Taking It With You

Taking it with you ... your work, that is.

Later this summer I will be on the road with family and ?out of the office? for a fairly lengthy period of time. While I am gone, my laptop and some important back up files will be with me as I envision spending some of that time working while the rest of my family visits with our extended family. Plus, I have several web sites that I manage and I like to check in from time to time to see how they are doing.

If I need internet access, I head off to the nearest Panera Bread location and buy a cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese and sit down to work. The last time I did something like this I was in Panera for about three hours each day. This time, I don't envision myself needing to be online all that much, but I do believe I'll be busy writing some articles and updating several web pages.

So, why do I go to Panera Bread? For a few reasons: free Wi-Fi access, the music is subtle, and the lighting is calming. Compare that atmosphere to Starbucks where internet access will run you $6 or more per hour and where the music is too loud to concentrate makes choosing Panera a no-brainer. Plus, their coffee is simply better than Starbucks, in my opinion