And like that: “Kerplunk!” and “splash!”—the river thanked me for returning the rocks. Luckily, I was in the rain forest near Arenal (in Costa Rica) and the water felt refreshing, instead of the cold sting I would have otherwise expected in January. 

“Ha!” I exclaimed, astonished at my joy arising. I so rarely give my creations back to the earth. Since the advent of computers and the diminishing cost of hard drive space and the expanse of server farms consuming real earthen materials and electricity yet called “the cloud”, I haven’t had to exercise the muscle of real-time editing and letting go. Before I breathe again (this is all happening instantaneously) I feel the weight and sorrow of my photography passion suffocating in the shift from film to digital—and not because of the image quality, but because of the infinite space to continuously capture and never process. Never a need or invitation to knock down the rocks. I’m so grateful for A’s incessant invitations.

I’m also fascinated about the rocks’ energetic lifecycle. A rock needn’t generate to move from standing. It simply needs to surrender to gravity. (And I think to myself: I must lookup potential and kinetic energy, though I won’t. I’m enjoying a week off of my phone and media and I won’t remember this until I sit to write this in the future—which is the present “now” vs the past “now”. It feels good to break rules, but I digress.)

As I picked up rocks, wanting to be an advanced stacking on my first go-of-it, I do my best to feel for their center, to feel for how they want to sit and want to be stacked. Several tumble with gravity, back into the river and some balance. I’m also feeling for my own center, sprawled somewhat precariously across a boulder near what some living in the Plains would call a waterfall. And I play with feeling for a rock’s center of gravity, as I feel for my own—balancing rocks as I balance my own body. I’ll later share this with A, and relate it to an essence of coaching. So much of what I’ve been practicing across multiple trainings is how to center and ground myself while helping someone else find/sense/connect to theirs. 

Writing this now (February 15), I’m as enthusiastic about the practice as I was a month ago. Yesterday, I adventured around my new home and stopped at Lover’s Leap and the public access beach/boat-ramp across the river (and only 23 minutes by car). I found three large rocks piled neatly on top of each-other and decided to leave the bottom two as a foundation. And then I began listening for the rocks who wanted to be stacked, wanted to be reminded of their potential. 

As I look at the picture I took afterwards, I’m surprised at the zig-zag across the vertical. Balance isn’t about finding a stationary, dead-middle. It’s simply the center of whatever shape we’re in, in the moment, and can look to be “left” or “right” of “center” (in quotes because changing your viewpoint will change what direction looks “heavy” or “light”). In this, the rocks remind me that I needn’t be symmetrical or neat to stack and be in connection with others. In nature’s poetic beauty, it’s the asymmetry and rough edges that invite a stable connection and towering community. 

The post Stacking Rocks and Finding Center appeared first on Jewels.

I started this post with a letter to the clients I worked with over the course of my trainings—that I wrote 2 weeks ago and kept finding excuses not to send, like how annoying is it that we get BURIED in emails at the Gregorian New Year? So here’s to diving into the cold, dark water and announcing my new venture: Unstruck Sanctuary.

What have you been learning into that you’re also afraid to, or not-yet-ready to, claim? What would be supportive? I’d love to hear from you.

I’d intended to reach out much sooner—to thank you for being a client, to check-in on how you’ve been, to share my training progress and my big life update. 

Instead, I kept letting my intention slide under the guise of how much I love quiet. I moved to the country for quiet. And still, I didn’t know quiet until the temps dropped below zero, and all the animals stayed in, and the wind paused, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I could hear a satellite sputter. What I heard instead was my Self whisper through the universe, “I am.”

For such a simple phrase, this one LANDED (in all caps). You see, all of last year I was “becoming.” I was in training, in transition, in burnout recovery, in healing.) So, I AM is uppercase big and new again and scary. I’m welcoming it with as much courage as I can muster, knowing that I will continue BEcoming alongside BEing. And I’m piercing my silence to share with you that I am a coach and healer. And I’m now taking clients in-person in Northwest Arkansas, and virtually for folx anywhere.

