"Working it" column published in the Career Moves section of The Evening Echo on 05/11/2007

Proponents of the fight to save our planet from the impending doom of global warming tell us that using our cars less is one of the main things we can do to help reduce our carbon emissions and do our bit towards saving the existence of mankind. I’ve embraced this concept wholeheartedly.

I work in an office in the back garden, and every morning face an arduous 20 second commute out the back door, up five steps and across the lawn. The only carbon I’m emitting en-route is the regular human respiratory variety… and I assume that’s all right.

Okay, I’ll admit it… my decision to work from home wasn’t driven by an altruistic desire to preserve the planet. It was a purely selfish decision based on criteria like spending more time with my young family and being master of my own destiny rather than at somebody else’s beck and call. But avoiding the commute was another very big plus.

Last week I got a taste of what I was missing when I had to travel up to the city for a training seminar. Coffee and registration was scheduled to begin at 08:30, with the seminar kicking off at 9am sharp. No problem, I thought. Allowing time for traffic, I left home at 06:30 on a trip that, under normal circumstances, would take me exactly an hour. Two hours later I was sitting in a queue near city hall, wondering if I was going to make the start of the seminar at all.

Continue reading »