Man in a Shed: Shedworker

Man in a Shed (@Man_in_a_Shed) works in software and engineering in his garden office shed (pictured above and below), but also writes a political blog under the appealing pseudonym, Man in a Shed. Below, he talks us through his shedlife:

"I want to write from the perspective of just being an ordinary man, rather than being a personality (the play on the title is with the man on the Clapham omnibus). The blog was just an experiment based on an article in the computing press, and I was amazed that anyone else read it and that lots of other people did the same thing. It now eats too much of my time. I'm keeping away from Facebook for that reason.

"Why have a shed to work, exercise, study and hang out in ? Well about five years ago I found myself away from home over the weekend in a hotel room for the first time since we had started a family. I suddenly realised I could hear myself think again for the first time in years, and that I really missed that from before family and marriage. In short I needed somewhere to hang out, a sort of wooden cave in the "Men are from Mars Women are from Venus" model.

"It has worked out really well and I'm happy to recommend it. Though it has to be said my wife took quite a bit of stick from the other women - mostly on the lines of "You let him get away with having that!". They were all worried their husbands would want a bolt hole from their loving families also. I know that sounds bad, but I'm the sort of man who needs some periods of peace and quiet, and I don't think I'm the only one.

"More recently I've started working for myself, which I do whereever my laptop is placed, often in the shed, but not always. The shed has many uses, but none of them are for storing my wife's stuff, gardening (we have another shed for that). I have power and heating and an internet cable - that squirrels recently nibbled through - run down here. I only have to return to the house for coffee and the call of nature."

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't forget you can now buy our exclusive Shedworking mug from the online Shedworking shop. Click here for details.

Shed Building Monthly issue 7 now out

Issue 7 of John Coupe's excellent Shed Building Monthly is now out. You can subscribe for free here if you haven't done so already. As well as news about a free online shedbuilding course, the latest issue includes pieces on building a chicken coop, shed windows and a charming video of Victorian era sheds using models from Boulton and Paul.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.

Uncle Wilco - A Champion of England?

More information here and at Shedblog, naturally. The nominations will be shortlisted and everyone will have the chance to vote on who think they should be the Bombardier Champion of England. The winner will be announced on St George's Day, April 23. I'd argue that Uncle Wilco is also a champion of Wales...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.

Enterprise Nation - Do what you do best and outsource the rest

In her latest column, Emma Jones suggests that this piece of advice has never been more relevant.

You went in to business to do the things you most enjoy. When you enjoy something, you’re good at it and that, in turn, attracts loyal customers. Keep hold of those customers by sticking to your knitting and find other experts to take on the tasks you shouldn’t be performing.

What’s outsource-able?
Part of the adrenaline drive of business is getting to do many a varied thing. On Monday you could be courting new clients and on Tuesday completing the VAT return, whilst meeting a project deadline. Being the Finance Director, Marketing Director and Business Development Director in all one body and in one day is very much part of the adventure that is business.

But there will come a time when some of these tasks could be done better, faster and cheaper by someone else. Tasks such as:
Accounting
Admin
Sales/appointment setting calls
Marketing & press relations
Events

The good news is there are a host of experts starting up their own businesses in these fields to cater for your every need. Here’s my advice when it comes to doing what you do best and outsourcing the rest.

Do the groundwork – spend some time working on the task yourself so you’ve built some foundations before handing work over to a third party. For example, if you outsource sales to a specialist, have a ready-made contacts list and some open doors that the specialist can build on, rather than start from scratch. This will make it more cost effective for you; it’s not a contract from a cold start, you have already done the groundwork.

Be clear on the brief – having spent some time doing the task yourself, you will have a clear idea of the brief for the specialist. Back to the example of outsourcing sales, if you’ve spent 6 – 12 months sourcing leads and making contacts, you’ll have a much clearer idea of the type of prospecting the specialist should do. The clearer the brief, the better the results.

Take your time – and take references. Spend time evaluating the specialists in the market and, if you can, talk to their existing clients. Do they have the industry experience you’re after, will they represent your brand in a professional manner, have they shown commitment to other clients. When an outsourced arrangement works well, the partner becomes part of your team so choose the partner as carefully as you would choose an employee.

Let go! – outsourcing a key function means having to let go a little. Someone else becomes accountable for the results of this part of business. Embrace this rather than resist it. As the business owner you remain in ultimate control but the expert will need their own space to flourish. Outsourcing can save you time and earn you money. And finding the right partner, on the right terms, will make you feel like a new and liberated person.

Emma Jones is Founder of Enterprise Nation and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up – how to start a business from home’
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.

Shed slippers

Even if you have a wonderfully well-insulated garden office, you may still need slippers (I certainly do). Shedworking writer Clare Dudman has posted her most recent feet warmers, bought from the National Trust, which also contain small bags of wheat and lavender in the flaps on top of the instep and under the soles: you warm the bags in the microwave then insert them into the slippers (there are other colours and smells too including cow...). We watch with interest to see the reports on the results... If you wear slippers in your shedworking atmosphere, please do send a photo and I'll put them up on the site.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.

Name That Shed: Lindley Murray summerhouse

Lindley Murray (1745-1826) was a grammarian (sometimes called the 'father of English grammar'), originally from a Quaker family from Pennsylvania who moved to York, England, also home to a thriving Quaker community. His textbooks were hugely popular - Abraham Lincoln was a big fan - in the 19th century though he is sadly not so well known now. Some of his work was written in the summerhouse above which is now in the grounds of The Mount school in York, one of the city's two Quaker schools (I went to the other one, Bootham) where you can view it by prior appointment. It also contains his writing desk and chair. The summerhouse also appears on the front of Stephen Allott's nice little book Lindley Murray: Quaker Grammarian published by Sessions of York.Well done to Andy Bantock who successfully named that shed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday's posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists.Click here for more details.

Side Street Projects: mobile shedworking

Side Street Projects has finished its two-year project to turn itself into a fully-mobile, off-grid, community-based arts organisation. Their offices are two restored vintage travel trailers manufactured by J. Paul Getty's Spartan Aircraft Corporation which are powered using solar energy. Side Street provides activities and services for children, artists, and members of the community and aims to mover around the area, 'parking' in unused spaces to serve new communities. As they say:

"Being on-the-road and off-the-grid gives us the unique capacity to plug into a variety of transitional and unused spaces throughout the City, both public and private, ironically achieving a sort of stability through mobility."

Pictured above is the solar trailer. Below, Emily Hopkins from Side Street shedworking in the 1953 Spartan Imperial Mansion and an interior shot of the refurbished 1949 Spartan Mansion. Side Street Projects' Mobile Headquarters were made possible by grants from the Pasadena Community Foundation and the Ahmanson Foundation. There are lots more photos at their Flickr site, including many of the actual build. Well worth a browse.Via Treehugger