I’m sitting at the Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital day surgery center right now. Waiting waiting waiting. Don’t worry…we’re okay.

But as I’m sitting here, and though I have a mobile hotspot on my phone I could use, I find myself thankful for a very strong, very fast, very free wi-fi connection. And it makes sense here because people are constantly in a “state of wait” when they visit the doctor. Giving them some complimentary wi-fi to catch up on business, news, email, etc. is the least you can do. Waiting often equals crabbiness, and making the wait more pleasant is only going to ease people’s attitudes.

So attention businesses that have a “wait-time” aspect: give your visitors some free wi-fi love. This includes places like hair salons, automotive shops (the shop I use does – so awesome!), medical centers, AIRPORTS (seriously – make it free), the dentist, etc.

I know, it seems like a no-brainer, but we’ll thank you for it.

And we’re starting to expect it.

If you’ve been following AnywhereMan over the past few months, you know that I’ve been working with the local Chamber of Commerce to create a coworking space in our town. We’re now up and running and I’ve spent the past few weeks calling CommonSpace home…or home office…or whatever.

My initial response: It’s awesome.

I still technically have an office at home but honestly haven’t even used it since I’ve had the key to CommonSpace. There are a few trends I’ve noticed since I’ve been doing the coworking thing:

• I get up earlier in the morning and get ready right away…no PJ-wearing until noon.
• When I go home for lunch each day, I actually relax. I don’t rush to get back to work, and I don’t have work on my mind the whole time.
• I feel a lot more socially connected and I’ve had the chance to meet a lot of new folks.
• My kids notice when I leave and when I get home, and they’re a lot more excited to be with me at the end of the day.
• I’ve been more productive.

Now, I did spend a few days working from home last week as my family was out of town. I still did not use my actual office and instead set up shop in our living room. Right away I reverted back to sleeping in a bit later, waiting until late morning to get ready for the day, etc.

I’m not saying that coworking is absolutely better than working from home, but so far it’s definitely been a positive experience. One of the only negatives is that I’ve blogged less and done fewer of my videos. I would like to find a way to work video blogging on a regular basis back into the equation and I think I’ve got a few ideas.

I encourage you to look into coworking as an option if you need to give your daily routine a bit of a jump-start. At CommonSpace, we’ve got a membership level that allows you to come in two days per week for $75/month.  Adding some office-time to your schedule might be enough of a change-up to improve the time you spend working from home.

As for that home office? It may be converted to a bedroom soon so my girls can each have their own room. I will still want a quiet place to get work done at home so you may be seeing the birth of the cloffice (closet + office). Stay tuned.

We’ve got the new coworking space set up, online, furnished, and just about ready for members. Here is a quick tour of the actual space. It’s about the size of a modest coffee shop, and it has capacity for about 12-14 members at any given time. We’ve even got the name and branding just about ready to go: CommonSpace.

I’m very excited to see coworking in Grand Rapids, MN becoming a reality. I haven’t used my home office in over a week and I honestly haven’t missed it. I’ve still got most of the flexibility I have when working from home (other than working in my PJs), but I’m in an environment that is a bit more social. Right now just two of us are using it as things get rolling, so the social aspect should only get better.

Things are rolling right along with the plan to open a coworking space in the modest town of Grand Rapids, MN. Coworking has become a common thing in large metro areas, but it’s just as relevant (if not more so) for smaller communities like this one.

In today’s video I talk about where things are at and where they’re headed with the new space. Some folks have already committed to utilizing the space and I think it’ll really get going once the space is open.

See Part One of the Journey to Coworking

A few weeks back I had fellow web developer Brian Casel on to talk about what he does. One of his projects is a premium WordPress theme called WPBids. In today’s video, I do a walk-through of the WPBids theme which allows users to create online project proposals. It’s pretty slick! Visit www.wpbids.com for more information.

Disclosure: Brian provided a free copy of WPBids for me to try out and customize. And I’m glad he did that because I’m actually going to use this! I’m working on a proposal for a client with it right now actually.

But the savings don’t end there: For the next two weeks you can use the code “ANYWHERE20″ to get 20% off the purchase of WPBids or any of Brian’s other premium themes at ThemeJam.

