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Work-From-Home Productivity Tips

Picture of a home office

I don’t normally blog about work. Doing so can lead a whole host of problems that I just don’t want to have to deal with. However, I thought it was worth mentioning that, in just over a week, I will be starting a new job.

My new job will allow me to work from home at least some of the time.

With that in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to try and find some tips for maintaining productivity while working from home.

Here are a few of the tips that I found, as well as some notes about how I might be able to make them work in my own situation:

  1. Define a workspace: The first tip that just about everyone recommends is that you need to create a workspace that is separate from the rest of your home. When you’re in this space, you’re in work mode. When you live in a small, one-bedroom apartment like I do this can be difficult. But, just as it is when I’m working on freelance projects, my workspace will be my computer desk. I may also create a second user account on my laptop to be used for work purposes, to strengthen the divide between work space and personal space.
  2. Take regularly scheduled breaks: Another tip that turned up fairly often in my reading is the importance of taking regularly scheduled breaks. Because an at-home worker doesn’t have his day broken up by the occasional socialization that tends to happen in an office environment, it’s easy to get burnt out on the project at hand. By taking regular breaks your mind gets a quick rest, which helps to prevent the frustration and burnout that can be caused by sitting at your desk all day. My own ideas for acting on this are to try and take a 15 minute coffee break in the morning and again in the afternoon, and to actually close the laptop and move away from my workspace for lunch (even if that just means walking to the kitchen table).
  3. Plan your day: Making a to-do list for the day is a big tip given to those who plan to work from home. Because there is more potential for distraction at home than in an office environment, planning your day and making sure that you finish all of the items on your to-do list will help to keep you on track. I already do this in my current job, so this will be an easy tip for me to follow.
  4. Get out of the house: Because you work and live in the same place, you’ll sometimes need a change of scenery in order to get your brain firing on all cylinders. Identify places where you can get work done without distractions when you need to get out of the house. Coffee shops and libraries are good choices, especially if they provide free Wi-Fi. In my case, I’ll also have access to an office. If I’m finding that I need a change of scenery—or if I simply find that I’m getting too distracted at home on any given day—I can head into the office and get my work done there.

Those are just a few of the tips that I plan to employ in order to be productive on days when I’m working from home. Others include making sure that my desk (and my entire apartment, really) is kept free of clutter and making a point of getting out of the house at least once a day, whether that’s at lunchtime or at the end of the workday, so that I don’t go crazy from cabin fever.

And now, some things I’d love for you to share in the comments:

  • Do you work from home?
  • Have you ever worked from home in the past? If so, why did you give it up?
  • Do you have any productivity tips that I didn’t cover in my post?

Note: The picture at the top of the post is not a picture of my setup. I snagged it from Flickr user Paladin27.

Posted in Personal.

5 comments

By Adam Snider – February 4, 2010

Alien Apocalypse Drinking Game

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to my Amazon.ca affiliate account. If you purchase anything after following these links, I’ll get a cut of the profit.

On the weekend, Sara and I watched a movie that I got for Christmas. This movie, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, was Alien Apocalypse.

It was one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

Now, I kind of expected the movie to be bad. After all, the star of the movie—Bruce Campbell—is the king of the B-movie. But Alien Apocalypse goes beyond B-movie cheesiness into the realm of the just plain bad.

For one thing, the acting is terrible. I’d say that pretty much the entire cast, with the exception of about 2 or 3 actors, was made up of people who have never acted before.

In addition to bad acting, there are a multitude of ridiculous visual effects. The worst of these is probably the fact that many of the extras (and even some relatively significant characters) were wearing obviously fake beards; they were of no greater quality than those you’d find at a costume store near Halloween.

The aliens looked ridiculous, and the action scenes seemed to consist of an endless loop of the same lumber pile exploding every few minutes.

