I have an hour long train commute to the office, and I work on my own projects in that time. At least one person expressed an interest in hearing my experiences working that way.
I’m pleased to report that that an hour is plenty of time to do useful work. I keep a TODO file to keep track of what I am working on, and what there is left to do. I generally knock over two or three items an hour.
Because I’m working on my project for just two hours a day, I’ve had plenty of time away from the keyboard to think through each problem before I start coding. This makes the time especially productive.
In the afternoon, when trains are more crowded, I find it worthwhile to go to Central and catch an inter-city train. In the mornings, if I’m especially lucky, I get the seat-and-a-half up the back of the top deck a C-class train. 1 A big trick is to get a seat away from the corridor so that my laptop screen is at less risk from the corner of someone else’s briefcase. If I can’t get the right seat, I don’t open my laptop.
Another point to remember is that you can’t mumble curses at your computer while on the train. In the office, people can’t hear over the cubicle walls, but on the train there are six people sitting within a one metre radius.
While sunlight at just the wrong angle can be a problem, the HP NX7010’s screen is readable in most conditions. In terms of size, the HP is about as large a PC as I could regularly use on the train. Depending on how tall you are, the screen’s useful viewing angle and what’s in front of your seat, a big latop can’t be openned fully while holding the machine at a comfortable typing distance. I have seen somebody really struggle with a Dell 8600, which is only 21mm deeper than my HP.
The main drawback to working on the train is getting all excited about my personal project each morning, then having to change gear when I reach the office. In the afternoon, I get it in reverse – my mind is buzzing with real, paid work and it takes a few minutes to “find my groove” again.
1 C-class are the newer kind of silver carriages. Serious commuters study the plans. :)
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I can usually find seats on both trips. In the morning, I catch the last carriage from Blacktown and in the evening, I catch the first carriage from Wynyard. And yes, I think the corridor seats are the worst coz you almost always have to get up for passengers on the inside. So I only open my laptop when I get a window seat (^v*)V