The post is an old one, from a non-existent blog. Something started on a whim, and something that had to I have had to give up on because of time, and learning to say no.
, was something that I’ve had been always wanted to do. I love workspaces, and desk. There’s something about working spaces, desks, and the people behind them; creative all. Their stories contain whole worlds, if I may. Read more about the whole idea and motivation, behind Workingspac.es.
This post was the first story published, and shared with everyone, via Workinspac.es. As I was going through, and sorting out some backups, I happen to stumble upon this story. And, then I thought it should still be somewhere out here. Thus it ended up being a post.
This is a story, about John Saddington, his working space, and environment.
A short background:
I have been using Desk, for quiet sometime now (since the December of 2014). At the time of writing this post, Desk was more than an app, it was a community. And, I was simply in awe of Desk. I respect, and look up to its creator - John Saddington; a silent mentor. Thus the thought of a questionnaire based interview popped up. I wanted to interview John for his experience, and all that went in creating Desk. And, make it the first story of Workingspac.es.
John, has become someone I lookup to; a role model, as a fellow developer, a writer, and a publisher. Guess I am a groupie now.
Over at talk.desk.pm I had inquired if I could send him a list of questions for an interview. I wanted to know more about a small part of his life, spent behind his desk; his working space. And, here’s the story.
John Saddington, his working environment, his work space, and Desk:
At the time of the first publication of this post, he was working for The Iron Yard - an accelerator, and a code academy. He blogs daily and, has been blogging daily for the last 14+ years! (this fact, it still “awes” the heck outta me).
At the time of the first publication of this post, he woke up at 5:00am, and wrote in the mornings. Followed by taking his youngest to school, and then home-schooling his oldest. He had meetings during the rest of the day, up until around 3:00pm. After which he would turn things down. From around 3 PM in the afternoon to 7 PM in the evening, he’s with his family. Once his kids were asleep, he would start coding or would spend time, playing or watching movies, with his wife. Having taken this interview in early 2015, I am not too sure if this still holds though.
He worked throughout the day, but took breaks, and took half-days often. He tries to maximize rest, for more performance, and creativity.
John’s Working space / desk:
Story: John Saddington's working space - The standing desk.
Story: John Saddington's working space - very minimalistic.
Story: John Saddington's working space - I love that huge wheel. It's like a ship's wheel.
Story: John Saddington's working space - Land Ahoy!
His desk at home is spartan. Just a small standing desk; super-small standing desk. All he needs while working is music, and headphones. He is minimal, and doesn’t like having distractions around his working enviroment. He likes capturing his ideas in a physical notebook, using some G-2 pilot pens lying around his desk. His working space, comprises of just that one standing desk, which in reality is just a side-table. And at the time of the first publication of this post, he was looking for a slightly different, maybe a better standing desk.
John uses a ton of tools, on a daily basis. His most important tool, as he puts it, is the Desk app. Writing, and publishing are fundamental to him. It is how he captures, and shares his thoughts with the rest of us. Notebooks, are the most important analog tools. He records his thoughts within these. They also form the foundations for all his endeavors.
Stories fascinate him, especially the ones that are built on tools which are helping people; like Desk. He’s is a swell guy! Down to earth, modest, gentle, and straight forward.
Read more about his working space, and the tools that he uses here.
