One of the most difficult things I have had to deal with in recent years is my transition from a 9 to 5 office to a consultant working from home. While on the surface it may seem like the ideal scenario, and it has its obvious perks, there is a downside.
The isolation is overwhelming at times. Sure I work for a large shop and I’m part of a ‘team’ but, regrettably that is a team in a virtual sense. I almost never see my team members and occasionally converse via email. At no time however does this afford for a team building interaction. After 6 and half years with a medium sized shop it is difficult to be suddenly alone.
This is not to say that I don’t have friends and family to talk with. This is the absence of co-workers. The absence of a team dynamic. Never thought I would say this but, I really do miss that collegial interaction.
I have received some advice from Hoff, myrcurial and others and I thought I would share this with folks who are newly minted (or re-minted) into the consulting space.
- Excercise. No really, this helps to sharpen focus.
- Schedule meetings in person whenever possible.
- Try to have video conferences if geography is a problem. Virtual face time is better than an email.
- Clearly delineate time. If you work from 8 until 4, stick to it. When working from home you run the real risk of eating into your home life.
- Try to maintain contacts with people in you industry. Attend meetings at hackerspaces, 2600, and various security organizations in your community
- Attend conferences. Your company might not spring for it but, there are many cons that are affordable such as Defcon, Shmoocon, Notacon etc.
- Interact online. Twitter is the current hangout and there are groups of like minded folks online. Zach Lanier is marshaling a group of security professionals called Security Twits that is worth checking out.
Now, this by no means an exhaustive list. So, this is where you can help out. What helps/helped you maintain your sanity when faced with the isolation that comes with consulting? Feel free to share your experiences or tips so that other folks can benefit from it.
Thanks!
Dave,
Thanks for posting on this, I can relate to what you said. It’s been two years in a home office for me and I’m just getting used it now. Your comments are good, especially about the exercise.
Cheers,
Derek
A follow-on to number 4: Never get food delivered.
If you can stomach the word, do the “staycation” thing every other weekend or so. Pick a theme that has local variety and run with it – an example: http://www.northeastwaterfalls.com/database.php?sort=other If you have local compatriates, get them into it as well.
There is value in weekly “mini-cons” whether they be over beer in a pub or virtual via teleconference/WebEx. I’ve not done the latter, but attend a gathering of local infosec folks at the watering hole and, even if you don’t talk about infosec, being around people who “get it” is valuable. That, and you get to hear some rather interesting things once you pump a drink or two down someone’s gullet.
Good lord man – Exercise? WTF? I don’t wanna do that.
Chubby infosec hackers/consultants/etc. untie!!!!!
8. Go outside and sit (or walk or whatever). Watch the clouds, listen to the birds – essentially remind yourself for a decent length of time regularly that there’s a big blue world outside the 4 small walls.
9 Eat well, eat regularly, eat healthy. Watch the empty calories, carbs, and fat. Plenty of veggies, greens, protien.
10 Drink enough good, clean water throughout your waking period – stay hydrated. Natural juices with no added sugar are a bonus.
11. Sleep regularly, and sleep well. Get into a regular cycle and stick with it. Staying up all night when not necessary is counter productive. Staying up all night may not be good, period. On the other-hand, finding your natural cycle is the most important thing.
12. Take regular breaks from being in front of your systems. Shift your focus using the aforementioned activities. Watch a movie, listen to some music in the foreground of your focus, etc.
13. Get out for the sake of getting out, even if it is to walk the halls.
Better living through healthy practices
Re: Exercise
Gotta do it.
Do a mix of hard cardio vascular activity (yes, sweaty movement for extended periods of time) and streatching. Try a cardio kickboxing class twice a week in conjunction with yoga three times a week, and a day or two of weights thrown for good measure (even for women.)
Do a minimum of 5 minuteds of streatching every hour.
Do a minimum of 20 minutes of walking, etc. every day.
A 1 hour yoga class several times a week does wonders.
Read and heed:
Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain
by John Ratey, MD
Like the cover says:
“Supercharge your mental circuits to beat stress, sharpen your thinking, life your mood, boost your memory, and much more”
Ooops – at least one typo… should be:
Read and heed:
Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain
by John Ratey, MD
Like the cover says:
“Supercharge your mental circuits to beat stress, sharpen your thinking, lift your mood, boost your memory, and much moreâ€
Hmmm, post seems to have disappeared. Once again:
9. Eat regularly and well. Watch the empty calories, sugar, carbs, and fat. Lots of veggies, greens, good protien.
10. Take your vitamins. You need supliments. Of note are omega3 (can get from fish oil, etc.), antioxidents, a good multi-vitamin, trace minerals. Check out Life Extention Foundation’s Life Extention Mix for your multi-vitamin. You still need omega3 and antioxidents.
11. Sleep regularly and well. Get into a good cycle and stick to it. Seeing the sun rise is good from time to time, but not a good thing to do regularly because you have, yet again, pushed the bottom out of your sleep cycle. The work will always be there. The InterWeb is endless.
12. Get out of your head often. Read a heavy, engrosing book. Take a challenging class. Play a tough game. Also, regular play is in order. Make your work play if you can.
13. Get out from in front of your systems regularly – for a time every hour if you can.
14. Get into a committed, healthy relationship unless you are a sworn loner. There is power in caring for someone and being cared for.
15. Make a schedule and stick to it. Consider Getting Things Done (GTD) as a model.
16. Play to your strengths, compensate for your weaknesses. Find, and get to know each.
17. Just plain play from time to time. Make your studies and your work play if you can.
18. Limit drugs. Yes caffeine is a drug. Severly limit alcohol and recreational drugs.
19. Oh, yes, have some fun. As that wise sage KT used to tell me: if you are not having fun, you are not doing it right.