WEBVTT - The New Corner Office: Work in your parked car

0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:10.000
<v Speaker 1>Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,

0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.160
<v Speaker 1>the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the

0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:16.880
<v Speaker 1>new world of work or location and hours are more

0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:20.640
<v Speaker 1>flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to give

0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:25.400
<v Speaker 1>a new workplace a try your own parked car. If

0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:28.400
<v Speaker 1>your house is just too loud or distracting, your car

0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:33.000
<v Speaker 1>presents a reasonable alternative. Now. I know that in normal times,

0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:35.400
<v Speaker 1>plenty of people work in their cars by taking calls

0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:38.760
<v Speaker 1>during their commutes. This is not really a great idea.

0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.559
<v Speaker 1>The data undistracted driving are pretty grim. If you need

0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:46.120
<v Speaker 1>to take a call, pull over. But I do understand

0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.760
<v Speaker 1>why people tend to take calls from their cars, even

0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:53.120
<v Speaker 1>beyond the perceived productivity boost of multitasking. A car is

0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:58.160
<v Speaker 1>enclosed and generally pretty quiet. It's also private, so no

0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:02.560
<v Speaker 1>one can overhear a conversation. If you're working from home,

0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.440
<v Speaker 1>you can capture some of these benefits by working from

0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.679
<v Speaker 1>your own parked car. If you stay parked in your

0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.640
<v Speaker 1>own driveway, you can probably use your house WiFi. Now,

0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.440
<v Speaker 1>I will put in here the obvious caveat that if

0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:18.240
<v Speaker 1>you're running the car for the air conditioning in summer,

0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.360
<v Speaker 1>you should not be in your closed garage. But if

0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:24.520
<v Speaker 1>the temperatures are moderate so you don't need to run

0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:26.920
<v Speaker 1>the car, then you can work where you want. If

0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:30.080
<v Speaker 1>you do need to run the ac, make sure you're outside.

0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.920
<v Speaker 1>Some libraries have kept their Wi Fi going while they're closed,

0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.840
<v Speaker 1>precisely so people can park in their parking lots and work.

0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.959
<v Speaker 1>In any case, if the kids are being loud but

0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:41.680
<v Speaker 1>they're old enough to leave unsupervised for a little bit,

0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:45.200
<v Speaker 1>or your spouse is on kid duty, try using your

0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.960
<v Speaker 1>car as a secondary workspace. Just bring your laptop and

0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:51.840
<v Speaker 1>phone out there. If you'd like. You can drive to

0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.360
<v Speaker 1>a nearby park for the scenery, or just stay put.

0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.320
<v Speaker 1>Move the seat back so you can angle laptop in there,

0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.320
<v Speaker 1>or prop it on the center car. Bring snacks and

0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.160
<v Speaker 1>a drink, and you may not need to emerge for

0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:09.280
<v Speaker 1>a while. This option might be especially useful for people

0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.400
<v Speaker 1>in small spaces who are trading off childcare duties with

0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.720
<v Speaker 1>a spouse. The spouse can be doing his or her best,

0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:20.480
<v Speaker 1>but noise is inevitable, and sometimes the kids can still escape.

0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:23.720
<v Speaker 1>If you are the parent that they often seek out,

0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:26.919
<v Speaker 1>no home office is really going to keep them away.

0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.080
<v Speaker 1>In normal times, you could go to a coffee shop

0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:34.200
<v Speaker 1>or library or coworking space, but even those places aren't

0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:38.840
<v Speaker 1>great for sensitive phone conversations. Hence the brilliance of the car.

0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:41.800
<v Speaker 1>I made use of this the other day when someone

0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.160
<v Speaker 1>was interviewing me for a podcast. I normally record my

0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:48.000
<v Speaker 1>own podcast episodes at night after people are in bed,

0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:51.800
<v Speaker 1>but other people have different schedules. In any case, I

0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.119
<v Speaker 1>set myself up in the parked car in the driveway

0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:58.280
<v Speaker 1>and enjoyed the quiet well for a while. Then my

0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:02.600
<v Speaker 1>neighbor began mowing his lawn. I guess silences never guaranteed,

0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.640
<v Speaker 1>but at least sometimes it's a little more likely than others.

0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.359
<v Speaker 1>If you've ever used your perked car or some other

0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.480
<v Speaker 1>genius spot as a workspace, I'd love to hear about it.

0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:18.440
<v Speaker 1>You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.560
<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:29.480
<v Speaker 1>here's to succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New

0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.639
<v Speaker 1>Corner Office is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts,

0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.480
<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:38.640
<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows.