Working outside

written Jun 2026 by Jason Cox

During the year between last spring and this one, I spent considerable time doing my software development work outside. I did not keep track, but I’d guess that at least half of my workdays were outdoor days. I love working outside, and I’ve been wanting to write about it for a while. Now that my outdoor work time seems to be coming to an end (more on that later – I now have a shed office), I’m especially motivated to get my thoughts down before it becomes too distant.

I think that I started working outside a bit during grad school. It was nice outside, and I like the outdoors, and I’d seen pictures of people working on their porch or balcony or in the yard, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I set up a collapsible table and plopped my laptop on it. I enjoyed being outside, but it wasn’t particularly practical, so I only did it a few times.

When I began working from home full-time, I had to confront the reality that I share a small house with small children. There is nowhere in the house where the sounds of their excitement or anger can’t be heard loud and clear. Nor is there anywhere that’s out of the way enough to prevent my kids or wife from needing to come in at times to grab a shirt or a piece of paper or change the laundry or what have you. (Yes, I’ve spent lots of time working in our oversized laundry room.) I wanted a bit more peace and quiet, and my wife wanted me out of the house, but I didn’t actually want to commute anywhere. So I took the shortest route possible, out the door and down the steps into the yard.

At first, it was just me, my laptop and mouse/keyboard, and a table. I tried to make that a bit more ergonomic by putting my laptop on a box to get it closer to eye level, but pretty quickly I found myself wanting more, mostly more screen real estate. I did some thinking, researching, and planning, and eventually put together a mobile tripod desk with a 27-inch monitor attached. I also bought a collapsible tent that was screened on three sides (for bug protection) and solid on the top and back (for UV protection).

My tripod desk inside a cube-shaped screen tent.

Once I got started, I discovered many benefits to being outside, apart from the peace and quiet. I took some pride in being outdoors, away from the climate-controlled, excessively comfortable life we live these days. My coworkers enjoyed hearing birds chirping in our video calls. (Zoom does a pretty good job of blocking out background noise, but apparently bird sounds make it through loud and clear.) I found it was easier to take real breaks, walk around the block for 10 minutes or something, if I was already outside. And of course, as everyone seemed to inherently understand, it just feels good to be outdoors.

I am fortunate to live in a place with good weather for outdoor work. The Atlanta area has a short, mild winter and a long spring and fall. I was fairly comfortable for about half the year. On colder days, I tried to stick it out with lots of layers and fingerless gloves, but I often had to retreat inside. (It’s amazing how quickly your body gets cold, even when it’s not that cold outside, if you’re just sitting still.) On hotter days, I’d head for the shade (we have lots of lovely trees), or once again retreat indoors. When it rained, I usually stayed inside, but a few times I moved into our (always messy) carport instead.

Despite its many benefits, working outside had downsides as well. I grew tired of hauling my tripod desk out every morning and back in at the end of the day. Dealing with the weather was frustrating at times – too cold in the morning, then too hot in the afternoon. I live near a large road, and I was always self-conscious about the sounds of loud cars or sirens possibly coming through on my virtual meetings. When my kids were outside, especially with friends over, outside could be louder than in.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, my time working outside seems to be winding down. We’ve been needing a shed to store tools and the like, and we finally bought one a few weeks ago. It’s big enough to hold our junk and create a small office space for me to work in. There’s a nice little porch, and we were able to customize it with extra windows on the office side.

The outside of our shed. A porch is on the left side, with a door open into the office space, and the large door into the storage space is visible on the right. The unfinished interior of the office portion of the shed, with a desk, wide monitor, fan, and several windows.

I’ve been working in there for the past week or two. It’s nice to have a dedicated space. I have a real desk, a nice sit/stand one that I got several years ago, with my ultra-wide monitor. (The desk and big monitor lived at my parents’ place until we got the shed – no space in our little house.) I only carry my laptop out and in each day. The shed is in a nice wooded corner of the property, so it stays shady and I’m surrounded by greenery. I can open the windows, and I have a pedestal fan in case it gets too warm. There’s some separation from the kids when they play in the yard.

All in all, it’s a nice setup, but even with the windows open, in some ways it still feels inferior to truly being outside. I initially thought I might keep using my tripod desk on the little porch on nice days, but that hasn’t happened yet. The great setup right on the other side of the door is too convenient.

Anyway, I hope my experience will inspire someone else to get outside, even if “outside” is just a balcony or porch or unfinished shed. It’s lovely out there.

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