I have never thought about it but I think you have a point. For me, the lonely part is that most of people don’t understands that this is work and we don’t “get” things for “free” I have worked for almost 20 years; I am stay at home Mom right now and I enjoy spending time with my child and being able to make extra money.

Being a stay at home parent IS work.

@walesmaven wrote:

Being a stay at home parent IS work.

You got that right!

I was thinking the same. Shoptastic, if you don't have a laptop, perhaps you could get an inexpensive Chromebook and do your reports in libraries, coffee shops, hotel lobbies, etc. Most MSC websites have a secure login, and they encrypt your social security number, so you should be fine using a public WiFi connection. An alternative would be using your phone as a hotspot, or buying a separate mobile hotspot. I would go with the free public WiFi.

@SFLshopper wrote:

Can you take a laptop to a an all night coffee shop? During the day a library is nice to work in.

@op: You posts are making me smile. I am a very nerdy girl and I still study and learn most effectively in libraries and coffee shops. These days, I work on personal stuff as a lifelong learner, but I seem to be stuck in student study mode which involves libraries, coffee, and anywhere-but-home. Anyway, I strongly advise caution with public wifi!!!!! Some places do not provide for wiped searches. It would be a good idea to ask about the public computers before using them for sensitive purposes such as mystery shopping reports. I prefer the suggestion and idea of bringing your own computer to a library, coffee shop, or other place that you would find pleasant or at least possible due to travel or time constraints. Many small places places have at least a library, Micky's, or coffee shop. In a pinch, you could work at Kinko's. Kinko's provides safe public wifi in that all searches and work are cleared or wiped between delineated and timed sessions. Using these computers costs by the minute, but there is a business or reduced rate that you might request and have peace of mind that your work will not be seen by subsequent users. I actually advise that you make your work as enjoyable as possible. Make the work match your energy as much as possible, and enjoy the fact that as a self-employed person you are free to generate and interact with your work largely on your own terms. It is absolutely wonderful to have these freedoms, which seem to pair well with some limitations. If your energy fluctuates, you probably already know that a few extremely busy days might require a few tamer days later, just for overall energy calibration and a chance to catch your breath between activities. You get to play with the balance of work and rest in your own life, and you are the only person who knows on any given day how to proceed with what is planned or how to plan based on what you and your energy levels have planned already. You are free! And, what is this mishegas about how long it takes to complete reports?! As long as our reports are completed and submitted on time, we are compliant. There is no shame for taking shorter or longer amounts of time to complete reports! There is only individual freedom to work the work in the allotted time frame and the freedom to choose not to take on unnecessary or tacit demands that are just someone else's idea of how an individual and independent contractor ought to be. Does anyone else take time, especially with narratives, to do other things while the narrative ideas coalesce or the mind clears before proof-reading written efforts? Some people need to separate readings of their own work in order to self-edit it. This, too, is okay.

*picks up soapbox and steps away from the computer. will do other activities for awhile.*



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2018 02:35PM by Shop-et-al.

I am very much an introvert. Mystery shopping suits me very well as an introvert as it's not a standard workplace level of interaction with others. On the other hand on most shops there is some level of human interaction, and then I get feedback on my performance/work quality via shop scores/having my report sent on to the client. That's good enough for me to stave off loneliness - though, like I said, this is coming from an introvert.

IPSOS and Alta360 are two companies that you can report your entire shop on the Mobi Audit app. I sometimes do 10 or more shops in an afternoon, mostly for those two companies, and maybe 1 or 2 shops for other companies with very little reporting time when I get home. I have heard that Marketforce, Trendsource, and some other companies have apps but I haven't tried them yet.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

IPSOS and Alta360 are two companies that you can report your entire shop on the Mobi Audit app. I sometimes do 10 or more shops in an afternoon, mostly for those two companies, and maybe 1 or 2 shops for other companies with very little reporting time when I get home. I have heard that Marketforce, Trendsource, and some other companies have apps but I haven't tried them yet.

You can use MobiAudit for any company that is on the Shopmetrics platform. I typically upload photos and complete yes/no type questions then switch to my laptop for narrative.

Yup, that's true, other than one Shop Metrics company: Strategic Reflections. They don't use the Mobi Audit app.

But I can't use the Mobi Audit where my phone just says "cannot connect to cellular data network", or "no internet service available". And where I travel (usually somewhat off the beaten path, so to speak), my phone just doesn't work. Not even for just making phone calls. And I have learned to NOT take photos with my phone for my shop reports, because there's just no way to download the photos to my PC or laptop from my phone.

Some people said "sync them, then you can". So I got on my PC and went through all the steps for synching, and guess what? I have an iPhone, and Windows on my PC and laptop -- and they DO NOT synch!!!

Hats off to all you road warriors who can make these darn apps work for you!

Oh, and as for the topic? I never get lonely. I revel in the knowledge that there's no one here insisting I put their immediate needs/wants ahead of getting my reports completed; to complain that I didn't get home til 11 PM and have HOURS of reporting to do...to make me feel guilty that when I have work to do, that work comes FIRST -- ahead of anything I WANT to do, or anything someone else wants to do.

But then I'm a selfish, curmudgeonly hermit!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2018 05:37AM by ceasesmith.

