Working in the Shed — Matt Gemmell

Working in the Shed — Matt Gemmell

Whilst I of course still had my phone and could readily have tethered a laptop to it, I chose not to. I did check email and twitter on the phone, but the simple act of it being on a separate (and small) device relegated those tasks to the background, in a way they hadn’t been for years.

I’ve been doing something similar for years: For work, I use a separate OS X user account that only has work stuff in it–no Twitterrific, no RSS, no personal IM or email, not even any saved passwords in Safari. Combined with an office with a door I can close (I work from home, mostly). Nothing fancy, and no special software needed. The iPhone is nearby for personal stuff if I really need it for some reason, but on a good day, I forget it’s even there. It’s amazing what a difference it makes just to not have stuff in your immediate field of vision.