Initially the idea seems sensible, you’re in control of the way your business runs and able to make those decisions in the past that you inherited through business practices written in stone they were that old. In past companies the paper trail of the company has been more akin to snowflakes than requirements. I identified a few areas I thought I could use as my starting blocks to achieving a more ‘green’ approach to my business practice.

The successes and partial successes

Most of these are fairly obvious but I thought I’d write about my experiences here. It’s been months since I actually even had to use a stamp or print anything out. My printer actually sits unplugged in as it’s simply not used anymore.

• Studio heated using wood burner
• Paperless business: this ranges from invoicing through to contracts.
• Paperless accounting.
• Digital resources: rather than printed magazines I’ve turned to use digital versions.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these points and I’ll explain some of the hurdles as there certainly were some and things still aren’t perfect on all fronts.

Natural heating

This perhaps is one of the single best things I could have done beyond most other things. When we moved to our new property we were lucky enough to have in the studio space a wood burner. I can’t sign it’s praises enough both as a green option and life enhancing choice. I think it’s fairly simple to see how it’s ‘greener’ than our oil central heating or even electrical, but the bit I didn’t think about was the actual emotional and inspirational impact of a burning fire in the room. The UK quite frankly is various shades of grey for the winter months and having a wood burning stove in the room really lifts you. It may be monotone outside but I’m snuggly and warm and noticed it really helps inspiration wise. We’re lucky as have a free supply of wood so this could become expensive and have ‘green’ costs in sense of fuel delivery if that option wasn’t there. Another great use for our wood burner is paper isn’t needed to be shredded anymore we just put it on the fire (of course you can’t burn plastics) – something very therapeutic to setting fire to old bills.

Paperless office

It’s now close to over a year since any quote or invoice came from my business in a non PDF format. I encourage clients to not print out however I can’t control what happens their end. This has worked out well for me and is something that quite simply I can’t even think about changing back to.

Paperless contracts sound fairly simple in practice it’s not, the problem though is getting clients to adopt this method too. I spent the first year implementing this frequently sending with the contract emails a little how to for this however it was on the whole ignored. I’ve been considering various services that allow digital signatures however so far yet to explore this to the full focus it really requires.

Paperless accounting

This isn’t specifically something I did as much as a natural thing we all do now. It really kicked in for me about 6 months ago when we didn’t have a car for a month and a bit. The last bit of paper banking was some clients still paying by cheque, as I couldn’t even get to a bank without quite the hike I finally had an excuse to train the last dinosaur client into using BACS payments. I noticed the other day that NatWest now have an iPhone application and I’m hopeful that my bank HSBC won’t be far off as this really is something that would benefit me. Whilst paperless banking works I personally won’t access it unless I own that device and using the browser through the iPhone is a case of too much information on too small a screen with regards to my banking interface. My bank uses a dongle to connect for security so it’s a lot more secure than some I’ve seen, but cautious nature is always best with online banking.

The biggest fight for me with regards to online banking was statements. It took months to despite ticking the ‘do not send’ box get my bank to stop sending me statements – they still do on my ISA. My mind boggles how hard this process was for me and I can only hope that I just was a slip through the net on this and that everyone trying to take a paperless approach to banking doesn’t have to go through this hoop.

Digital resources and magazines

There was a time each month I’d end up adding 4-6 small trees to my already large wood collection of magazines. I still have a few shelves of these but for a while now unless it’s got a digital version I simply don’t get that magazine. It really was brought home to me our last move when I had 3 boxes just of magazines. Digital magazines are far easier to search, get information and even grab articles from so aside from the ‘green’ element really are a far superior method for me. Downside is Ikea maybe won’t get me buying a new bookcase this year. I also now tend to use far more blogs and my RSS feeder subscriptions probably count for 50% of my new information that in past I would have got from magazines only 2-3 years ago.

