Techniques

I rock and roll with a 15″ MacBook Pro, which means a couple of things. It means I have a full-size keyboard wherever I go. It means I have a nice giant screen, and a big, powerful CPU for on-the-fly video editing or whatever else I need.

It also means that I have trouble opening my laptop all the way on plane flights when people lean their chairs back.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who opts to travel with a full-size laptop, and we all know that in a lot of airplanes, that click-shooop of the seatback in front of you sliding backwards is the kiss of doom for your in-flight laptop time.

Apparently this is called Airline Laptop Syndrome by some (ganked my hilarious image from this link).

Suddenly, you’ve got less than half the space you had before, and if you want any chance of seeing your screen at all, you’ll have to balance your computer in an odd upright-V position and hope you don’t fly through any turbulence.

So if I’m getting settled in on a flight where I plan to need my laptop, I’ll sometimes jam my knees into the bottom of the seatback in front of me just after takeoff.

Most people never ask the person behind them if it’s OK to lean backwards (which I find interesting) — they just go ahead and do it. But if you’ve got your knees nestled firmly up against the chair, that seatback is not going to flop backwards like they expect it to.

Usually they’ll try once or twice, and then give up. Voilá! Productivity space.