ianstocker

So I have external office space now. Since I started doing this over five years ago, I have been working out of a home office (literally my bedroom). I was able to get things done but it was just too frustrating working at home every day. Those of you who freelance from home know how this goes... there are tons of tips out there on Lifehacker and similar sites (in fact, this month's Wired had tips on working from home). "Get dressed for work." "Set specific work hours." "Buy a Do Not Disturb sign." These helped me maintain sanity in the short term, but the basic fact is that I need to work somewhere away from home, and every now and then I need to work around other people.

No more isolation! :-)

The psychological effect of "going to work" and "coming home from work" is amazing. Not to mention having my house back--all work related hardware is now a 10 minute drive away. When I am at the office, I am in work mode. When I am at home, I can relax.

My officemate and I don't work on any of the same projects. I met him through a "coworking" wiki and after meeting for coffee a couple times, we decided to split the cost of an office. Having someone else working in the same room has really helped me want to "look busy" when the temptation of distraction or zoning out kicks in.

It's been forever since I've posted. Too busy? ...My workload hasn't been as insane as it's been in the past. I've been enjoying weekends and nights off. I have spent the past few months hunkering down on some projects, and this site has been kind of neglected. I think there are even a couple recent releases that need to be added to the resume.

Basically, I just needed to take a break to think about what this blog really is to me. Is it my personal journal that other people might be interested in reading? Is it marketing so I can land new gigs? I haven't really decided, but my aim is to post on a more personal level from here on out. Trying to be ultra professional has really just stifled my ability to post, since I was second-guessing everything I saw. It's just a blog.

I'm not really sure if there is a particular topic I'll be writing on from here on out. I think I'll mostly touch on what it's like to do what I do, as a freelance game audio guy.

I also got an Indian Banjo last week, so if I have time I'll post pictures. And maybe even sounds.