Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that if you want more connection in your
Speaker 1: life but also need to get your work done, you
Speaker 1: could try working side by side with a friend or
Speaker 1: favorite colleague. You will log time together and you just
Speaker 1: might make each other more productive. Today's tip comes from
Speaker 1: an interview I did recently with Anna Goldfarb, author of
Speaker 1: the book Modern Friendship. During our conversation, Anna mentioned that
Speaker 1: she and a writer friend worked side by side at
Speaker 1: a cafe once a week for seven years. They logged
Speaker 1: a lot of time together. It turns out that consistency
Speaker 1: is one of the dental elements of friendship. When you
Speaker 1: see each other regularly, as Anna and her writer friend did,
Speaker 1: you create conditions for intimacy to grow. Anna points out
Speaker 1: that an additional secret of their success was that their
Speaker 1: get togethers had a clear about or purpose. They both
Speaker 1: knew that they were there to write. I think this
Speaker 1: is great and as a bonus, these get togethers may
Speaker 1: have eased the isolation that freelancers and remote workers sometimes feel.
Speaker 1: So if you are looking for more connection and you
Speaker 1: have the flexibility to work where you want to at
Speaker 1: least some of the time. You might also benefit from
Speaker 1: working side by side. This could work in a variety
Speaker 1: of ways. If you work remotely, one option is to
Speaker 1: occasionally work side by side with a colleague who lives
Speaker 1: in your area. Maybe every Monday afternoon, you could meet
Speaker 1: up with her at a coffee shop and work side
Speaker 1: by side. Of course, if you and she need to
Speaker 1: meet about anything, you could do that while you are
Speaker 1: together too. If you are a freelancer or remote worker
Speaker 1: without colleagues nearby, you could work side by side with
Speaker 1: a friend who is also a remote worker or a freelancer.
Speaker 1: As Anna and her friends showed, it can be enjoyable
Speaker 1: and productive to work side by side, even if you're
Speaker 1: working on different things. While you are working side by side,
Speaker 1: you will likely spend a little time chatting, just as
Speaker 1: you would chat with the person in the cubicle next
Speaker 1: to yours if you worked in an office. If you
Speaker 1: want time for deeper conversation, you could talk during your
Speaker 1: lunch break or stay for a while after your work
Speaker 1: day ends. As for where to work with a friend,
Speaker 1: a coffee shop or somewhere like Panera is probably the easiest. Option,
Speaker 1: but you could also work at one of your homes,
Speaker 1: perhaps alternating between them. Your dining room table one week,
Speaker 1: her kitchen counter the next. The library is another possibility.
Speaker 1: Some libraries even have rooms you can reserve so you
Speaker 1: can chat rather than needing to be silent the entire time. Now,
Speaker 1: I brought up working side by side as a way
Speaker 1: to build a relationship while getting your work done, but
Speaker 1: you may find that working near a friend actually increases
Speaker 1: your productivity. If anyone in your life has ADHD. You
Speaker 1: may have heard of body doubling. A person with ADHD
Speaker 1: works in the presence of another person who is also working.
Speaker 1: When you are near someone who is calmly getting their
Speaker 1: work done, it creates a model for how you can
Speaker 1: get your work done too. When you work side by side,
Speaker 1: you and your friends serve as each other's body doubles
Speaker 1: and offer a model of focus and productivity. In other words,
Speaker 1: of working out at home leaves you frequently distracted, Maybe
Speaker 1: a little coworking is what you need. Work side by
Speaker 1: side with a friend and you will know that it
Speaker 1: is work time, and you will log the hours that
Speaker 1: will make you even better friends in the future. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.