Gulp. It’s real now.

I went through two graduations last year; yet, I didn’t become a healer/coach during those ceremonies. I also didn’t wait for certifications (though intend on completing multiple). It “happened” when I listened to my soul and claimed it for myself. 

It’s not unlike when I claimed Musician. Someone asked me if I was a musician, and despite 20+ years of saying no/not really, I said yes. Instantly, I booked a show and started writing and recording. In addition to the work, it took my Self naming myself—and then actions unveiled themselves. Like right now, writing this long over-due email.

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Coaching vs Therapy

While therapy is focused on our past, coaching is focused on our present and presence—and possible futures. Since our past provides the context for what shapes us, limits us, and drives us, coaching and therapy often go hand-in-hand. Coaching may lead to therapy (which is how somatic coaching saved my life almost 20 years ago, a story for another post), and therapy may open one up to coaching.

An analogy: someone may want to see a personal trainer to get into shape or train for a specific event. While the personal trainer (“coach”) will want to be aware of any prior or current physical concerns so they can tailor their training, they will not directly diagnose or treat—that will be done by the doctors and occupational/physical (“therapists”). Since coaching doesn’t require licensure, it’s especially critical for the client and coach to respect the limits and boundaries of coaching.

Somatic Coaching

First, let’s look at the etymology of Somatics—and two words the Greek had for body:

• Soma—from sōmatikos, the “alive” body
• Nekros—from nekros, the “dead” body

I like this breakdown because it illustrates an awareness that our body exists with life and without—and the body with life is our soma, the root of Somatics. (Fodder for another post is the observation that cultures all over the world and throughout time have awareness of and words for this “life energy.”) The somatic body, or “soma”, consists of our mind, body, and spirit—our anatomy, emotions, feelings, sensations, breath, energy, matter, and consciousness. Thus, somatics is an integrated, holistic “field” of practices informed by what we know of physiology, cognition, the nervous system, neuroscience, psychologies, metaphysics, and cross-cultural spiritual practices (as they pertain to energies).

OK. That’s a lot.

So, how does this impact coaching?

As the sayings go:

• the body never lies
• you know you best
• you can’t outperform your environment

The crux of somatic coaching is (a) leveraging the knowledge contained in your body to guide you in making well-informed and authentic decisions, (b) entering into physical practices that will change your “somatic shape” to allow for (c) openings where you can take new actions towards new possibilities—a regenerative process allowing for sustained transformation.

“Power Posing” lends itself as a quick example of a physical practice: entering into a power pose (a physical shape) almost instantly impacts key hormone levels (including cortisol & testosterone) that lower stress and increase risk tolerance, providing space for love to drive vs fear and for options and choice vs entrapment.

What to Look for when Hiring a Coach—for life, business, love and everything in between

As someone who’s worked with a variety of coaches, I start with “trust your gut.” As science has been revealing: we have more of our nervous system in our guts than in our brains. Another good checklist is this one from Inc. Magazine on what to look for when hiring an executive coach.

As for the domain (life/business/love/leadership/etc.) and “credentials”—keep in mind that a coach will be limited by their own personal experiences and growth. Ideally, your coach will always be a step or two ahead of you. No one will ever have it all figured out, and you’ll want to be wary of anyone who thinks they do. I used to, I’m embarrassed and proud to admit…and was humbled to realize that healing, learning, growth, and life is not linear. We must forever be in curiosity, training, and conditioning.

Interested in Somatic Coaching?

