Why I work better from home

My work allows me to go home and work from there sometimes (assuming I don't have any meetings or a specific need to be in the office.)  This is nice because sometimes it's just easier to work from home.  But it's also easier to accidentally take a 3-hour nap at home.

Anyway, yesterday, I was given a lot of reading to do for my new workstream.  Basically, I had to read a bunch of background info on our new client company, about what work has been done so far for them, and what we think we're going to be doing in the next few months.

Although it's an interesting workstream, it's not so interesting when you have to read dozens and dozens (and dozens) of pages of stuff with lots of acronyms I don't recognize.  (And a lot of the statistics are repeated many many times in different files.)

Anyway, after a few hours of trudging through the readings, I decided I would go home a bit early and continue reading there.  It seemed like a good idea.

So I get home, crack open my laptop, and.....lo and behold!  I was WAY more productive at home than in the office.  I was way more focused on the readings, and I felt more interested in the material.  (I know.  I know.  You are surprised by this.  You thought I must have fallen asleep or something.  Well, you are wrong.  I didn't fall asleep.  hmph.)

Anyway, I didn't really understand why I was more focused and productive at home than in the office until this morning.  I just figured it out.  The reason is pretty simple actually.

My home internet is much slower than my office's internet.

So why would that make me more productive?  One word:  YouTube.

Youtube doesn't really work on my slow home internet.  In fact, it's a more frustrating internet experience at home, which makes it less likely I get distracted by all the interesting things the internet has to offer.

Anyway, this was a revelation I had a few hours ago.  I'm thinking about publishing my findings in a science research journal.

Some home improvement

A couple improvements to the apartment yesterday (and today):

1) I covered the kitchen counters with contact paper.  But I probably should have used a second person's help because I don't think I got the paper down perfectly smooth and flat.  And I was too lazy to cut specially-sized pieces to cover all the narrow areas.  But if you look at it from far away, it doesn't look half bad!

2) I found two nails, so I decided to use them.  First, I put up a calendar.  Second, I put up a clock.  But I couldn't find batteries yet, so it is currently always 10:10 in my apartment.  But I guess sometimes it's 10:10 AM and sometimes 10:10 PM.

3) Magnets on the fridge.  Lots of magnets on the fridge.  (But last night I found out that most of these magnets belong to my brother-in-law, so hopefully I won't become too attached to them because I have to give them back to him.)

4) Take out the trash.  (This isn't typically "home improvement", but I am technically improving my home by taking out the trash.  And I couldn't think of anything else to write in this list.)

5) Laundry (I couldn't think of anything else significant to write in this list.)

6) Shower (I think this is becoming a To-Do list for today.)

7) Nap (Yup, definitely a To-Do list.)

8) Pierogies for breakfast again! (Actually, I do consider pierogies to be home improvement.)

9) Close my laptop and stop writing blog entries (This is definitely an improvement.)