The failures

One major area so far I’ve failed in is moving from moleskins to a digital sketch book. It simply hasn’t worked for me so far and I always fall back on using the moleskin. It’s one area I’m really keen to progress with. I use a digital scrapbook so I’m slowly getting there. At this point I’m convinced it’s more of habit than anything else. There is something about sitting mapping out stuff and sketching in the moleskin. Perhaps it’s just I’ve not found the right tool for it digitally, however I don’t think that’s quite it. To move onto a purely digital process for my projects this really is the last major stepping stone I need to get over.

The must do betters

I have aside from the note failures 2 key areas I want to focus on in 2010. For me, this ‘green’ approach is one that should evolve and has taken time. I find change rests far easier with me if I adopt it piece by piece rather than going insane right at the start. Quite frankly time also hasn’t allowed for everything to be implemented at once.

• Goal to have all books digital
• Goal to ditch all old notebooks and folders

Out with the physical library in with the digital book age

This perhaps is one of the biggest hurdles and will reap the biggest effect on my life. As I write this to my right are two long bookcases, to my left and behind me is another large modular bookcase. It’s my goal to if possible by the end of 2010 or if not as soon as I can, to have every book I own and will own from that point purely in a digital format. The kindle is now available in the UK but I’m still undecided on which option I will go for regarding the device that will serve these books. I also have to research into getting some back copies of some treasured if a little old books. I do however look forward to the day I can either get rid of the bookcases or at least not feel quite like I should open for business as a library.

Ditch the notebooks take two: dealing with the back log

This point links into the massive failure to cut the umbilical cord of the moleskin from my life. Whilst by my nature I am not really a hoarder with regards to notes and information I am queen of the ‘don’t throw away in case’. I must have been a squirrel in my past life the way I clutch onto notebooks. I have almost every note taken during any course I have ever taken – to illustrate the absurdity of this I last took a course nearly a decade ago. I have shelves and books full of these antiquated notes. From my long past writing days I have about 3 incomplete novels and enough poems to make a poet drown, all stored on shelves and in boxes having not seen the light of day for years apart from being moved from one house to another. I plan to slowly type up or scan (not decided which is best method to do yet) so at least I can have digital copies that can collect virtual dust. A probably more merciless person would say ‘throw out’ but part of me clings to those first pieces of code I wrote during my Software Engineering days. This is probably the part of me that if allowed to would enjoy a romantic comedy. It’s going to be more of a project than the great scanning of photographs of 2007 I undertook but one I think will be really worthwhile.

I am aware that most of the going green I have done is small in it’s nature. This however is also about digitising my life fully and started when I decided to have a mass scanning in of all my photographs – I no longer have any photo albums that are not digital and only a few photos in frames in the house. It’s a process I’m constantly looking at tweaking and for better methods.

So what is Google Wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.
- From Google Wave’s about page

Not just noise but a chance to interact

As I’ve said my first impressions weren’t great, it all seemed a lot of noise without much direction. Google on it’s site explains when to use Wave and highlights group projects, photo sharing, meeting notes, brainstorming and interactive games. There are 3 parts of that which have finally dropped into how I think Wave will fit into my life as a freelancer: group projects, meeting notes and brainstorming. Whilst using it I thought ‘what if clients were using this’.

The problem with clients solved with Wave

One of the key issues with any project I work with a client on is collaboration. In the past I’ve tried a range of tools and currently have a good working process but I can see how Wave could add to this and replace some things I already use. I’ve found in many of these tools the ‘real time’ idea generation side lacking. The 3 key points that have caused hitches with any process have been: accessibility, cost and integration. How does Wave solve these?

Accessibility

The learning curve of wave certainly initially is relatively high however that seems to be more due to a general ‘now what do we do with it’ more than anything else. It’s also a once learnt can apply just like any system in truth however the versatility that I will cover later is what will be the key to any training being only needed once. Unlike a lot of other systems too it’s not down my possession of the service once has a Wave invite will in fact become in control of Wave and able to use for their own business themselves. This is something I really like by introducing clients to Wave they can themselves discover and find out how they can use it aside from with me. I love the idea of not only it benefiting our relationship but their own with others. Another side of accessibility is one that all services I use with my clients have to fall into and that is an ability to get online. Wave certainly fits this although I will note that currently it seems to fail a bit in firefox, Chrome seems the browser of choice for it to work on with Internet Explorer having to have a ‘work around’, however it’s still in beta and I’m finding a large proportion of the clients I’d use this for already using Chrome.

Cost

I am not against paying for a monthly charge for a system in fact I have several subscriptions that I pay for services that bolster my business. However, the chance to reduce one is definitely a draw. Cost though is not simply a subscription charge. If the client or myself has to actually spend time to use the service aside from the normal working flow then that is a cost of time. Wave whilst I’ve already identified needs some training to use has a rather minimal cost. Also the longevity of the product or at least potential longevity is a key. Whilst it’s all well and good using a service that seems perfect at the time I’ve been caught before in the trap of it being discontinued due to the company folding or the services development costs being unable to be kept up with and the project falling into a pit of bugs as ignored. Wave I am fairly convinced isn’t going to (although at this point I can’t really comment) by a ‘flash in a pan’ service and my hope is just like other Google services it sees work done on it and constantly evolves rather than stagnates.

Integration

With regards to this area it is a multifaceted issue. Aside from how will it fit into my process I have to think 2 things: ‘how common is this service’ and how likely are clients to use it. I know of a lot of clients using Google Docs and GMail so the stretch to use Google Mail really isn’t a large leap. By this simply being a Google service likelihood of users actually using is increased as they for the majority already use Google services to some extent. Familiarity is key when introducing something into a working process where you can’t say who will be using the system in the future. The Wave interface itself is familar to any that use Google’s services in it’s most basic sense. By it’s very nature of being a Google service it removes the fragmentation that comes from using yet another service. Like it or not there is also a client trust around anything to do with Google (many may debate this point but that is for another time).

How I plan to use Google Wave

Currently I can see it being used during design and conception processes. I can see it potentially being used as a design sign off tool which would actually be a really good method of use I think. I could show a client a design, get their comments on adjustments, submit it again and all in one wave. The same can be said for project specifications I can see how an application can be mapped out and discussed all in one wave. These currently are the 2 primary reasons I can see from my work point of view that wave can be used. I am think onto how I can integrate my already wide use of Google Docs to link in with Wave. I also however have plans for some future projects like a collaborative blog which I can see Wave fitting well into. I am sure there can be many other applications but these currently are the main ones I can see it being used for.

Time will tell proof of the conceptual pudding

A lot of this is use for Google Wave is theory until I can get clients onto the system through hopefully Google doing what they did with GMail and invites being able to be sent out from those with accounts. I then need to sell this to a few test clients initially and see a real world working for Wave. I have already started using for internal things just need all members of Logical Binary to be using it to get the full view of what truly is possible. It really is a case of time will tell but I can certainly see how it can be used and that’s something that truly excites me. I look forward to seeing what is also developed to compliment Wave by the already strong development community, often it’s from there the true sparks come.

Over the years work becomes a larger beast and your personal project time can easily go down the back of the sofa. I have found myself recently putting off too many personal projects, this was something I knew had to change if I was going to avoid the mental stagnation I felt creeping in.

Ground zero your blog

If as a designer or developer you aren’t maintaining some form of blog I to be frank would be puzzled. Not only is it a great publicity tool but it’s also your own playground. At the start this blog ran on my own cms and later blogging system once this whole blogging thing had a name. This was how I learned to write a cms and blogging engine. I moved onto word press after a while for many reasons, but the point though is through this blog I learnt how to code some significant things I’ve used over and over again in client work. Design limits are also raised in your own space so it’s essential to allow you the freedom to explore and play. I see your blog as ground zero or the first thing you should do as a personal project. This is your space online where you can have the freedom you often don’t have in client work or even on your portfolio website.