Nov 2022: I’m looking for practice clients. Click here if you might be interested in working with me, either now or in the future. If we don’t find a fit, I’ll do my best to refer you to someone I think may be better suited.

ps. Having worked with Ontological Coaching for several years, I feel a connection and overlap between the two modalities. So, if you’re familiar with an ontological approach, I suspect you’d find somatic coaching appealing—even if simply out of curiosity. As an oversimplification, I see the root of ontology as an acceptance of being as the root of transformation, similar to how emotions work. (The act of wanting to stop, curb, or block an emotion will only make it stronger and stuck vs allowing it to be, in which case it will run its course and dissipate or shift.) While somatics will incorporate story/language and emotions along with the felt senses in the body similar to ontology, somatics uses story as context and grounds emotions to the felt senses vs the intellectual/cognitive realm. In sum, I find them to be slightly different approaches to reaching an integrated mind/body/spirit presence and practice for enacting the change we want to see in ourselves and the world.

The post What is Somatic Coaching? appeared first on Jewels.

Today was the Super Bowl and as I watched people watching the game, I began to wonder what it’d be like if we cheered both teams? Surely, both teams make brilliant plays. 

(Analogy from an old business book, maybe something like the 1 Minute manager: in football, we cheer / we go WILD when people do their jobs. Making a touchdown? It’s not a feat of greatness. It’s their JOB. Quite literally. To score. To win. It makes money. Produces jobs. Allows them to focus on their physical and mental acuity w/out having to have another job.)

On the flight from PDX to SLC, the steward let everyone know that the game would be broadcast and available in the air. But asked everyone to refrain from cheering since fans from both teams would be on board, so out of courtesy to your neighbor. 

If I HAD to pick a side, I’d likely lean towards the 49ers because I grew up going to games at Candlestick. But I haven’t watched a game in years. Maybe since Rice was on the team, if that’s even a real name not blurred by memory. My brothers now live in KC and I spent my school years growing up in Nebraska which doesn’t have its own team, so I could equally root for KC.

If I HAD to watch the game, I’d like to celebrate the brilliant plays by both teams. Root for the best playing today, so to speak. What would happen if we did that in life? If we weren’t so quick to pick a side before even seeing how they’d behave and how they’d play? Can I pick a politician based on their performance today? Presumably, they’ve learned a lot in their life and career — and really, what they did years ago is little more than an indicator of how far they’ve come. Sure, it’s also an indicator of what they’re capable of, but it’s an indicator of what they’re capable of in a set of circumstances that may no longer be present or relevant. (I’m not speaking to persistent, still existent patterns.)

No answers, just questions.

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You love your people, or you want to. So why isn’t your team killing it?

We’ve all read hundreds of articles and books musing on the perfect recipes for success and achievement. So it should come as no surprise that you already possess the skills to turn any good team into a great one.

I’ve been blessed to be a part of and lead several high-performing and cross-functional teams over a 15 year career in a leadership role. We grew a successful, self-funded startup as the first bubble burst. We built a SaaS platform and then internationalized and localized it in one summer. We turned around a sinking ship and launched a global entertainment site requiring coordination with independent, international groups in one spring. The list could go on, but that’s not the point of this post.

When I reflect back on the best experiences and the most humbling, I noticed that the highest performing teams all shared 3 secrets. We weren’t always cognizant of them, but now that I’ve named them, I can’t wait to share.

Cue the music…

“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”

Communication Frequency

When we physically see each other every day, it can be easy to assume we know what’s going on in each other’s lives — to assume that what we see is what we get. When we only “see” each other virtually, we gain the benefit of knowing what we don’t know but miss the camaraderie we gain from sharing experiences in person.

Whether in person or from afar, great project leaders make the time to connect one-on-one for the personal stories and to re-evaluate expectations.

If you’re managing a project that extends into the months and years, you may discover that someone’s life will take its own course over the timeline of your project—and require a stakeholder to change their role. You’ve likely learned ways to manage such changes, so imagine the power of anticipating such a change before it happens.

Frequency, like in music, sets the pitch of your communications. Too much and your team will get annoyed and tune out. Too little, and they’ll disengage. Project kick-offs are a perfect time to set your frequencies, but don’t make the mistake of going into auto-pilot. Use your one-on-ones to assess effectiveness and adjust as needed. Remember, what may feel like too much or too little for you may feel like too little or too much for others.

