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How to Set Up a Productive Virtual Workspace

June 1st, 2007 (5:12am) Leo Babauta 47 Comments

You’re mobile, you work perhaps with multiple Operating Systems, and your work is entirely digital these days. But the pull of distractions on the Internet can ruin anyone’s productivity.

To be able to do your work from any computer, set up a virtual workspace online that will keep you productive, giving you quick access to what you need without all the distractions.

There are as many different ways to do this as there are virtual workers, and each of us has different needs and different favorite tools. But what I outline below are some ideas and an example setup that could help guide you in creating your own productive virtual workspace.

Let’s first take a look at what a virtual workspace would need:

1. Completely online. You need access to your documents anywhere, any time. So your software and storage should be online solutions.

2. Email, calendar, to-dos, notes. These are things you need to access any time, all the time. They are the tools of your virtual office.

3. Distraction-free. When you’re ready to work, you need to be able to clear away distractions. It’s like clearing off your desk so you can focus on the task before you.

Now let’s look at some ways to set up your virtual workspace to meet those needs:

Simplify your needs. In order to work completely online, you’ll need to be able to simplify what you need to work down to the bare essentials. Do you really need a full-featured word processor such as Microsoft Word? These full-featured software often have way more features than we really need. The only things I use in a word processor, for example, are typing, simple formatting such as bold, italics and lists, spell check and word count. If you can simplify your essential software needs like this, you can use online software.

Use Firefox. OK, this isn’t necessary, actually. There are other great browsers out there, such as Safari and Opera, but I like Firefox for its add-ons and shortcuts, both of which add to productivity. Your add-ons will vary depending on your needs, but keyboard shortcuts and keyword bookmarks are a must (see below).

Google Docs. As a writer, I do all my writing on Google Docs these days. It’s simple, it’s got all the features I need, and it works perfectly. Google Spreadsheets is far from this, but still it meets my most basic spreadsheet needs (I’m not an accountant). Zoho Office Suite also works well, and there are other online software out there. You might also try Writer, which is just about the simplest online word processor.

Email and Calendar. I would recommend you use an online solution for both of these. I use Gmail and Gcal, but really you could use whatever works for you — Hotmail or Yahoo Mail are both good solutions, for example, that also have calendars. 30 Boxes is another popular online calendar. For Gmail, I would recommend that you use the Delegate to Gcal extension, so anytime you get an email with an event or appointment you’d like to add to your calendar, you can do so in one click. For Gcal, I would also add the Quick Add extension so that you can add calendar events with a simple keystroke combination.

Storage: You need to be able to access your files from anywhere. If you’re using Google Docs and Spreadsheets or a similar online solution, you might not have a lot of files left. But still, you’ll probably have some. Sign up for an online storage service such as Box.net so that you can easily upload your files and access them from any computer.

To-dos. There are dozens of good online to-do programs out there. Some of my favorites are Backpack, Simple GTD, Vitalist, Nozbe.

iGoogle - the Setup: My suggested virtual workspace setup uses iGoogle (the artist formerly known as Google Homepage), but you could use a number of different homepage options, such as the popular Netvibes. The same rules apply to any of them. Set up your iGoogle homepage with the following gadgets:

Google Docs: Add the Google Docs gadget to give you access to your most recent documents. If you’re like me, this will be one of your most-used gadgets in your workspace.
Today list: There are plenty of to-do list gadgets. Choose your favorite, preferably a simple one. Now, I know you already have a full-featured to-do list service (see above), but this small gadget is for the tasks you want to accomplish today. The full-featured to-do list is for everything you have to do, not just today but all week and all month — work, calls, errands, home stuff, etc. But this Today to-do list gadget is just for stuff you have to do today. I would recommend you put your three Most Important Tasks on this Today list, and not much else. At the end of the day, after you finish those three tasks, you can look at satisfaction as they’re all checked off.
Gcal: Add the Google Calendar gadget so you can quickly see what you have on tap for today, and remember appointments easily.
Notes: Choose a sticky note gadget for taking quick notes. Everyone needs a scratch pad. Use this whenever something comes up and you need to take a quick note. At the end of the day, process your notes.
Bookmarks: I use the Better Bookmarks gadget, but really any bookmarks gadget will do. Basically, you want to put your most frequently used documents and websites — all the stuff you need to do your work. This is your quick-access point to everything you need to be productive.
Storage: Have your Box.net or other storage service on iGoogle so you can easily access your files.
Gmail and Google Reader: I used to have the gadgets for these two programs on my iGoogle page. But they are such huge distractions that I removed them. I recommend not putting them in your workspace.
Tabs: If you have different jobs or different aspects to your work life, you can set up different tabs in iGoogle for multiple workspaces. For example, I have one space for my main work, and another for my blog — and this contains all my blog stats, advertising services, quick links to different things I need to do on my blog, my list of upcoming post ideas, etc.
Only work stuff: Stay away from putting fun stuff in your virtual workspace. These are major distractions. Keep them out!