Cover art from Alien Apocalypse

I could spend hours talking about how ridiculous the plot is. Instead, I’ll just some it up in brief:

  • Bruce Campbell is part of a NASA team sent into space 40 years ago to set up a deep-space probe (this is referred to as “the Probe Mission;” even their uniforms simply say “Probe Mission” on them). They have been in cryogenic status the entire time (minus a few minutes spent actually launching the probe, one assumes).
  • Bruce and his team return to Earth to find themselves in the middle of a barren landscape. They soon find that this is where Portland, Oregon used to be.
  • The team is captured by “bounty hunters” and taken to a lumber mill where they are to be used as slave labour.
  • The bounty hunters decide that their masters will reward them greatly for capturing the spacemen, and take them to their leaders.
  • It is revealed that aliens have conquered the Earth. They like to eat humans, and decide to feast on one of Bruce’s teammates. The black guy always dies first.
  • The team is put into a dungeon where a fellow prisoner tells them what has happened while they were in space: aliens came and took over. They eat humans and wood. They’re shipping the lumber from the mill back to their home planet and making a lot of space-money in the process. The humans are slaves, but some believe that the President of the USA lives in the mountains nearby, gathering an army of free slaves.
  • Bruce and his female teammate (and lover) escape, along with one of the slaves.
  • They find a hot chick. Her entire purpose is to look hot.
  • They find a village of free slaves and go in search of the President.
  • The President lives! (But he’s a bitch and refuses to fight; he’s been sitting around painting for the past 20 years, claims that he’s given it all he’s got.)
  • Bruce Campbell and crew go back to the village and make their own army. They attack the aliens who, despite having vastly superior technology, are absolutely inept fighters and don’t even attempt to fight back as they’re slaughtered.
  • An alien armoured personnel carrier (APC) shows up and shoots a bunch of missiles. The same woodpile explodes about 20 times. The rebellion is quelled.
  • The alien leader lines up the humans and says that if the human leader doesn’t reveal himself, he will kill them all.
  • “I’m Spartacus!“
  • The President, who decided to stop being a bitch, shows  up with a second wave of fighters and they kill the aliens again. The APC retreats only to return moments later with a bunch more aliens. This group of aliens actually knows how to fight, and a bunch more humans are killed until, out of nowhere, two of them have Molotov cocktails, which they use to destroy the alien APC. Bruce cuts up the remaining aliens with a sword that he mysteriously found at some point off-screen.
  • Bruce tells the President that they’re going to attack the next mill tomorrow and that they won’t stop until all humans are free. The end.

Now, there is a lot more detail I could get into. Most of it is awful.

But…

I think that Alien Apocalypse would make a great drinking game. Seriously. You should rent or buy this movie solely for the purpose of turning it into a drinking game. I haven’t figured out all of the rules yet, but here are a few:

  • Every time a handshake is denied, take a shot.
  • Every time “hot chick” furrows her brow, take a shot.
  • Every time people chant, “The President lives,” take a shot.
  • Every time the aliens eat someone’s head, take a shot.
  • Every time you see the same woodpile explode, take a shot.

By following even just these 5 rules, you’ll probably die of alcohol poisoning, but I’ve got a few more:

  • Every time you spot a fake beard, take a shot.
  • Every time someone says, “What’s a doctor?” or some variation thereof, take a shot.
  • Every time someone mentions “the Probe Mission,” take a shot
  • Every time you find yourself thinking, “How can giant, termite-like aliens, who probably don’t have vocal chords, speak English?” take two shots, because you’re clearly over-thinking this ridiculous movie.

9 rules. I’ve come up with 9 rules already, having only seen the movie once. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, I want to line up some shot glasses and try this drinking game.

Sara suggested that, if we were to play, we’d have to put all of the rules into a hat and have each person draw 2 or 3. If we followed all of the rules, we’d all die of alcohol poisoning before the movie was over.

But there is it, the Alien Apocalypse drinking game. Please play responsibly. (And, if you’ve seen the movie, and can think of any rules that I haven’t included, please leave them in the comments.)

Posted in Humour.

4 comments

By Adam Snider – February 1, 2010

Art Gallery of Alberta Social Media Tour

Picture of the Art Gallery of Alberta

On Monday, the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) hosted a tour of the new gallery building for local bloggers and social media mavens. I was invited, but had to cancel at the last minute, because something came up at work and I wasn’t able to leave the office early enough to make the event.

Thankfully, plenty of other bloggers did make it out to the event, so I thought I’d point you in the direction of some of their posts about the tour.

