Getting Ready To Work Remotely - Tech Guide

Getting Ready To Work Remotely, how to get ready for working remotely

Since the start of Lockdown due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, most homes turned into makeshift offices, Pilates studios, schools and entertainment hubs, as a lot of people have found valuable ways to spend their time on the internet effectively.

Although we all got along just fine for the interim, frustration is showing its ugly head for many who’ve realized that we are still a long way from normal. In fact, normal may never return. Maybe it is time to get ready for the future of work - how to work remotely from home.

According the CEO of the notebook company, Christopher Riley, there are a few things to take into consideration if you are thinking of upgrading your system you use for working at home.

Does It Make Sense Financially?

If you do fork out the money, you must decide if it will be worth it in the long run, since everyone is a bit cash strapped at present. For cellphones he advises the two-yearly upgrades (“I use my phone countless times per day for 365 days of the year”), while the life cycle for notebooks or laptops would be closer to four or five years.

“With central tech gadgets, like a laptop, you often get what you pay for. You can still get away with cheaper peripherals, but rather buy quality basics,” says Riley.

Other than that, he advises that you should replace that which frustrates you most, first. “If you have to restart your router every day, I suggest you replace it. It makes no sense to live with the frustration if the hardware is really affordable.”

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How Often Do You Use It?

If you use a device only once in a while, like only watch movies on the tablet, or only play games on the desktop, it’s hardly worth an upgrade. But if your laptop does the rounds for work, play, school, house automation and more, you should invest in its upkeep.

How Dependent Are You On It?

Those who survived the recent lockdown were mostly those who could go on working online in some way or another. “The question then begs, can you survive without it?” says Riley. If the desktop or laptop is your goose that lays the golden eggs, he suggests you should invest in it, and not cross your fingers in the hope that it won’t crash and burn on your watch.

Most of us live in fear of the day when our data runs out, or when your webcam bombes out. “Rather plan for emergencies and back-ups,” suggests Riley. If you are dependent on the webcam, buy a back-up, or download the software on your laptop so you can transition seamlessly in case of an emergency breakdown during a video conference meeting.

What Is Your Long Term View?

A decent desktop PC is cheaper and needs less frequent upgrades than most budget laptops, but its downside is obvious: you cannot move it around. If you envision a state-of-the-art work station at home, which will be your office in the foreseeable future, a good desktop will be a great investment. But sooner or later we will start moving about again, albeit not as far and frequently as before. “Think about the long term benefit of your investment, before you buy,” says Riley.

“I expected already in 2000 that most companies will start working from home, as laptops allowed for anywhere working,” says Riley who believes that the changing times could push about 10% of office users off site in the following year or two. “10% might seem small to readers, but I am glad I am not heavily invested in retail and office space.”

Finally he says that the pandemic might not bring about a complete shift, but more like a hybrid of methods. “I for one have learnt that a lot of meetings should rather be held online than meeting up at a central point.”

Conclusion

We hope this straightforward tech guide above would assist you find helpful tools, tips, and support as you get ready to work remotely as we fight through the Covid-19 Pandemic. if you have any tips you have used during this lockdown to reduce difficulty while working at home or remotely far from your office IT guys, feel free to drop them in the comment box below.

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Stay Safe.

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