Almost 100% of my work is done through a computer—communication, writing, programming, management, etc. However, I try to separate my everyday work and other parts of my life. During the day I mostly work on my consulting business, and when I go home I try to do some programming, I write on this blog and have some other hobby projects (again, everything is on a computer). I also watch some YouTube videos, read some blogs, etc.
I always had a problem with doing this sort of separation. I often find myself working even though I’m at home and should do something just for fun or just relax and recover (and sometimes I’m at work, and I find myself reading blog posts about “how to build a pizza oven” or “why to use Flutter instead of React Native”). What I realized is that my work is always 1-click away, no matter if I’m at home or not. So I thought that I might want to get a new computer, a cheap laptop I can use for this blog, for reading and just browsing at home. My favorite technology e-commerce here in Sweden (Webhallen) offers anyone who buys a laptop a 60-day money-back guarantee, so I decided to take that deal and try out the 2-laptop life.
It’s been 12 days since I got my new laptop delivered, and I can’t see myself ever living without multiple laptops again. My life has become so much more productive, and I feel less stressed than I can remember feeling for a long time. I’m not only more productive with my non-work-related projects, but I’m also more productive at home. Feels like some sort of paradox, but that’s the way it is.
The laptop I got for myself is a very cheap Acer Chromebook R-13 (more about why I chose a Chromebook in a future post).
So, my recommendation is (if you can afford it) to get a second laptop for your non-work-related tasks. Try it out, and I hope you find the same success with it as I did.