I watched three episodes of Whale Wars last night. I’ve already seen season one and am almost through season two (Netflix rocks, BTW).

Whale Wars is a show that follows around the adventures of the Sea Shepherds, a team of folks dedicated to ending whaling near Antartica. They essentially drive around, find Japanese whaling ships, and throw stink bombs at them. Their leader was kicked out of Greenpeace for being too extreme. And I think he was one of the founders! It’s highly entertaining.

But here’s the thing: One of the reasons I find the show entertaining is that the Sea Shepherds absolutely suck at execution. Every time they find a Japanese ship to harass, something goes wrong.

Oops…one guy just threw a grappling hook and chipped the tail of the helicopter.

Oops…the team in one of the small boats doesn’t have their radio on and the main ship has no idea where they are. And their satellite phone battery is dead. And the GPS isn’t working.

Oops…they’re about to engage and launch some stink bombs…and have to turn around because they’re running low on gas.

Oops…they’re launching one of the small boats and it flips over…four people stranded in freezing cold water.

You get the idea.

It seems like there is a general “plan of attack” when they encounter a whaling ship, but it always seems like important pieces of that plan are missing. I’ve never seen a single episode where they initiate a practice “attack.”

My point is this: plan ahead. Plan for business and “busyness.” Have systems in place to keep things running smooth when things start to get intense. Having a general, scattered plan for dealing with new clients, new projects, etc is bound to have some holes. Pinpoint those holes and patch them up.

My wife told me she read that the actual number of whales killed is way down thanks to efforts by groups like the Sea Shepherds. That’s great, but imagine how low they could be if things actually went according to plan.

People skills are important, especially if you work on your own. Because much of our time can be spent working in isolation away from cubicles and water coolers, keeping your conversation skills sharp should be a high priority. You don’t want to open the floodgates of talking about yourself too much when you interact with someone in person.

I’ve run into this a few times in the past few weeks – ironically with stay-at-home moms who, when you think about it, are kind of in the same situation as a work-from-home freelancer. At the end of the conversations, I kind of felt yucky. The bottom line in a conversation is that you NEVER want to make the other person feel yucky.

Why did I feel yucky? I took note of a few key do-and-don’ts to keep in the back of my mind for future interactions:

Ask Questions

To me, this is maybe the most important piece of a conversation. In order to make it not about YOU, you need to ask the other person about THEM. And try to be more specific than just “How are you?” If you ask something like “How are things going with your new project?” it shows the other person that the things they share with you don’t just go in one ear and out the other.

Keep An Eye On The Clock

In Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, they talk about the 30-60-90 rule. It’s definitely okay to talk about yourself in a conversation (typically when asked), but don’t make your answers too long or go off on tangets. A 30-second response is about perfect. At 60 seconds you’re starting to lose the other person. And you can chalk them up as “bored” at 90 seconds.

Be Positive

Bottom line on this one is don’t dump your dirty laundry on the other person. Tell me about what’s going well in your life (again, when asked). What are you excited about? It’s not that you shouldn’t be real but if you really want a guaranteed way to make the other person to feel yucky, just dump some yucky stuff on them. Be optimistic about the negative things in your life. It’ll actually make the other person feel inspired.

Act Like You’re Interested

When you’re having a short conversation with someone, try to give them your full attention. Don’t act like you’re stuck talking with them or you have nothing better to do. Act like it’s one of the highlights of your day. It’s pretty much a guaranteed way to make them look forward to your next interaction. And in order to keep it from seeming fake, practice the art of smiling with your eyes. Seriously – go look into the mirror and practice this.

Be Encouraging

When you ask someone a question, respond to their response. Positively. When you wrap up the conversation, tell them how good it was to see them. Offer them encouragement about things going on in their life that they may have shared.

Post-Conversation: Store It All In The Archive

Make a mental note of the conversation you just had – or even write down some of what they other person shared. Remember what is going on in that person’s life and use it as conversation material the next time you see them. That’s what’ll really kill any hint of the yucky-factor: it shows the other person that they matter to you.

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