Want a little inspiration on how to craft engaging, efficient and enjoyable one-on-ones? Read Susan Scott’s Fierce Conversations and don’t let the title fool you. Fierce needn’t mean challenging. It can mean passionate, honest and fun, too.

Great teams not only communicate clearly, but they dial up/down their frequency as needed to balance shifting requirements, life and deadlines.

“Some day we’ll find it, the rainbow connection”

Connection

So commonly, we focus on the tools and processes to making our work easier. Communication, for example, can be both a tool and a process.

However, when we shift our focus to the middle space — to the interactions and connections between ourselves and our processes — we can multiply our team’s potential. Another way to think of this is our being while we’re interacting.

It’s not enough to dial in our frequency. We have to make sure we’re connected when we communicate. If we use the analogy that communication is a toolset for building a house, then connection is the foundation on top of which that house may be built. Our house, then, can only be as big, stable, inspiring, reliable and functional as our foundation allows. Connected teams can support big ideas, weather unexpected storms and foster 10x results in a fraction of time.

Project leaders are often tasked with the extra burden of managing people hired or influenced by managers beyond our purview. This is one of the many reasons that establishing solid connections is critical. It will help you sniff out misaligned expectations, perverse incentives, inauthentic motivators and other performance risks.

Before you go into your next, brief, one-on-one, ask yourself what you think motivates your team member. What’s their career path? How do they celebrate success? What does success even mean to them? What is standing in the way between them and what they want? Then ask them. Connecting is more than remembering names of children and spouses.

Am I suggesting you make friends with everyone? No. In none of the teams was everyone friends outside of work. Start by being curious and inviting curiosity.

If you haven’t tried Deloitte’s Business Chemistry, go create a hunch now. After 20 questions about your teammate/partner/client, you’ll gain brief and actionable insights about how you can best approach her/him to spark a real connection before moving your agenda forward. Or listen to this recent HBR podcast on conflict seekers and avoiders.

“Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music”

Intentional Celebration

I used to joke with clients and teams that I loved leadership because I loved to celebrate. And great teams meant great celebrations. While it was mostly true, I discovered that it was the small, incremental daily and weekly wins — not the big whoohoo at the end — that got us through the project/change/year.

Yes, those bigger celebrations and time to acknowledge completion are critical. Don’t skimp on retrospectives, but know they happen too late. Even in short sprint cycles. So practice celebrating as often as you can. Celebrate daily.

Now, I don’t suggest you celebrate for the sake of celebrating, as it will quickly lose its charm — much like too much frequency. You must be authentic and hold each other accountable for commitments and assumptions made.

For those that enjoy recipes with lots of room for your own creativity:

• Plan your tomorrow today (it takes less than 5 minutes),
• Share your top 3 desired outcomes as you start your day (could be during a standup or in your team chat),
• before you wrap up your day, share a win (it could be something you accomplished, learned or witnessed).

We know that what we focus on is more likely to manifest than what we ignore. So why not focus on and celebrate the desired outcomes and wins? It may take more time than you’re used to when planning ahead, but it will pay off quickly. If it’s not a habit yet, make it your keystone habit.

We can’t outperform our environment.

Project leaders have a powerful ability to shape the virtual environment for our teams. From removing communication barriers, providing inspiration, to watching for and mitigating potential conflict and risks along the way … we’re constantly fine-tuning our environment so our team can perform at its best.

And that’s why the 3 Secrets of High Performing Teams work. Communication frequency, connection and intentional celebration create an oxygen-dense biosphere where people can do and be their best.

Have tips and resources you’d like to share to help others put these to practice? Share a comment or reply below.

The post The 3 Secrets of High Performing Teams for Project Leaders appeared first on Jewels.

