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 »

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 »

What would you do if you had to create a home office from a space just under 169 square feet? Where would you put “your” space — to work, to focus, to ply your trade uninterrupted?

That’s what I’ll face when I take my laptop, wireless Internet connection and other accessories into our Fleetwood Jamboree and try to work efficiently from a make-shift home office for three weeks.

This isn’t really a stretch. It’s bigger than my office at home, which measures right around 140 square feet. But the two are very similar in one respect: Whether it’s 169 square feet or 140, it’s not ALL workspace. In my home office, my desk takes up about 20 square feet (it’s a custom-built beauty, I humbly admit), and the shelving behind me consumes another 10 feet.

Look at the Jamboree’s floor plan, and you’ll see I won’t have much space of my own. The dinette may be my ideal space, but that’s about 21 square feet. The cab-over bed and storage will be another 29 feet. The kitchenette and bathroom are not ideal workspaces, though I’ve been known to get some pretty good reading done in the latter…

Clearly, I’ll have to improvise — and will enjoy doing so. I’ll lose the kitchen table when it’s converted into a bed, meaning my pre-dawn working hours will need some other space. With the awning stretched out, I’ll feed my unusual work chronology by working outside when the spirit and elements cooperate. I’m sure the campgrounds and RV parks we visit will have picnic tables. I’ll work as Robbie drives (oh, the beauty of wireless broadband).

As I’m learning from other RV sites, working from the road is a heavily improvised and ad hoc exercise. If you have some thoughts or suggestions, send them my way…

Are you a mobile home officer? Think you need to work from a home office 9-to-5 to qualify? Think again…

If you run a business from home, then you can be a mobile home officer. If you telework — working a few days each week or month from a home office for a boss someplace else, you can be a mobile home officer.

If you just want to take a stress-free vacation — one that gives you the ability to do a little work comfortably from the road — then you can be a mobile home officer.

Home Office Highway isn’t just for home officers. It’s for anyone who uses technology to improve their workstyle. It’s about laptop computers and wireless broadband connections. It’s about checking email from a campsite in the Smoky Mountains, or working at dawn while watching the sun rise over the Jersey Shore.

It’s about taking the family on the road in a vacation all can enjoy — while mom and dad work a bit and feel less guilty about their getaway.

A marketer recently commented that their audience isn’t “home office,” so Home Office Highway wasn’t for them. This tour isn’t just about entrepreneurs who work from home. It’s about anyone who wants to work and live from the road — doing a little work, journaling about their adventures, even paying their bills online and staying connected with family — from an office on the road.

I just happen to work from home. And this summer, my home — and home office — will be on the road…