Working On The Go [creating a mobile office].

I think we can all agree that work is changing, right?  The way we work, how much we work, when we work and most importantly, WHERE we work has changed dramatically over the last 10 years.  Companies are shifting their ideas and expectations by offering employees the “here is the deadline, just get it done” approach.  I love this mentality and I think it is incredibly “forward thinking” for companies and businesses to allow their employees (when possible and applicable) to work from where they feel the most creative and motivated as long as they meed the deadline.

Due to more and more peeps OUT of offices, what I see is more and more people in coffee shops, parks, restaurants and various other outside the box spaces working away.  This is also especially true if you work for yourself ~ here’s a post I wrote on this last week offering ideas and tools on staying productive while working for yourself…   I mean, in this day and age, it really doesn’t take much for this, right?

Creating a mobile office is very easy and can be even more efficient if you take a few minutes and think through what you need for these times so you only have to pack once rather than reinvent the wheel every morning.  In essence, this planning takes away having to think about it.  You will be prepared and ready for uber productivity once you hit the coffee shop or mountain top!

Take a minute and think through what would be beneficial to have with you when you’re working away from your home or office… Consider this a 12 minute project!  Many of you probably have a specific laptop bag or another type of tote that houses your tools.

What is this for you?

Mine consists of my Lenovo lapop (in it’s case with cord & mobile mouse), my second brain [I would never leave home withouth this], my pen that goes with my second brain, dropbox [allows you to transfer/share files via the cloud - very useful], gotomypc.com [connects me to my home computer to have access to everything remotely], my iphone [for returning voicemails and the apps I might need, but most importantly for the timer to move from task to task].  I also always have a file pocket of any project papers specifically I will be working on and of course my favorite cool or warm drink.  That’s pretty much it… considering the dropbox & gotomypc.com are ON my computer, I really only have about 4 items with me at any given time for maximum productivity.

My mobile office looks something like this….

And the view I most often see when working from my favorite Starbucks is this….

Not bad, eh?

Do you have a mobile office and if so, have you taken the time to make sure you have your items together and ready to go at all times?  If not, I encourage you to write down what you need to be successful away from the office so that you don’t miss one second of productivity when you’re working on the go!

If I haven’t mentioned something that is a must use tool for you in your mobile office, please share in the comments below so we can all learn from one another.