Shedworking: the glory years
Alex Johnson’s long awaited Shedworking: The alternative workplace revolution will be welcomed by anyone who follows Johnson’s captivating blog.
Five years ago, the then Department of Trade and Industry found that 41% of all UK businesses were being run from home. That figure has since risen quite dramatically.
There has also been a steep rise in the number of self-employed people taking on portfolio roles - working flexibly with other ‘freelance’ professionals on a range of projects, and taking full advantage of much improved computer technology and broadband speeds.
For anyone still unconvinced that their home offers a suitable working environment, Shedworking: The alternative workplace revolution should kick any reservations deep into the long grass.
A long time advocate of shedworking, Johnson sets out a powerful argument for taking work out of the traditional office and back to the home, then by extension to the end of the garden - where invasions by children, spouse and pets (and thoughts of unfinished housework) can be repelled.
A shed, Johnson claims, can add 5% to the value of your property, you gain an extra room and commuting is literally a walkover. He offers evidence too that a shed-like building increases creativity - citing various inventors, artists and other significant figures throughout history who have made their mark on the world from a shed.
But what makes Johnson’s shedvision utterly compelling is the cornucopia of sheds that fill his book, some plain eccentric, many spectacular and all guaranteed to make the average office worker – and shed aspirant – seethe with shed envy.
The shed of course harks back to childhood delights - the treehouse, the den made from a packing crate or upturned furniture – and the pleasure of having your own private space at arms-length from the rest of the world.
But the degree of skill and ingenuity now being applied to shed design and manufacture is extraordinary - from sheds made from recycled bottles, recycled tube trains and even a knitted shed to a Joe 90 space age pod.
It also calls into question why anyone today would travel to work in a sterile cubicle if the alternative is a hop and a skip down the garden path (or up to the roof garden) to your own private sanctuary.