Software developers, designers, writers and other creatives reach their maximum productivity in what some call “the zone”, a state of mind others call “flow”. One consistent environmental factor helps everyone maximize their ability to get into and stay in flow: zero distractions.

For folks sharing a physical work space, whether that’s a coworking space or coffee shop, that can be a challenge—so here’s a few tips on how you can protect your zone and maximize your productivity when working anywhere.

First, let me start with a story: I was working from my uncle’s apartment, happily coding away and surely building something awesome. I was younger then, able to tap into my zone on a dime. Without knowing how much time had passed, my uncle’s housemate walked up to me and asked if I was wearing headphones. “No,” I replied. “I must have rapped on the window for a solid 15 minutes trying to get your attention.” He had been locked out on the deck and my uncle had to come home to let him in … I was completely unaware of my surroundings. I could go on about melted water kettles at home, but at some point my ability to drown out the world has waned as I’ve aged.

1. Wear headphones to minimize the risk of audible interruptions.

Some folks prefer quiet and can use noise-cancellation headphones. Others prefer music with no lyrics and others, the bustling noise of a cafe. If you’re in the camp of the latter, coffitivity.com and coding.fm can help give you the noise w/out the risk that you’ll hear your name or an interesting topic float by, pulling you out of flow. A few years ago I created a playlist “enter the code cave” that I can reliably play anytime I need to drown out a world of distractions. With Rdio shutting down, you won’t have long to listen to it. Luckily, there’s several other resources for creating, discovering and sharing playlists including Spotify, Soundcloud and Last.FM. Anything without ads!

2. Pick a space you can occupy for a while.

When you pick a work space that you can stay at for a while, you’re setting yourself up to enjoy a sustained period of flow. There’s nothing worse than finally getting in the zone only to be interrupted by someone asking you to move, or to make a new purchase. Many coworking spaces give you the peace of mind that you can stay put and won’t be interrupted to re-up your food or beverage. If you choose to work from a coffee shop, pick one that’s known to be more mellow (so you can dial in your background noise/music via headphones) and pick a spot away from the door and counter traffic. (Bonus: spots out of the line of traffic are also less prone to theft.)

3. Pick a space that’s comfortable.

There’s nothing worse than getting into the zone only to realize your freezing every time someone opens the door … or sweating through your t-shirt! The minute we think about how uncomfortable we are, the minute we’re out of the flow … and we have to start all over. Posture fits in here, too. Whether we’re at an office, home or another space, ergonomics matters. If you’ll be sitting, make sure you use a comfortable chair and that your table/desk is a comfortable height. If you’ll be standing, make sure you have a place to rest between stands and that your counter/desk doesn’t cause your wrists or neck pain. Laptops are not ergnomically friendly. Luckily, several companies create beautiful and portable laptop stands including the Roost and Green Tuna Design. We’ve collected some of our favorites on a Pinterest board.

Ergonomic insights from ElevationLab

4. Turn off email, Slack and other IM notifications.

One of my favorite compliments I’ve received professionally was “you were the greatest project manager I’ve ever had.” #humblebrag. What made me great? I taught his team how to block out distractions. For the first time in the company’s history and this developer’s history, they had a time protector—someone to prevent last minute meetings from popping up and who wasn’t going to IM them in the middle of a coding session for something I could get later. If you’re thinking, “I wish I could get a time protector,” guess what? You can be your own. Take the time to customize your notifications and turn OFF your email, Slack and other IM notifications when you’re wanting to get into the flow. If you’re a remote manager, encourage your team to do the same. If you use the Pomodoro Technique to break up your working sessions, you can check for alerts in your “in between” time. When working remotely, if your team doesn’t have “zone blocks” already scheduled, make sure you let your team know before you go offline to build their trust that offline doesn’t mean off playing. (Though I hope that you’ll have more time for play with the efficiencies you gain removing distractions.)

