What are your outdoor friendly remote work tips?

* Good sturdy chair. A crappy chair will make you want to leave in the middle of something interesting. A large lounger is my chair of choice as I can set peripherals/laptop beside me without putting them on wet grass.

* Shaded spot under a tree.

* Extra router or Wi-Fi extender so you aren’t limited to right beside your house/cottage. Hotspot might work as well depending on where you are.

* Plastic bag to toss your computer in if it suddenly starts raining.

* Umbrella or towel covering. I like to build myself a cave of sorts to keep the light away from the screen. If you really want to invest, get an umbrella with a steel base and steel rods.

* Your phone so you can still do your meetings even if the extender is spotty.

When I get a chance to do this I am doing it lakeside in Northern Ontario at my grandparents place, so your mileage may vary.

There are some tips in the productivity post from Stephen Wolfram who sometimes walks outside while working: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...

From my personal experience, it's usually a bit annoying. Macbooks have displays bright enough to work outside, but then you're burning through the battery quite quickly. When near beaches, grains of sand can get anywhere. When sitting in the shade of trees, little droplets of something sticky fall down. Insect everywhere...

I worked for 3 months outside in Thailand. The place I was staying had a section of roof open on three sides just outside the front door. There was a big table setup there, almost like an outdoor dining room actually and I'd work every day from about 7:30-3 in the afternoon.

I don't think I've ever been so productive in my life, it was outdoors but shaded well enough that there was no issue seeing the screen.

For working with a generic laptop that has entirely too much glare:

If you can, sit in complete shade. Against the wall of a building with the sun on the other side of it for instance. Bright surroundings is almost as bad as being directly in the sun, it's still going to make the laptop screen seem to dim. Early morning/evening works best.

If you can't get complete shade, wear black, sit at a 90 degree angle to the sun. Your goal is to minimize both light reflecting off of you onto the screen, and to minimize light hitting the screen/laptop.

if you've got a patio door and can set your desk up near it but not actually outside, that's 99% of the benefit of working outside with 1% of the hassle.

working outdoors is one of those things that sounds nice, and it is nice when everything is perfect, but it's really not worth the effort most of the time.

I'm a big fan of working from parks in the summer. I've spent quite a few days by the river in my local city. Finding somewhere that's both quite calm and has some form of amenities is a nice mix, albeit not possible everywhere.

Battery life on your laptop is one of the more important things, as chances are your screen brightness is going to be maxed. Personally I just sit on the grass/a rock under partial shade with the laptop on my legs (and a Bluetooth keyboard over the trackpad for better ergonomics) and spend a couple of hours like that, then retire somewhere else. Haven't found somewhere new to do it where I now live, need to get out this summer and find a good spot.

Position your chair so you will remain in the shade for the duration of your nap.

Nah, this is why I can't work outdoors. It's hopeless.

I used to do a lot of this with an iPad and bluetooth keyboard. I found you can work pretty much anywhere (in the park, against a tree, in a hammock) for an hour or so but after that you have to move on.

The pain points after an hour are finding shade, a comfortable sitting position and a good place to rest your keyboard at the right height. So, a room with a desk and chair.

I did have good experiences mixing outdoors with cafes and home working!

Anybody have any luck with special 'direct-sun' laptop screen films? My T490 can crank the screen brightness just barely high enough, but requires that I angle the screen oddly in order to get good enough contrast to read comfortably.

Batch your low intensity operations for dedicated outdoor time, as they’ll be less sensitive to glare and laptop temperature considerations. I personally will take out my iPad Pro onto the patio when working only on my email.

For more dedicated time, I’d recommend a hiking hammock, as they can be positioned to shade your laptop screen a bit. I recommend a double wide, as it’ll leave you spare fabric to shade yourself with. Be sure to learn how to use your hammock correctly, or the center sag will hurt your back.

I wrote about my experience working on a beach https://ivylee.github.io/content/journal/vim-theme-for-the-b... I’m a VIM user and I had to spend some time to find an appropriate color theme before I could see clearly under the sun. And remember to reapply sunscreen once in a while!

A good industrial umbrella with a concrete or iron stand will do wonders except for the brightest part of the day. I worked outside most mornings on a terrace in Mexico for a long time. Be aware of sudden showers if you live in a place prone to unexpected weather. Be aware of mosquitoes when the sun is not out. I found a good non-toxic insect repellant but it doesn't work for all.

I have shady places in my yard on east and west sides of my house. I sit where there is the least sunlight in a comfortable chair and a very light weight lap desk. Fresh air is good.

- Don't be in a hurry to deliver anything. You will not enjoy surroundings and only be irritated by the inconvenience.

- Try to shift your work so that when you work outside you can do things that are easier on your eyes, don't require a lot of typing, good internet connection, etc. For example read documentation, do some concept work, etc.

- If your family is close by, ensure clear expectations before you start. Set ground rules (ie. when you are working and when you are available). Try to make it up for them.

I’ve tried this a few times but the glare makes it painful. I’d say set up looking out of a window if you can, open it up to let air in and take regular breaks is more practical!

I work on my roof in the East Bay all the time. Mt. Tam is very inspirational. I find the following useful: Matte / antiglare screen or screen protector; recent laptops have brighter screens (2017 MacBook much better than 2013); light on dark UIs ; and open sided tent or umbrella to keep my computer from overheating (can't put sunscreen on a computer); Prosumer or better wifi (I have had good luck with Ubiquiti)

Work inside take inspiration lunch walk in the park.

I mostly work in my backyard these days. My #1 tip: Get a big sun hat!

If you don't tan well you might want additional protective sun gear. Devices get a bit dustier/dirtier so be prepared for that.

It'd be nice to not have to recharge inside but even with my late 2013 Macbook, I still get a few hours of work done before needing a recharge.

I have used these in the past for robotics fieldwork. It’s far from ideal, but way better than nothing when I need to use a laptop outdoors on a bright day:

https://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/pixel-sunscreen-v2

I used to work regularly outdoor in parks, a good data plan helps and finding a comfortable spot on some bench is also good. Probably I'd also go for lean tooling (Terminal, vim) that doesn't use much battery, is well usable with the keyboard and small screens

Make sure your screen is really clean and you’ll be surprised how much less glare you’ll experience

+1 would love to hear some thoughts on this topic as well

Laptop with matte display. Avoid flat benches.