Can you believe I’m working at McDonald’s now?
OK, so the title of this post is a little misleading. I don’t actually work AT McDonald’s (not that there’s anything wrong with that, except for the pay I guess).
What I’m referring to is some recent consulting work I completed while eating breakfast at a McDonald’s down in San Diego, just before visiting one of my clients.
With the addition of free Wifi and a recent change in decor, McDonald’s almost feels like a Starbucks these days. I even heard that there’s a McDonalds (somewhere) that offers free use of a conference room. Nice!
I suppose the other reason for this post is to express my amazement over the fact that I can actually conduct business from a McDonald’s restaurant. I’m 100% freelance now (web product development, social media marketing, and video production, in case you were wondering), so I find myself travelling a bit more than I used to. But on this particular morning I found myself eating an Egg McMuffin, replying to emails, reviewing my calendar, and editing videos for one of my clients. Pretty much exactly how I conduct business in the privacy of my home office, and with almost the same efficiency (two 24″ monitors usually helps – but not always!).
Ironically, I found it easier to focus on what I was doing at McDonald’s than at any corporate office I’ve ever worked in. Sometimes it helps to get away from the office (home or otherwise) and to have fewer distractions (people or otherwise) while you’re focusing on a chunk of work.
The icing on the cake was witnessing one of the best McDonalds managers ever. She was so nice to her team, and they seemed so happy. I almost thought I was at In-N-Out.
That’s it from me. What’s your most unique work experience?