Would I miss 4 hours a week?

As part of my drive to get back into personal projects I’ve decided to put back 1/2 a day a week where I work on personal projects. I’ve been doing this for about a month now and turns out I didn’t miss that time at all. I’ve read a lot about ’4 day weeks’ and although I think being able to do that is quite a long way off (try a different universe), I found I could manage to grasp back 4 hours a week without sending my work schedule off. The problem I’ve been faced with whilst starting this has been ‘when’. I’ve become more and more aware that this time needs just like client work to be at a fixed point and you can’t just put it down for ‘when free’ – you do that you will never do it as it’s easy to never be free.

From small seeds grow large things but you’ve got to plant seeds

In this times where all you hear about is the ‘credit crunch’ and voices of financial doom, it’s nice to look at alternative revenues and just ‘do’. You never know from those personal projects could grow something. I don’t think though this should ever be the core motivation from personal work. The ‘gains’ you can get aren’t in personal work all about financial ones. Maybe you learn a new technique, maybe you do build a fun application.. whatever it is this should be done as exploration and with the emphasis on enjoyment rather than cold hard cash results.

I think the hardest thing is the ‘doing’ of personal work. It’s all too easy to see the hours and what client work you can cram into this. It’s harder to take some time and see no direct ‘money in the bank’ from it. Over the years as a freelancer you focus on project after project and it becomes very much the same story over and over again. After going back to personal projects I’m finding myself rejuvenated for want of a better word about the web. It’s all too easy to get into a rut designing or developing. By not limiting yourself you can explore and grow. I’ve always said the day I stop growing is the day I should be giving up and for a while I’d forgotten that.

The illusion of being your own boss

I used to and most people who ‘work for the man’ probably do have dreams of working for themselves. There is this sort of haze around the concept that usually ends up being quickly shattered when the reality of working for yourself hits home. The buck no longer stops a fair way away it now stops right in your lap and usually hurts when it hits. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying it’s all woe is me, it’s just when you aren’t working for yourself and looking to do it you can tend to rose tint the possibility.

The cold fact is you can even see freelance as having many bosses depending on how many projects you have going on at the time. If you think about that with your clients as your boss then you really are only making choices about which boss you want to have for the duration of your project. If you are answerable to a project and that client then really are you even your own boss? I feel you are but with a lot of cross over feelings into that answering being a little more grey around the edges. The notion of being your own boss really does entail you are answerable to nobody – so who really can be said to be their own boss? Many companies have investors, boards, partners they answer to so can you even see these as being their own boss?

Monday isn’t a Monday

The harsh reality for me and most who work for themselves is that Monday isn’t always the start of your week. I can remember a fair few weeks and even months where there was actually no ‘start’. Even now I probably do some form of ‘work’ most days. Being your own boss means not just doing the work but doing the administration it take to run a business no matter what size and those little jobs that when you work for someone else get done for you. From accounts to buying office supplies, all those little bits add up and need doing. These all add up to time you are working. These are often factors nobody at the start adds to the equation when working out their hours and costs of working for themselves.

The good flip side of this of course is you can in many respects select your working hours. Of course, this is partially dependent on your client base and type of work. I’m lucky and so long as I’m reachable and ‘do the work’ I have nobody saying I have to be available from 9-5. Often I even find that those out of office hours are better for focused work, the phone doesn’t ring and emails don’t come in. Saturday still for me has to be my most productive day by a long way.

So do Mondays suck being a freelance web designer?

For me, Mondays don’t suck anymore than other day – you can have a ‘Monday’ on any day of the week. No matter what you do for a job sometimes it just sucks. Working for yourself though and doing something you love is priceless and gets you through those head on desk moments. No matter who you work for be it ‘the man’ or if you are ‘the man’ and you work for yourself – the plain and simple truth is work can suck sometimes. Ultimately if you are doing something you believe in and are passionate about those sucky days are just that little bit less sucky.