took at least 6 months for me to find my workflow and adjust to my space (or adjust my space to my work).  Ripley shares some essential strategies here to help make the transition easier.

Thanks for the great article Ripley . . . take it away . . .

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Being a telecommuter may seem like a dream come true but there are often many aspects of working from home that can cause tension, stress and even depression. For most people, transitioning from an office environment to a home office is both daunting and difficult. The office environment facilitates a social setting where you interact with your co-workers throughout the day. Working from home immediately limits your opportunity to socialize and at times can create a sense of isolation that can be hard to adjust to. Another possible change you will undergo is balancing your work and home life. This can be extremely challenging as working from home blurs the lines.

In order to get the most out of your telecommuting experience, it’s important to have a strategy. Here are some simple steps to help relieve the pressure and tension that working at home might create:

1. Create a specific work space. There is nothing more distracting than trying to work in front of the television or in a common area where the children might be playing or your spouse might be on the phone. If possible, turn a guest room into a home office where you can set up a desk, computer and other office supplies as well as where you can hold conference calls and teleconference calls without any distractions or disruptions. If you do not have an additional room or space, designate a Read more

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