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#1 Private exec office with no frills costs $500/mo-$700/mo... so worth it #2 Wear noise-blocking headphones (the kind you use for yardwork or from levenger.co

by a5seo 15y ago

#1 Private exec office with no frills costs $500/mo-$700/mo... so worth it #2 Wear noise-blocking headphones (the kind you use for yardwork or from levenger.com) #3 Use Pomodoros: 30 mins focused work, 5 min breaks #4 Open HN and/or Google Reader only during Pomodoro breaks; use PostRank to filter most popular stuff in your feeds. #5 Skim all news/articles and send good ones to Instapaper for iPad reading. #6 Never take more than 2 "wildcard" coffees/lunches per week. #7 Setup 2 calendars on Tungle or WhenBusy, one calendar that's very limited for wildcards (see #8) and one that's for urgent/high-priority meetings.

pasbesoin 15y ago
Re #2: I've tried many models, but I invariably find them too uncomfortable. Have you found a model that excels? Re #1: I've had issues with noise at home (various homes -- what is it with people, these days?). To the point where renting a private office seems a reasonable additional expense. In fact, I might consider downgrading my living quarters and putting the saved expense towards an office. I wonder whether others find that a practical solution, and if so, what tips they might have for finding and negotiating a quiet private office. Not a shared/business office -- a private office. (This should probably be a separate thread, if there's any interest.)
- a5seo 15y ago
  I think a thread about leasing private office space is a great idea. I found my place by driving around and looking for "for lease" signs. I tried coworking before that, but way too many distractions, and no ability to keep your monitor(s) and keyboard setup there. I think ideas for "private hacker space" -- something between coworking and overpriced offices like Regus would be valuable. RE headpones: The pair I use I got at Levenger over 10 years ago. Served me well in grad school and while writing the code for the MVP of my first startup that I ended up selling.
  - pasbesoin 15y ago
    I suppose I should do what homework I can, and summarize the results, before asking -- so that I'm hopefully contributing to the conversation and not merely taking. I'll put it on my projects list.
scottyallen 15y ago
What social strategies do you use to limit your "wildcard" coffees and lunches without offending people or creating awkward situations? I just quit my day job recently to focus on my startup and have been getting tons of introductions to all sorts of people. While it's been really fun and beneficial, it also is pretty distracting from actually building something.

by a5seo 15y ago

pasbesoin 15y ago

Re #2: I've tried many models, but I invariably find them too uncomfortable. Have you found a model that excels? Re #1: I've had issues with noise at home (various homes -- what is it with people, these days?). To the point where renting a private office seems a reasonable additional expense. In fact, I might consider downgrading my living quarters and putting the saved expense towards an office. I wonder whether others find that a practical solution, and if so, what tips they might have for finding and negotiating a quiet private office. Not a shared/business office -- a private office. (This should probably be a separate thread, if there's any interest.)

a5seo 15y ago
I think a thread about leasing private office space is a great idea. I found my place by driving around and looking for "for lease" signs. I tried coworking before that, but way too many distractions, and no ability to keep your monitor(s) and keyboard setup there. I think ideas for "private hacker space" -- something between coworking and overpriced offices like Regus would be valuable. RE headpones: The pair I use I got at Levenger over 10 years ago. Served me well in grad school and while writing the code for the MVP of my first startup that I ended up selling.
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  I suppose I should do what homework I can, and summarize the results, before asking -- so that I'm hopefully contributing to the conversation and not merely taking. I'll put it on my projects list.

scottyallen 15y ago

What social strategies do you use to limit your "wildcard" coffees and lunches without offending people or creating awkward situations? I just quit my day job recently to focus on my startup and have been getting tons of introductions to all sorts of people. While it's been really fun and beneficial, it also is pretty distracting from actually building something.