There are a number of other blog posts and Flickr photostreams documenting Monday’s tour, but the ones I’ve listed above are some of the ones that I felt were more interesting. Mack did a pretty good job of linking to all of the other posts on the subject, so definitely check out his post for a more complete list of Edmonton bloggers who wrote about the new Art Gallery of Alberta.

Posted in Edmonton.

1 comment

By Adam Snider – January 27, 2010

The Bothy: Wine, Whisky and Haggis

Last night, I visited the Bothy for the second time. While there, I ate haggis for the first time.

Both experiences were excellent.

Top Notch Nosh

I’ve been to the Bothy once before, as I said, with the sole intention of trying a bunch of different scotches. But, when I saw that they also had a small dinner menu, my friends and I decided to have a meal there, as well.

I’m glad we did.

While the Bothy’s focus is on serving excellent wine and whisky (they’re a bar, not a restaurant, as I was reminded during a conversation with one of the owners last night), they’ve got an amazing chef in their kitchen who has created some of the best meat pies around.

On my first visit to the Bothy, I tasted the chicken and leek pie with a side of salad greens ($15). I can say, without hyperbole, that it was the best meat pie I have ever tasted. My table mates enjoyed the other two meat pie options—steak and mushroom ($16), and vegetable provencal ($14)—and indicated that they were both damn good.

Wonderful Wines

As for the drink menu, they have about 15-20 types of wine-by-the-glass, served up using their fancy Enomatic wine system, as well as a much larger selection of wine from the cellar that is available by the bottle (and, occasionally, by the glass, as well). I haven’t tasted any of the wine offerings, but Sara and my friend Amanda both had a few different types last night, and seemed pleased with all of them.

Either they’ve got terribly unrefined palates, or the Bothy has a great wine menu.

Splendid Scotch (and Other Whiskies)

The scotch selection is even larger than the wine selection, with something like 140 bottles available, including some very rare selections that may not be available anywhere else in the city. Prices range from about $6.50 all the way up to $60-something per glass, with a few of the rarer choices also being available by the bottle (assuming that a full bottle is available, which isn’t always the case).

A brief discussion with one of the owners suggested that the scotch menu isn’t finalized, with at least one more kind to be added in the near future.

In addition to scotch, the Bothy offers whiskies (both single malts and blends) from Canada, Japan, Wales, the United States, Ireland and India. Many of these are “scotch-style” single malts/blends, but there’s also a small selection of rye and bourbon if you’re so inclined.

There is, of course, a full range of other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, if you’re not a fan of whisky or wine. I paused briefly over the beer menu and, while not particularly lengthy, it includes such solid choices as Innis & Gunn.

Heavenly Haggis

Wikipedia defines haggis as: “a dish containing sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal’s stomach for approximately three hours.”

Yes, it sounds disgusting. Yes, it’s often considered a gastronomical punchline among non-Scots. And, to some people, it’s probably both of those things.

I am not one of those people.

As I said at the beginning of this post, I tried haggis for the first time last night. I liked it. I really, really liked it. All day I’ve been thinking about the next time I’ll be able to have it. (Chris Falconer from Eating is the Hard Part suggested that I get a haggis from Old Country Meats & Deli.)

The haggis at the Bothy has—like all haggis, I assume—a great savoury, slightly nutty flavour. The texture is more akin to a pate or a meatloaf than to that of a sausage. I’ve heard that it’s supposed to taste fairly peppery, but the Bothy’s haggis seemed quite mild. I can’t say if the Bothy’s haggis recipe is typical or not, because it’s the only kind I’ve ever tasted.

Regardless of whether it’s typical or not, the Bothy’s haggis ($18) is a great dish, especially with a dram of scotch to wash it down. I’ll definitely be back to the Bothy, and I’ll be certain to order the haggis again.

Posted in Edmonton.

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By Adam Snider – January 24, 2010

Book Review: Waiting for Columbus

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to my Amazon.ca affiliate account. If you purchase anything after following these links, I’ll get a cut of the profit.

Picture of 'Waiting for Columbus' covers for 4 different countries

A few days ago, I finished reading Thomas Trofimuk’s excellent novel, Waiting for Columbus. I cannot recommend it enough.

