Tech hardware doesn’t like Summer or Winter, but Spring — and especially Fall — make it very happy to be outside. This helps with my goal to get outside even more, to eventually work from outside for most of the day. In fact, now that I spend at least three hours outside every day I’ve realized that it is impossible to compare the air quality and overall feel of being indoors compared to just on the porch in a nice chair (like I am now with our dog Sam enjoying it as well).
I really despise going inside now. It’s like my body has been reminded of some animal instinct to sleep when indoors and be active when outdoors. I used to think that Circadian rhythm didn’t apply to everyone (like me) but it really does. After a month of always riding at sunset, eating as the sun goes down, and then sleeping shortly thereafter I can say that it is very real. When I wake my instinct is to grab coffee and immediately go out on the patio and enjoy the morning air and sunrise. It’s like my body has remembered how to be a human animal. Gone are the days of long nights and screens messing up my sleep schedules. No more midnight coding sessions. Just really good sleep.
The effect has become so pronounced that when I work indoors I get exhausted in a way that really seems unhealthy. It’s like a ache and mental exhaustion that must involve a lot of cortisol pumping through my veins. That would explain the visceral fat I built up over last year. Almost all of it is gone now. I give just going outside and doing something that gets the heart rate up to a level that builds up a sweat the main difference. Lower stress + mild zone 2 cardio + wanting to eat better because of it == much healthier Rob. I’m never going back.
In fact, all my time, energy, and money is focused on breaking out of these walls permanently for all awake activities. I hate to admit it, but sleeping is the one thing that is always better in a nice comfy bed. But eventually I’ll conquer that challenge as well. Being able to work very remotely is the key. First it starts with a day working from the local park (probably Jetton). Then working on an overnight trip to a local area with reasonable mobile signal that can be boosted. Eventually, I’ll work up to full weeks on the road at a single location that I know is reliable. After that, to being able to adapt to any location within the time between work hours.
I’ll get a Planet Fitness membership next year (after recovering from all the costs this year to do the research to set everything up). That will allow me to just bounce from area to area that has one. I can probably piggy-back off their network WIFI as well. But I don’t really need to. With three Netgear hotspots and 100g each on them (1 ATT m5, 2 Verizon m5,m6) and the weBoost booster I should be able to connect anywhere with even a minimal signal at all and be more than good to work from a chair outside of my car, or from within the car.
All of this has really given me new joy in life. Where I might have been content to fade away having “lived my life” before I am overwhelmed with excitement about the possibilities ahead. Besides, if and when I go, I want it to be doing something active that I love, not languishing away with some ridiculously horrible disease. Besides, perhaps someone will learn from the experience about how to do it themselves and join me for the ride, in their own way.