Well, I’ve just finished my first week working on my own for myself as “IMiJ Software“, and it’s been kind of strange, and not as productive as I hoped.
The first couple of days were wasted with setting up my desktop computer, moving stuff across from my PowerBook to my PowerMac and installing all the software I use on a regular basis.
Moving my data was a breeze as I use “Portable Home Directories” on my Mac OS X Server, but installing software took forever, partly hampered by a dodgy external firewire drive that held all my install files. I dragged a lot of stuff across from my PowerBook, a lot of other stuff off of the ‘net, but some stuff had to be installed from scratch from CDs etc (e.g. Virtual PC).
Of course I didn’t spend two full days installing software, I did catch up with email and feeds, and did even manage to develop a little bit of stuff in CaseDetective, but the first two days did feel like a bit of a waste.
After that though things started to get moving, although I still haven’t found a rhythm yet. I thought I’d spend the first hour each day checking mail, answering support questions that came in via mail or my forums, and then scan my news feeds before getting down to work. But it never really worked out that way, there always seemed to be things I needed to do or that took my interest before I finally got going with development.
Having said that, I have managed to get some solid development in during the week, much more than I would normally, but very little of it would be visible to CaseDetective users, most has been restructuring for some features planned for the next couple of releases. Important work, but hasn’t given me the satisfaction that I’d get from seeing new features.
What has been noticeable about the time I’ve spent developing is that I’ve been able and willing to do the tricky stuff that I would normally be putting off due to the lateness of the evening. Now that I’m developing during the day I feel a lot more alert and have a lot more energy to put into development. I can juggle more code in my head and the “big picture” isn’t getting lost. I’ve also found myself entering a lot more feature ideas into FogBugz for future development.
It’s been very nice not having to commute into work every day that’s for sure, and having much more time with Mandy has been fantastic. However, I can see why some people find working from home so hard, come today (Friday) I’m definitely feeling a little cut-off from the rest of the World, even though I’ve been visiting my regular forums and such regularly. I’m missing the guys I used to work with, even though I was never very chatty I enjoyed being with them.
I need to start getting out more during the day, something I said I would do from day one but haven’t managed yet. I’m just too wrapped up in getting on with things and so haven’t torn myself away from my desk much at all this week. That’s going to change, come next week I intend to set myself some tasks that mean I have to leave the house, simple things like finish off the Christmas shopping (just need a few cards etc) and get out on my bike for a gentle spin every other lunch.
All in all it’s been a great week, but I’m looking forward to a more productive time from now on now that all my systems are sorted and I have some plans for getting away from the desk occasionally to recharge.