Yes, I know Trofimuk. We chat at Raving Poets and we’ve enjoyed the odd cigar together. But that’s got nothing to do with why I’m recommending the Edmonton author’s 3rd novel.

I’m recommending it because it’s an exquisitely written book that tells the beautifully tragic story of a man who shows up in a Spanish mental institution believing himself to be Christopher Columbus. He begins to tell his story to his nurse, Consuela, and soon she is entranced by and smitten with this mysterious Columbus. And so is the reader.

Like all of Trofimuk’s novels, Waiting for Columbus is a work of pure poetry. It’s evident, even in his prose, that Trofimuk is a poet at heart. It’s rare that a book evokes images and emotions in me as strongly as Columbus did.

Where Waiting for Columbus outshines Trofimuk’s previous novels—The 52nd Poem and Doubting Yourself to the Bone—is in its storytelling.

Though I greatly enjoyed both of his previous novels, Trofimuk didn’t really capture me with the stories he was telling. I remember the feelings of the books much more than the plots. They are, in a certain sense, like very long poems—they make the reader feel something, but the story takes a backseat to that feeling.

With Waiting for Columbus, Trofimuk manages to keep the poetic language that is so effective at giving his novels a powerful emotional punch, while weaving a truly engaging and unforgettable tale of obsession, love, and loss.

The story is so entrancing, in fact, that as I approached the end of the novel, I actually thought about closing it and putting it down for good. I wanted so badly for it to never end that I gave serious thought to simply leaving the last few chapters forever unread.

Ultimately, I did finish the book and was better for the experience of having read it. Waiting for Columbus is a novel that will stay with me for a long time. And it’s one that I’ll definitely read again. You should too.

Posted in Books.

2 comments

By Adam Snider – January 21, 2010

Happy Anniversary, Sara

New Years Eve 2009/2010

Two Years Together

Sara and I have been together for exactly 2 years, today.

Our first date was at the Sherlock Holmes on Rice Howard Way, on one of the coldest nights in 2008. The cold snap continued for a week or two, and I was forced to spend the night at her place on only our second or third date because my car at the time was a piece of crap and wouldn’t start.

I have fond memories of that car.

Now, nothing untoward happened that night and, amazingly, my car started without a hitch the next morning. But that night was when I realized that there was more than just lust at work between the two of us (although, there was a lot of that…still is, too).

But back to that first date.

I still remember exactly what Sara looked like when she came to the front door of the place she was living in at the time. She was gorgeous, especially in contrast to the rough-looking dude who answered the door.

It was a Tuesday night, but we ended up staying at the bar until last call. I don’t think either one of us realized that it was that late. I certainly didn’t. Things just went that well. It was the best first date I’ve ever been on.

And the goodnight kiss. Well…let’s just say that it was a damn good kiss.

Happy anniversary, Sara. I love you.

Posted in Personal.

9 comments

By Adam Snider – January 15, 2010

Edmonton to Get a New Brewery

Picture of beer with carbonation bubbles

Last week, an article in the Edmonton Journal, regarding the possibility of a new Edmonton brewery, was brought to my attention. The company is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Ryan Kohler.

The idea of a new local brewing company is rather exciting, especially considering that Kohler has recruited some of the talented beerfolk who were involved in the now-defunct Maverick Brewing Company.

Maverick made a damn fine lager—possibly the best that’s ever been brewed in our fine city—and were it not for some distribution issues it’d probably still be on tap and in liquor stores around Edmonton.

The idea that Kohler Brewing Company’s first brew—to be named Kohler Lager—might be Maverick under a different name is exciting. Unfortunately, it’s likely not true.

Mark Suits, the beer guy at the Journal, shared a report from a reader on his blog that suggests that Kohler Lager is likely to be a very underwhelming beer:

[...] all of the three lagers had a generic, better than Molson, but more like basic Big Rock, taste profile.  One was supposedly ‘honeyed’, the second ‘hoppier’, and the third a combination of the first two.  They all had a slight honey sweetness, but nothing much more than that.  I was left wondering if this was really the same people who made Maverick Lager a few years ago – not at all the same level of taste or quality as that unfortunately ill-fated venture.

That’s not exactly a positive report.

