Long-time home office architect Neal Zimmerman has created a killer new concept for the home office genre: The Getaway Space.

And with a little extrapolation, think about how a shed, cottage — or recreational vehicle — could suit your home office needs.

Not so much a home office or site for a home-based business as a retreat for anyone, the spaces seem part entrepreneur-minded, and part Henry David Thoreau-esque escapism. It’s even ideal for the teleworker who needs a space away from home to get work done.

Neal explores backyard pavilions and personal getaway spaces. He shows why, how and where people are building them, and showcases custom designs, and myriad examples of prefabricated modular units that can be shipped anywhere in the world and quickly assembled. Read More »

As an occasional road warrior and home office worker who often has to travel — but not SO often that I’m damn good at it, I’ve lamented in the past about where to put my stuff.

Cables, power bricks, batteries, chargers and the like often just get dumped in the bottom of my laptop case — much to my own chagrin when I actually need to go hunting for that ONE adapter, cable or device that I need NOW.

I’ve been like The Seeker from The Who, searching for the The Answer low and high. I’m apparently not alone: Teleworkers and road warriors have the same issues. And my wife returned from a nurse practitioner’s convention recently with a media case that included retractable Ethernet, USB and ear-bud cables, along with a flash drive and a mini-USB hub. Very cool, though I have no idea what Pulmicort Respules (budesonide inhalation suspension) is…

I think I’ve finally found it in the Skooba Design’s Deluxe Cable Stable. Read More »

Cloudworker. Duh!

When Plantronics launched a survey to better understand remote and home office workers — and then held a competition to rename the poorly understood term “teleworker” — I considered what phrase I could coin that would stick.

Telecommuter and teleworker obviously had wallowed in oblivion since the 1970s and 1990s, respectively.

SOHO-dweller? Nope. Home Officer? Uh-uh. “That guy who works in his underwear instead of driving into the office.” That’s a bit cumbersome and conjures a rather bothersome visual.

Then some dude named Venkat Rao came up with “Cloudworker.” It defines “those of us who work from several locations in one day; communicate on multiple devices and with multiple applications; integrate work and personal lives; and provide 24×7, ‘always on’ service to customers.”

Eureka! Google “cloud computing” or search this site and see how often it comes up. Heck, I “cloudworked” from bed last night while watching Monday Night Football. Read More »

This past summer, as my family camped outside Concord, Mass., as part of my home office adventure called Home Office Highway.com,  I sauntered into a great wood. I was seeking the spirit of Henry David Thoreau. I was looking for peace and solitude among the evergreens and the crickets.

And I became lost.

I’d ventured off the beaten path onto a road less traveled. And for good reason. As dusk grew dark, it gets freakin’ scary in deep woods unknown. And that’s exactly where I found myself — without a Bushnell BackTrack personal GPS nativation system, locator and compass ($73). Read More »

Are you Steve?

Laptops and air travel seemingly go together like booze and car keys. Both get you stopped by authorities, but only one gets the nod once opened (that is, once the laptop is exposed for TSA’s trained eyes, you’re [usually] free to proceed]).

Laptop carry case companies have struggled to create TSA-approved cases that will speed the security process without forcing the laptop-carrying public from pulling out the hardware.

Belkin and Skooba seemingly have succeeded. The humorous graphic above was created to support the Skooba Checkthrough checkpoint friendly laptop bag ($139). The bag looks and functions like a high-end business case, but is designed and rigorously tested to be “checkpoint-friendly,” so you can run it through airport x-ray screening without removing your computer. Read More »

REVIEW: Even as a home officer, I can be an occasional road warrior. I go to hockey tournaments, host television media tours from NYC, watch Gator games at UF, and generally do my part to support the travel and lodging industries.

And, invariably, those trips involve sleep on the road.

So I often bring along that horse-yoke inflatable collar / pillow-like thing that’s supposed to keep me comfortable when I’m stuck in an airplane seat or slummin’ it at LaGuardia when bad weather’s cancelled my flight home.

What is the traveler to do? Blow up your TravelRest pillow. Read More »