Keyword bookmarks:This is where Firefox really pays off — setting up shortcuts for each site you use every day. Bookmark each of your most commonly visited sites and pages in Firefox, and then find them in the Bookmarks menu and right-click on the bookmark and select Properties. Under Properties, in the “keyword” field, type in a short keyword and press OK. From now on, to go to that page, just open a new tab (Ctrl-T), type the keyword, and hit enter. This saves tons of time, because you never have to leave the keyboard. All of you work-related software can be accessible with a few keystrokes.

To make your shortcuts available from multiple computers, you’ll want to install Foxmarks so that you can synchronize your bookmarks between computers.
A particularly useful keyword shortcut: I have Gmail’s Compose window set up under a shortcut called “compose”, so that I can easily compose an email by typing in “compose”. To do this, click on Compose in Gmail, and then click on the arrow in the upper right corner of the screen to open it in a separate window. Once that’s open, right click anywhere in the blue area of the Compose window and select “Bookmark this page”. Then go to the bookmark and give it a keyword (”compose”) and you’re done!

Kiwi Cloak: If you have trouble staying on task and often get sucked into your favorite time-wasting sites, try installing the Kiwi Cloak Greasemonkey script (you’ll need to install the Greasemonkey extension first). This will prevent you from going to your distracting sites except for a certain time that you set (say, 10 minutes at the top of every hour). That way you can work without distractions for 50 minutes and then reward yourself with 10 minutes of fun. The script allows you to customize the times that you’re blocked, the sites that are blocked, and other settings, and is generally very useful.

Workflow: Start each day by checking your calendar and your overall to-do list, and then setting your three Most Important Tasks for today (adding them to your Today to-do list gadget). To be most productive, I would recommend getting the first MIT done before you check email or read your feeds. Then check your email, emptying out your inbox. Set 2-3 times during the day to process email and read feeds. Get your MITs done, and your day is productive. Open up pages only as you need them, quickly opening them with keyword bookmarks and closing them when you’re done. At the end of the day, check off your Today list, clear out your inbox, and head out for a cold one.

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47 Comments Post your own comment

Seth Rubenstein says: June 1st, 2007 6:42am

Loved the article all very true. But the problem with being mobile, is that you can’t be online all the time. I wouldn’t place all my eggs in one basket with the online workflow. I prefer local applications that either easily integrate with online services or can export to them and I can then upload that data easily.

I use a mac, so I use the gCal sync for iCal which keeps both calendars up to date.

For my documents, if I’m creating something in Apple Pages I upload it to my Box via WebDAV. Very simple just drag and drop and its in my Box. However for smaller document needs I use Google Documents and I’m always sure to save a PDF and Word copy on to my machine. Or if I create something in Word I’m sure to either upload it to Box or bring it into Google Docs if I need collab on it.

To-Do’s are something I don’t use much. I use plenty of Dashboard sticky notes so that holds me over.

Eliminate Distractions; Google Gears; Productive Virtual Workspace; Email Bankruptcy | zen habits says: June 1st, 2007 7:00am

[...] Web Worker Daily: How to Set Up a Productive Virtual Workspace [...]

Serge Lescouarnec says: June 1st, 2007 7:41am

Your post echoes the topics offered by 2 of my recent reads, The Four Hour Work Week and Bit Literacy.
Time is finite.
Accepting that not everything can be done in a day and trying not to cram everyone of them with an unending list is also part of the solution…

Serge
‘The French Guy from New Jersey’
Blog:
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com
Biz:
http://www.njconcierges.com

Nick says: June 1st, 2007 8:10am

Google’s release of their Gears browser plug-in may help with the requirement to always be online. Between them and Adobe and their Apollo platform, I would expect a lot of traction with apps that work online and offline. I have to believe more companies will follow.

Mike says: June 1st, 2007 11:02am

Great tips. This is basically the same setup I use, but with Netvibes. When it’s time to get to work, I just head to my Netvibes homepage and everything I need is there on one screen. Very useful!

I also use the Google Notebook extension to take quick notes, record ideas, and brainstorm blog posts. I can quickly clip sections of articles into Notebook and save the link to refer back to the original article with just a few clicks .
I compose my blog posts in WordPress rather than Google Docs.

franky says: June 1st, 2007 11:29am

Only problem here, is that not every computer I use I am allowed to Firefox. Yes there are still that kind of system administrators out there.
Other ones have blocked USB, so portable Firefox doesn’t to the job either.
Heck I work for a company (think black CCs) who only allow MS products and no notebooks. Luckily I belong to the group with extended rights and a roaming profile.

But back to the preferred web worker situation. If you jump from computer to computer, consider FEBE to quickly import your favorite FF configuration/profile. Of course, use Box to store the files or your good ole USB stick.
And why not use Google Browser Sync. It does much more than just syncing bookmarks. It even saves my sessions. :)

ericnakagawa says: June 1st, 2007 12:28pm

Here here! Great ideas… I also use meebo for chatting with my partner. We both share the gmail email account. A shared todo list would also be smart.