5. Use Workfrom

Our environment greatly impacts our productivity. Workfrom is a productivity boosting tool for remote workers to find the perfect place that meets our needs. Not only does it save time in the hunt, it helps reduce the risk of interference when it matters most. Find and filter coffee shops and coworking spaces by noise, busyness, seating options and other ambiance factors. What kind of space are you looking for? Let us know!

The post 5 Tips to Maximize Productivity. Anywhere. appeared first on Jewels.

Originally posted on Medium in #Untethered.

“Do you guys have an office?” I’m often asked.

“No. We work out of coffee shops.”

“They don’t mind?”

It’s a question I hear a lot. My company, Workfrom, is built around the premise that awesome things happen when we expand the relationship between vendor and patron. By enabling a community of mobile workers to share their favorite spaces for getting work done outside of the home or office, we spotlight over 1,000 coffee shops around the world.

It’s no surprise that coffee shops are popular destinations for remote workers wanting a place to stay awhile, to work on a wide variety of projects. But is that why entrepreneurs take the risk to open their own coffee shop — to create a communal space where people like us can work alongside strangers for varied lengths of time?

You may be surprised to hear that many coffee shop owners — entrepreneurs just like the ones “setting up shop” in their cafes — do want us there working on our laptops, sketching in notebooks, crafting, meeting others, creating something awesome.

We recently had the pleasure of putting on the first Portland Coworking Week — a collection of discussions and community events bringing together the people who make collaborative spaces and the people who work in them.

We invited three local, independent coffee shop owners to discuss the visible trend of people working from coffee shops. Workfrom CEO Darren Buckner asked “what have you seen in the last 5 years, what effects has that had on your business, where do you see it in the future and how will you be a part of that?”

Owner of Portland’s 24 hour Southeast Grind Kacey Birch confessed that she’s in the relationship business and happens to serve coffee and offer healthy food options for the late-night crowd.

I’ve seen so many projects that have blossomed in a coffee shop. My husband, for example […] found someone just by chitchatting in the cafe and they’re now building net positive green buildings in Tigard that are going above and beyond LEED certification. […] We try and encourage that as much as possibly by creating a space for workers that is very inviting and friendly and encourage people to open up and chit chat and get to know each other.

Southeast Grind owner, Kacey Birch on the connections made at her coffee shop.

How does she and her staff encourage connections? Until recently, it was the only 24 hr coffee shop in the city and very popular in the wee hours with students, writers, programmers and service industry workers. When the place would start to fill, she’d look for a backpack taking up a seat, politely move it and introduce the person in need of a spot with the owner of the bag.

Collin Jones, owner of the popular Crema Coffee and Bakery, shares a similar philosophy and leaves the match making to the community.

When I think about the environment of a coffee house, […] it’s not like at a restaurant where you’ve got these tables that are candle-lit so you don’t have to see anyone else around you. Coffee, a slice of pie, pastries, light sandwiches [are] a social kind of food where people can sit and chat and get to know each other in a casual environment.

It’s a natural fit for people who want to sit down and work somewhere and don’t want to rent out by the hour, partly to cut cost but because you might as well be in your office or in your home [when] the goal is to get out, breathe some fresh air, and have more external stimulation to spark your brain.

Crema owner, Collin Jones on the coffee shop being a natural space for collaboration.

Expanding on the trend, Sam Purvis, cofounder of creative agency Sincerely Truman and Portland’s new Good Coffee, expressed his appreciation of the working environment moving “from the home or the office — a more insular environment — to the public square.”

I’m a big believer that when people are working together in inspiring environments, they do better work on the whole. I’ve always wanted to be involved with companies who sit at the intersection between real human beings and emerging culture. There are a lot of ways you can design physical spaces to create that for people.

Sam Purvis, cofounder of Portland’s Good Coffee on the shift of the working environment to the public square.

When you walk into a Good Coffee, you can tell they’re trying out some of those ways.