A craft brewer needs to do something unique in order to distinguish itself from the big macro-breweries, especially because economies of scale often allow big breweries to charge less for their product.

If Kohler Lager is as unimpressive as Suits’ informant suggests, I don’t see the company lasting long enough to make a mark on Edmonton’s beer scene.

That’s unfortunate, because the idea of a new brewing company in Edmonton—especially if they could make a lager as good as Maverick was—is very exciting.

Thankfully, Edmonton already has two very good micro-breweries in the forms of Amber’s Brewing Company and Alley Kat Brewing Company. Both of these beer-makers produce high quality, craft beer that does Edmonton proud.

Regardless of what comes from the Kohler Brewing Company, Edmonton’s micro-brewing industry will continue to produce damn fine beer. That said, I’m still hopeful that Kohler Lager will turn out to be a beer worth drinking.

Posted in Edmonton.

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By Adam Snider – January 13, 2010

My Life in Bullet Points

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to my Amazon.ca affiliate account. If you purchase anything after following these links, I’ll get a cut of the profit.

Emily Murphy Park 005

The past week has been pretty uneventful, but I have done a few things of note. I’ve also got a few things of note coming up, which will probably result in full-length posts next week or later this week.

For now, though, here is my life in bullet points.

  • I finished reading Ham On Rye late last week. It doesn’t count toward my reading list for this year, since I read most of it before the New Year, but I still felt it was worth commenting on. Like most of Charles Bukowski’s novels, the book felt like little more than thinly veiled dairy entries mixed in with plenty of bullshit and embellishment. However, I’ve read most of his novels and I will say that Ham On Rye is definitely the best of them. The writing is good and it’s an enjoyable read. Just don’t expect any sort of profundity at the end.
  • I went and saw Daybreakers on Saturday. It wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it was an interesting look at what the world might look like if most of the humans in the world became vampires. It was mostly a silly bit of fantasy with some gross-out action bits (lots of exploding bodies), but it was entertaining. It’s a good popcorn movie and, if you’re into vampire fiction, it’s worth checking out; but you might want to wait until it’s in the cheap theatres or out on DVD.
  • Local restaurant Skinny Legs and Cowgirls launched their weekend brunch menu on Sunday. I wasn’t able to check it out, because they had already stopped serving brunch for the day when I called to inquire about it, but I did ask about the menu. It’s mostly standard fare—eggs your way, a few different types of eggs benny, and homemade granola—but with a focus on local and organic food. I’m particularly looking forward to trying to the wild boar bacon that’s available with a number of their brunch dishes.
  • Back in 2008, Sara took me to Culina Mill Creek for my birthday. It was awesome. On Friday, we’ll finally be checking out the Highlands location for our two-year anniversary.  Like the Mill Creek location, Culina Highlands places a focus on locally produced food. The menus at the two restaurants are very different, despite the fact that they’re part of the same “family of restaurants,” but that’s probably to their benefit (and ours). You get a different experience depending which location you choose to visit. I’ll likely write a review of the restaurant after we’ve visited.

Posted in Books, Edmonton, Personal.

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By Adam Snider – January 12, 2010

Movie Review: Presumed Guilty

The Mexican justice system is fucked up.

That’s the primary message that I took away from Presumed Guilty, the story of Toño Zúñiga’s wrongful conviction for homicide. But it’s also a story of hope for change to the system.

I checked the movie out with Allan last night after getting a pair of free tickets from Ted Kerr, the Interim General Manager for Global Visions Film Festival. The screening of Presumed Guilty was presented as part of Global Visions’ Doc Soup series.

The film is, according to the official website:

[...] the story of two young lawyers and their incredible struggle to free Tono. With no background in film, they set about recording his story as they realized that only a camera could reveal the institutionalized injustice they were witnessing.

Shot over 3 years with unprecedented camera access to the Mexican court and prison systems, this observational film is highly dramatic and full of real suspense, yet also, a searing indictment of a system where the Police do not have to investigate because the system presumes guilt.

Yes, you read that right: the system presumes guilt. When the movie started, I thought this was meant non-literally, that the presumption of guilt was a result of a corrupt justice system. Alas, that is not the case. Until very recently, Mexican law was very literally based on a presumption of guilt, rather than a presumption of innocence.

