Having taken part in a pilot of location independent working (LIW) I have decided it is not for me. I miss the structure and stimulation of coming into the office each day - didn't think I would but I do.
So I have been allowed back into my old individual office, and will have to hand back the various bits of kit I had use of (multifunction printer, smart-phone, laptop). This may not be such a wrench as I had anticipated as:
- I've been waiting for ink cartridges for the printer since Christmas 2010 (they arrived at the end of last week!)
- The smart-phone has refused do do the 'smart' bit since we were migrated onto a new mobile network last week (it will take calls but not synchronise my outlook emails, calendar, etc.)
It has been rather spooky being back in my old room as it's very dusty and the wall calendar is still open at the page for June 2010. But at least I don't have to jump out of my skin every few minutes as someone in the sports lab upstairs drops a set of dumbbells on their floor, causing everything to shudder in the LIW 'touchdown space'.
I will really miss the laptop though as it's nice to have a clear (and clean) desk surface to work on when marking, etc. I gather some staff have swapped their bulky desktop PCs for laptops so I might see if I can do this too.