But “Jewel,” you’re thinking. Clearly these three fabulous humans can’t speak for every coffee house in business?

Yes and No. Variety is the spice of life. Some cafes are meant to be an ode to an older age and an analog oasis in this increasingly digital world we live in.

One of the many reasons I live and breathe Workfrom is our ability to help differentiate between those spaces that welcome the digital mobile worker from those don’t, so everyone can feel a sense of belonging somewhere.

For more answers to life’s great questions, like “How long is too long (to work from a cafe)?” join Workfrom.co and read our blog.

The post Yes, coffee shops want us working from their spaces. Hear why. appeared first on Jewels.

With great freedom (to work when and where you want) comes great responsibility (to pay taxes).

When we decide to work for ourselves or work remotely for another company, we get a bundle of income tax headaches … and a few opportunities to save. We’re suddenly the bell at the ball and everyone’s lined up to dance with us, to take a sliver of our income back to their coffers.

So what can you do to protect your hard-earned money? Here’s 3 tips.

1. Research the tax laws and look for double tax agreements

This one’s for the travelers. For the digital nomads working as they travel across state and national borders, the tax headaches can quickly become migraines.

If you live in a state with no income tax and work as an employee for a company based in a state with income tax, you have to pay taxes to that state. When you’re a citizen of one country, but live in and work in another, you may have to pay taxes to both countries — or you may find that the countries have a double tax agreement.

Personal Finance & Money StackExchange is an international community of folks who’ve either already asked and answered the same questions we have or are ready to answer our questions. With the popularity and accessibility of mobile working on the rise, there are also active communities of globe trotting digital nomads and veteran road warriors happy to share what they’ve learned. Nomad.io and Nomadtopia.com are great examples.

2. TME (tee-ehm-ee)

Now we get to look at a way we can save money. Like shopping, you save by spending. When you start your business, you’re constantly meeting with people — customers, advisers, friends, you name it. And when you work out of coffee shops, those meetings out can add up.

Do yourself a favor and save your receipts. Make a brief scribble including who you met with and the topic of your conversation. I’ve tried almost every app you can think of, from ones that let you scan receipts to ones where you enter your purchases as you make them and ultimately what works best for me is taking a picture of my receipt on my phone and then stashing the receipt in an envelope that I rummage through once a month as I do my bookkeeping.

Why the phone over all those awesome apps? It’s easy. One snap and it’s geocoded and timestamped and easy to browse.

Because I’m not a tax consultant and tax laws vary internationally, I won’t go into what expenses you can write off, but I recommend checking out this simple overview of Meals & Entertainment deductions in the states. And if that bores you to tears, don’t worry about. Save your receipts with handy notes on them and give them to your bookkeeper — they’ll know what to do with them.

3. Estimate your overhead when calculating your rates and assessing an employment offer

When you’re working as a w2 employee in the states, you’re only responsible for paying 1/2 of your federal income taxes because your employer pays the other half. When you’re a freelancer, you’re responsible for paying both halves, so you can expect your taxes to increase.

As a quick starting guide, I recommend figuring out what you want to “take home” in pay and then multiplying that by 1.5. This will be your new baseline — what you need to bill in order to take home what you want. BIG RED WARNING: This is a rough number I’ve used while having to pay county, state and federal taxes in Oregon and I am NOT NOT NOT a tax consultant. Your local and national tax responsibilities will vary, so if you don’t know what your tax liabilities will be, ask around BEFORE you set your rate and salary.

Take out as you earn
Now that you’ve calculated the difference between what you have to charge and what you get to take home, you can save the difference so you have the funds to pay when taxes are due (quarterly and/or annually, depending on where you live). One new company that promises to make this easier is Painless 1099.

They open an online “smart” bank account and automatically withhold taxes from each deposit and send what is safe to spend directly to your personal checking account. Contractors can then simply use their Painless 1099 account info when setting up direct deposit or remote depositing payments received from freelance work.

