So quite a few of us were adversely affected by the volcanic ash and airline disruptions not least by a lack of fruit salad apparently.  Now I lost my eldest daughter in England for an extra week - but workwise that kind of worked out well.  Whenever there's a train strike, or fuel blockade, or volcano pumping jet engine clogging ash into the atmosphere - well it doesn't stop me from working - not even a little bit.

This is because I'm setup to work remotely - working remotely is what I do - our customers are from all over, their customers are from all over, and yet we can all communicate without leaving home. 

Email is faster than the post - even without exploding volcanoes.  I can share large quantities of complex information almost instantaneously using just a mobile phone or a computer, why i can even do it with my Nintendo Dsi.  I can communicate with someone on the other side of the world, using video, or make a conference call without paying for a phone call - by using anyone of the plethora of VOIP tools with webcam options out there: skype, yahoo messenger etc.  Whats more - I'm used to doing it - it's normal for me to communicate this way, just as normal as sitting in an open plan office all day - but with less distractions.  In fact, if I think about it - when I worked in an open plan office all day - it was considered polite to communicate where possible by email, rather than going up to someone's desk uninvited and disturbing them - and quite right too. 

My office is where I am - as long as I have my laptop with me, and sometimes an internet connection is necessary.  By replying inline to emails - long going conversations can be tracked, and you don't forget what you said last week exactly - its sitting in your mailbox.  We use google's dropbox - with individual folders we can share with our customers - they can keep track of what we're doing and documents can be updated and synced easily. Filing was never so easy as this, and we just sent the accountant a link to our invoices for the last tax year.   I can also make myself available for quick chats and queries when its necessary - by being online on my skype account.

Cottage industry is not a step back - its a step forward - the factories and mills have closed and its time to leave the cities and do something more interesting instead. Or you could stay in the city and do something more interesting instead - if you prefer cities.  Cut the commute, turn the offices into affordable housing, and reduce time wasted by employees playing mindfield and chatting about football/eastenders/coronation street (delete as applicable).  If you have a garden, why not try growing potatoes - this is the essence of potato-based web design - it cuts costs, improves working conditions, and is fairly good for the environment as well.

Also - when a volcanic ash cloud strikes - if you have your own strawberries - you can still have your fruit salad.

Some things to do in your screen breaks when working from home:

• Stick a load in the washing machine.
• A bit of light weeding, nothing that involves gloves.
• A quick lope up to the top of the hill to look at the view.
• A nice cup of tea and a look at the view out of the window/from the doorstep.
• Open some bills - warning: this can cause you to return to work too quickly.
• Put your dinner in the oven.
• A short spot of power yoga.
• Plant a plant.
• Pick some strawberries.
• Change that fuse that blew last week.
• Feed the guinea pigs.
• Cut some flowers and put them in a vase.
• Check for eggs - not suitable for vegans.
• Pace backwards and forwards whilst muttering to yourself in order to solve a problem - without fear of ridicule.
• Investigate that strange sound coming from the roof.

Obligatory links (a mixed bag) - hope they help:

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue57/guy/

http://www.google.com/calendar/

http://www.technotheory.com/2008/04/how-to-work-remotely/

http://www.flexibility.co.uk/flexwork/general/nextra2001.htm

http://basecamphq.com/

http://www.microscope.co.uk/managing-business/in-depth-clear-benefits-of...