A. MobiAudit will work with no signal as long as you when you have signal before and after the shop.
B. Windows and iPhone will sync if you use the right method.

You can also email photos to yourself from your phone, cease. If I am doing a report that only needs one or two photos, I do that.

When doing reports for MSCs that don't have apps, I also sometimes open up a report on my phone (in a place where I have WiFi) and upload the photos to the report, save it, and finish the report on my desktop or laptop.

I travel in and out of range. I often open a report long enough to upload pics from the camera and, time permitting, at least answer the yes/no questions and put in the skeletons of the narratives.

*m31293lwhbmre.rrbldgemphalf*

Naturally, every shopper can understand that the associate was male, 312 years old, nine feet and three inches tall, with long white hair and beard, with mustache, and half appropriate and half inappropriate as per guidelines. The building did not pass muster. This looks absurd! But it is enough to jog the memory or at least clear the thought process for the other information that is requested.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

@op: You posts are making me smile. I am a very nerdy girl and I still study and learn most effectively in libraries and coffee shops. These days, I work on personal stuff as a lifelong learner, but I seem to be stuck in student study mode which involves libraries, coffee, and anywhere-but-home. Anyway, I strongly advise caution with public wifi!!!!! Some places do not provide for wiped searches. It would be a good idea to ask about the public computers before using them for sensitive purposes such as mystery shopping reports. I prefer the suggestion and idea of bringing your own computer to a library, coffee shop, or other place that you would find pleasant or at least possible due to travel or time constraints. Many small places places have at least a library, Micky's, or coffee shop. In a pinch, you could work at Kinko's. Kinko's provides safe public wifi in that all searches and work are cleared or wiped between delineated and timed sessions. Using these computers costs by the minute, but there is a business or reduced rate that you might request and have peace of mind that your work will not be seen by subsequent users. I actually advise that you make your work as enjoyable as possible. Make the work match your energy as much as possible, and enjoy the fact that as a self-employed person you are free to generate and interact with your work largely on your own terms. It is absolutely wonderful to have these freedoms, which seem to pair well with some limitations. If your energy fluctuates, you probably already know that a few extremely busy days might require a few tamer days later, just for overall energy calibration and a chance to catch your breath between activities. You get to play with the balance of work and rest in your own life, and you are the only person who knows on any given day how to proceed with what is planned or how to plan based on what you and your energy levels have planned already. You are free! And, what is this mishegas about how long it takes to complete reports?! As long as our reports are completed and submitted on time, we are compliant. There is no shame for taking shorter or longer amounts of time to complete reports! There is only individual freedom to work the work in the allotted time frame and the freedom to choose not to take on unnecessary or tacit demands that are just someone else's idea of how an individual and independent contractor ought to be. Does anyone else take time, especially with narratives, to do other things while the narrative ideas coalesce or the mind clears before proof-reading written efforts? Some people need to separate readings of their own work in order to self-edit it. This, too, is okay.

*picks up soapbox and steps away from the computer. will do other activities for awhile.*

You trying to out-post me there, SEA?

Only I write such long posts, lol.

I agree, though, that public WiFi and even library computers aren't safe. I didn't know that many years ago. I was writing a late night paper in the college library once and it's very custom for students to order pizza to the study locations. I ordered online via the university computers (not technically public, b/c you have to login with student/staff credentials, but still sort of "open". I also ordered clothing online using the school computers too. That went on for about a year. It all stopped after I had my email hacked and learned about the dangers of public WiFi and public computing.

It's weird, because I always figured a university would keep its computers safe, but that's not always the case. Individuals can install software that traces your keyboard actions or malware can be unknowingly installed from unsafe browsing. Even if they update their computers and have malware protection, an individual computer can still be compromised at a large institution from an unscrupulous user.

Just the other day, I saw an older guy (60 y/o-ish) who was watching pornography at my local library. I got the attendant to get him to stop. It wasn't just the visuals, but he even had sounds coming out. A lot of people nearby were visibly upset. I was the one who called for help. Even putting aside the material itself, that stuff is a magnet for malware. They are routinely listed as the worst sites for getting some crazy virus.

re: Kinkos - Wow, do these still exist?

Yeah, I still wouldn't use them. I just don't login to sites with my:

SS#
PayPal account info.
Name
Birthdate
etc.

I save that for when I'm HOME or on PRIVATE WIFI. I don't go onto sites like mystery shopping companies using public WiFi or any type of public access computers. With three things - name, birth date, and SS# - your identity can be stolen. That's all it takes.

Having had my email hacked before, I have sworn off logging into private stuff on public computers. I just browse the web, but that's it.

I've been doing reports at SB and Panera Bread for years, lately I work at home, just more comfortable, but wouldn't dismiss doing a report at either I've mentioned....never had a problem, seems many are overly frightened. I've been hacked when at home, if someone wants to get into computer, they will, your info is
there.

I've switched to a full-time office job, and you know what, it can be really lonely too. Even though there are people all around, we are nerdy coders and can go a long time without talking to each other. The silence with other people around can be lonely too.

I always say, one can feel alone in a room full of people, if their not the right people.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2018 05:56PM by Irene_L.A..