Thankfully, this was recently changed. In 2008, Mexican President Felipe Calderón signed a constitutional amendment removing the presumption of guilt, along with sweeping changes that will result in a legal system that is more like the American justice system:

[...] guilt or innocence will no longer be decided behind closed doors by a judge relying on written evidence.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will now argue their cases in court, and judges must explain their decisions to defendants.

Unfortunately, these changes won’t fully take effect until 2016. I guess it takes a while to completely change a massive bureaucracy, but 8 years is a long time to wait for a fair and effective justice system.

Visually, the film was a bit rough. In fact, the version we saw hadn’t finished post-production.

But, while I found some of the editing decisions to be a bit strange (there were a few extended interludes that seemed a bit out of place, for example) it was overall very well done, especially when you consider that director Roberto Hernández is a lawyer, rather than a film director.

In addition to revealing many of the failures of the Mexican justice system, Presumed Guilty tells a compelling story that keeps viewers on the edge of their seat until the very end. There is a moment near the end—which I won’t spoil for those who haven’t seen the film—that actually made me angry. Even though I saw it coming, I was angry that something so unjust could occur in a democratic nation.

There’s something to be said for a movie—especially a documentary—that can tell a story so well that I became emotionally invested to the point of feeling anger toward a number of the people involved in Toño’s case.

If you have the chance to view the movie (I believe a DVD version is coming soon), I highly recommend it.

For more information about Presumed Guilty and for info about upcoming documentary screenings at Metro Cinema, check out the Doc Soup website.

Posted in Uncategorized.

1 comment

By Adam Snider – January 8, 2010

Book Review: Jesus Was a Liberal

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to my Amazon.ca affiliate account. If you purchase anything after following these links, I’ll get a cut of the profit.

Cover of Jesus Was a Liberal

One of my goals for this year is to read at least 25 books. Last night, I completed book number one: Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All.

Written by Unitarian Universalist minister Scotty McLennan, Jesus Was a Liberal, is an exploration of liberal Christianity in a modern context. How do liberal Christians differ from conservatives? Can a Christian be liberal with regard to divisive issues like abortion or gay marriage and still be faithful to Christ?

If this book had been written about 5 or 6 years ago and I had read it at that time—a time when I was exploring the Christian faith—I might be a Christian today. I may have still ended up in the Unitarian church, but I’d likely be there as a liberal Christian, rather than as the undefined pseudo-deist-atheist-internal-contradiction that I am now.

Christianity doesn’t have to be in opposition to gay marriage or a woman’s right to choose, says McLennan. He backs it up with both scriptural reference and examples from the cultural history of both the Jewish and early Christian traditions.

A Christian doesn’t have to believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. It’s OK not to accept the idea of the Trinity (in this regard, McLennan is a Unitarian Christian in the original sense of the term). It’s even OK to think of the virgin birth and resurrection of Christ as metaphorical rather than literal.

For McLennan, liberal Christianity is about applying reason and logic to questions of faith. It’s about finding the truth and value in the Chrisitian master story, even if you don’t accept it all as literal fact. The essence of Christianity, McLennan says, is love, often expressed in the form of social justice movements.

The book is well written and easy to understand. While McLennan doesn’t shy away from biblical scholarship and discussions of abstract ideas, like the mathematical concept of infinity, he presents these things in ways that are understandable for the layperson.

Despite having very little knowledge of the Bible, beyond the few books that I’ve actually read (many years ago), I was able to grasp everything that McLennan discusses in Jesus Was a Liberal.

While the book is primarily intended for liberal Christians, I think that it’s an excellent read for both non-Christians and conservative Christians.

It’ll help non-Christians (especially the non-religious) realize that Christianity is not the exclusive domain of the ultra-conservative, and that Christianity has been and can continue to be an agent for positive change in the world. And conservative Christians will be able to develop a better understanding of the more liberal members of their faith. Perhaps they’ll even realize that just because someone is liberal doesn’t mean that they aren’t a “real” Christian.

Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All is available from Amazon.ca and in most bookstores.

Posted in Books.

4 comments

By Adam Snider – January 7, 2010