They’re currently planning a beta launch for early to mid March 2015 and if you’re reading this, you should hurry up and get on their beta list!

Bonus. Find a good tax consultant.

Because it’s important yet redundant, I’m throwing this one in as a bonus. Find a good accountant, tax lawyer or tax preparer. Ask your friends, ask on Facebook, ask on Twitter. There’s a reason you hear this advice repeatedly. Save yourself time and money and prepare your questions before you meet.

Protecting as much of your hard-earned money as possible is the best investment you can make.

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The opportunity sprang up late (thanks to a post on PDX Startups Switchboard by Meet the Founder’s founder, Kevin Bastien) so we started organizing the same week of the event. Two of those days we were in Seattle for Startup Week, so we were was also limited on the amount of time we had to organize. I started our hunt by calling two, local coworking spaces. They were incredibly helpful, though we ultimately couldn’t arrange a “drop-in” event on such short notice. Had one of us been a monthly member and had weekend access, it’s more likely we could have pulled it off. However, both places also required a rental fee and we couldn’t work out a sponsorship deal in our short amount of time.

So we moved onto looking at the more popular cafes we’ve worked from in our weekly meetups and began filtering on my list of criteria:

1. large group space and ability to break into smaller groups
2. reliable WiFi
3. a variety of food and drink options
4. a variety of seating for folks who can’t sit in one chair all day
5. open later on Saturday
6. free parking, bike parking and accessible from metro transit

This led us to Ford Food & Drink. They allowed us to make a free reservation for their large, group table set in the back of their space. I initially thought we’d only be there for 4-6 hours before folks wanted to migrate, but most of us stayed until closing—between 9-10pm. (I checked in with the staff at mid-day to get a sense if we were welcome to stay and they were very supportive of us staying on.)

Their back space was perfect, as we were able to have a home base that was out of the way of the transient traffic staying for brunch, lunch, snacks, coffee and happy hour. We ran a tab, making it easy for our group to stay fueled and save the establishment on individual credit card fees. At the end of the night when we closed our tab, we saw that we spent as much on everyone’s food and drink as we would have renting a space — so our budget was happy. For folks who didn’t want to stop at 10pm, they could walk a few blocks to Southeast Grind, Portland’s only 24hour coffee shop.

We all agreed to meet back up at Bare Bones cafe the following morning to regroup and submit our team projects. We picked Bare Bones for its brunch, access to power, reliable WiFi, free parking and central location. After some food, coffee and a round of mimosas for all, we found once again that the money we spent was on par with what we’d have had to spend on renting a dedicated space.

One of my personal highlights of hosting the hackathon in cafes was the poetry reading I got to code through. It was a lovely change of pace from the sound of typing and a great shift in energy as the space filled up with folks sharing their passions, ideas and stories. Creativity is contagious — a lovely benefit to sharing spaces.

Check out what the teams all made!

View more photos shared in our Facebook group.

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I have a dream that one day on the golden hills of Silicon Valley and in the lush shade of Silicon Forest, business and organizational leaders will sit at the table of processes and system design, build and operation with REAL PEOPLE.

Let’s face it. In today’s fast paced world, when everyone’s faced with more decisions than ever and at an accelerating pace, we can’t afford to keep forgetting that those “users” we either need to collect data from or push data to (via our web site, application or larger organizational process) are REAL PEOPLE.

Think about yourself on a busy day. If you have to spend too much time trying to figure something out (like how to submit a form, or purchase that perfect gift) then chances are likely you’re not going to do it. And what about if you have to spend hours doing something that should take only 15 minutes? You’re likely to put that task off, or not get as much done in your week as you could. Your organization loses money and you lose valuable time.

That’s why I focus on the REAL PEOPLE. I believe everyone deserves a few extra minutes with their kids, pets, friends, family or self every day. Time I can easily give everyone via intuitive interfaces, well defined data and easy interactions.

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