I see so many people using their laptops on the plane.
Half of them watch movies/listen to music/use it for entertainment.
But then there's the other half that has spreadsheets/documents/planners/productivity software opened up. I can't help but wonder how do they get anything done in such an uncomfortable environment?
Note: I'm talking about Economic class, Business class can be a comfortable place to use a laptop
Is flight-time productive for you?
Yes, my recent trip was quite productive. I spent about 5-6 hours each way mostly hacking on a django app I am working on.
One key to staying focused is to have all the tools you need on your local machine.
Tips for staying productive in flight
I've never found any benefit in using my laptop on the plane, but then again I'm a student. I imagine that if I was headed to a meeting or conference, having pertinent information in front of me would be great for preparation. As for getting things accomplished? I think the coach class seats would have too many distractions.
The only laptop I had that let me get anything done was my old Dell 300m (May he rest in peace!) I loved that little guy, but alas all good things come to an end.
My work bought us Samsung Q1's. Nice but cant get any real programming done (too many special character keys not represented on hardware keyboard)
Actual coding no, but for reading/research related to coding it was amazing.
People who use laptops extensively on planes are either a) masochists or b) trying to impress the girl in 24B with their geekiness. I can't think of a more god-awful place to try to get work done than on a stinky, smelly, cramped, hot, snake-infested plane.
There's no way I can get anything done on a plane flying coach... NO WAY! And I can't research without internet connectivity... sorry... I really can't...
... unless I can cache the whoooole web in my laptop on the Terminal, just before boarding! (I wouldn't want old/deprecated info on my search now would I?) :)
Personally, I can't concentrate hard enough on a plane to do any real development work (and besides, I need at least 2 monitors to do any real work these days!).
However - time on the plane / train can be great for doing all of the things you have to do that aren't programming! Organising task lists, updating bug lists, drafting proposals for clients, etc.
I also find it a great opportunity to catch up with some of the less important e-mails that I have saved up, along with all those interesting RSS feed articles I've been saving for a 'spare' moment.
In fact - it ties in with a great trick I was taught for helping to not get distracted at work. When you get e-mails or RSS feed updates - check to see if they need to be read now - and if they don't - just file them away somewhere safe. Then - next time you have a few minutes and you can't think what to do (or you're on a plane!) - you'll have a stock of interesting things to catch up on!
Just a thought! ;o)
As a 6'4" code monkey flying in coach there is NO WAY my higher brain is going to help with any coding. My primitive brain is too occupied with the multiple violations of my personal space, the unnatural way my body is folded, and the lack of any comfortable place to rest my limbs.
If you've got nothing else to take your mind off the tedium, it's a good time to do things you wouldn't otherwise do (for lack of interest); for example, I spent an hour fixing my music tags :)
I've found my productivity depends entirely on if there are any good movies on the flight. ;)
Actually, flying business class makes a huge difference for being able to work while on the plane. You have much more room and most seats I've been on recently have had a place to plug in the laptop. If you can upgrade or get a special fare on business class, it doesn't have to be too much more expensive than coach, and you might even be able to justify the increased productivity to the bean counters!
Yes, in fact I can even get stuff done on my laptop on my daily train commute (30-45 mins each way). I do agree with others that sometimes getting into "the zone" with a programming task can be difficult, but I find it helps me if I minimize the time from when I was last working on the same task. So I make sure when I'm waiting in the lounge/terminal I have my battery charged and everything ready to go.
If you use Windows, make sure you can reliably hibernate/wake up your laptop so you don't waste time booting and shutting down (also saves batteries). I'm working on .NET, and so SharpDevelop is great because it is not a memory hog.
One thing that is suboptimal for me now is that my source control is SVN, so I can't commit changes whilst offline. This would be one area where a true distributed version control system like say git would be an advantage, if only the tools would get a bit easier on Windows I'd be able to convince the team to make the switch.