I don’t know about clearing out the inbox as we get over 4-500 emails a day. :-/

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sickbastard says: June 1st, 2007 1:47pm

Very nice read, very informative. I use a good deal of the utilities mentioned, but in a slightly different way. Netvibes is for the RSS feeds of all of my favorite webcomics, Kiwi Cloak helps me to avoid work related sites during the day, Hotmail & Gmail combined with GoogleTalk help me chat with my peeps when I’m supposed to be working. Given that I am a very small cog in a very large machine, I can get away with this behavior.

2.0 weblogs says: June 1st, 2007 6:05pm

Excellent, i think you hit just about every useful app i use and then some, so who thinks gtalk will be one of the undisclosed features on iPhone.

Not to get off track, but itsa’ coming!

http://ThunkDifferent.com

Sean says: June 1st, 2007 6:09pm

great post

another vote for Google Browser Sync.

‘compose’. is this a joke? some of my keywords:

g=Google
gm=Gmail
ngm=New Gmail (your compose)
gd=Google Docs
nd=new Google Doc
mt=MovableType
nmte=new MT entry
mtc=MT comments
pe=MT Power Edit
tp-TypePad

but maybe i’m just a lot lazier than you ;-)

Zero Sum One says: June 1st, 2007 6:16pm

Even if it can help with your productivity, try removing any sort of rss feed from your borwser that you are working in. iGoogle, for example.

Before you know it, you can be sucked into checking your mail, reading the latest news, etc.

thelocomono says: June 1st, 2007 7:22pm

The only exception I would make in the mobile choices you make is the storage of important and sensitive documents, this should not be in the hands of a remote storage server. Other that obvious detail, I suppose these applications would do just fine for the average user.

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xlncsolution says: June 2nd, 2007 1:05am

Right On!
I use the same setup, with netvibes though.
I also use an amazing online tool called ‘gliffy’ to create images and prototypes
‘conceptshare’ to share the prototypes with my clients.
‘mediafire’ to exchange huge files
‘basecamp’ for project management
‘Mobivox’ for long distance phone calls, also jajah
‘SIP’ softphone for voip calls
when I have a quick idea, and no where to write it down, I use ‘gabcast’ or ‘gcast’
yay to virtual offices :)

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Myscha says: June 2nd, 2007 3:41am

Hello.

Great article! I have written a few blog entries on the “road warrior” concept myself, but I see you have some great resources listed here and tons of supporting detail. Good job!

Sp says: June 2nd, 2007 7:02am

Congratulations! Simple, elegant solution.-

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Ronnie Ann says: June 2nd, 2007 7:54am

I just wrote something about the value of downtime at the office (where distractions can be a good thing), but when I work from home I’m a virtual genius at finding distractions - and even distractions from my distractions. Thanks for a great piece on something we all have to deal with.

Marie Bennett says: June 2nd, 2007 9:59am

Thank you, I especially love the tip about getting ONE Most Important Task done before I start any thing else - I’ve been doing that for years and it REALLY helped my productivity go way, way up.

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G Cox says: June 3rd, 2007 10:44am

Great tips.

Only chain which needs to be busted is Outlook. For those with some or all of their email archives in.pst, there seems to be no way out of the eternal burden of using outlook to access old emails and being forced to buy the upgrade when MS stop supporting the old one.

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Peter Stewart says: June 3rd, 2007 5:02pm

You’ve done a great job of covering email, IM, word proc, spreadsheet, presentation sw, etc. But what about how to handle virtual meetings and conferences? If you’re going to be working virtually…you need an audio and web conferencing solution to collaborate with geographically dispersed team members, customers, prospects, etc. As you’ve named specific recommendations on sw that are SaaS, I’ll recommend something similar that is hosted and on demand. ReadyConference audio conferencing lets you have up to 125 people on calls with no scheduling required and ReadyConference audio conferencing lets you have 125 people on a web conference either on demand (aka “Meet Now”) or scheduled in advance with invites, without the need for any client software download…so very similar to Google apps.

Cheers,

Peter Stewart
VP, Product Innovation & Management, Premiere Global Services

Peter Stewart says: June 3rd, 2007 5:03pm

You’ve done a great job of covering email, IM, word proc, spreadsheet, presentation sw, etc. But what about how to handle virtual meetings and conferences? If you’re going to be working virtually…you need an audio and web conferencing solution to collaborate with geographically dispersed team members, customers, prospects, etc. As you’ve named specific recommendations on sw that are SaaS, I’ll recommend something similar that is hosted and on demand. ReadyConference audio conferencing lets you have up to 125 people on calls with no scheduling required and Netspoke web conferencing lets you have 125 people on a web conference either on demand (aka “Meet Now”) or scheduled in advance with invites, without the need for any client software download…so very similar to Google apps.

Cheers,

Peter Stewart
VP, Product Innovation & Management, Premiere Global Services

jkOnTheRun says: June 4th, 2007 11:42am

Virtual workspace tips that aren’t just for web workers

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Ron Gilligan says: June 7th, 2007 11:08am

Aloha,
As a senior who has entered the maze of the vitual office world, I commend all
seniors to read and apply the contents of your well structured and easily comprehended tutorial.
Grandpa Ron
Honolulu

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Heh, to TS- you is right!

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