To many people’s delight, remote working has almost become the norm. Working from home
allows them to have more flexibility, cut out commuting and be in a comfortable environment.
That doesn’t mean that remote working is a walk in the park, however. A huge number of employees find themselves battling with problems like tech glitches, computer problems, and procrastination.
There are many things to make remote working easier, ranging from hardware and software upgrades to setting a schedule to hold yourself accountable. Being able to count on your IT setup is one of the most important.
So, what’s the secret behind IT efficiency in your home office?
We’ve got eight tech suggestions that can help you boost your productivity.
1. Keyboard shortcuts
Many people who use laptops or PCs find themselves frustrated when things don’t go as fast as they should. It may seem trivial, but often one of those frustrations is the time it takes to stop typing, find the mouse or touchpad, and scroll around trying to find the button you need.
Printing, inserting Excel functions, zooming in and out in Photoshop—these are all things you can do with keyboard shortcuts. Once you’ve discovered and mastered the shortcuts, it will be eye-opening to realize how much time you’ve spent scrolling and clicking.
2. Automatically open tabs
Whether you’re working remotely or in the office, you often end up having a number of tabs or windows open 24/7 (or 9 to 5). When you find yourself needing the same few open daily, it can save time to set your browser to open them automatically when you log on.
Sure, it might only save a minute or two, but shortcuts like this add up and make your day run a lot smoother.
To get your browser to open all your basic tabs automatically:
- Chrome: Select Settings, then On Startup, then Open a specific page or set of pages—and put in your daily essential tabs. Another method is to open all your usual tabs before clicking on Settings and On Startup, select the same option to open specific page/pages, and click on Use current pages.
- Firefox: Open the pages/websites that you want to open automatically, go to the Firefox Menu, and click on Options. Navigate to General Settings, and select Show your homepage, before clicking on Use Current Pages.
Chrome and Firefox are the most popular browsers, but others like Opera, Edge, Safari (on Mac) also have the option to open tabs automatically.
3. More tab shortcuts
Many people end up with so many tabs open at once that it’s almost impossible to navigate between them. There are, however, ways to deal with this overload that doesn’t involve trawling through every page to figure out what you need and what you don’t.
Apart from just opening a new window every now and then, you can select multiple tabs to make it easier to isolate them and move them to a new window entirely.
To select some tabs, click on the first you want to select, then hold down Ctrl if you’re working with Windows 10 or the command button on a Mac. While holding the key down, click on all the other tabs you want to select.
You can then drag them into a new window, or right click if you want to reload them, mute them, pin them or duplicate them. This trick is great when you want to avoid revisiting every page you have open but need to cut the sheer number of tabs you have open in a single window.
4. Increase your Internet reliability
One of the most frustrating things for remote workers is their eternal battle with slow Internet or no connection at all. Some locations are worse than others. But there are a few ways to boost your Internet speed that may save on getting professional IT help.
Some websites place more strain on your connection than others. While it can be tempting to download files in the background while you’re working, that supposedly benign habit can slow your Internet connection to a crawl.
Streaming services like Netflix have a similar effect, as well as having too many tabs open and having to share your Wi-Fi with too many other users.
5. Shortcuts to clear your cache and refresh
For most people, working from home involves hours spent in front of a computer every day. This inevitably leads to pages getting refreshed countless times, as well as regularly needing to clear your cache. A cache is meant to speed up your browsing, but the more sites you visit, the larger your cache grows, and the more sluggish it can make your system.
Not only that but clearing your cache can sometimes fix other issues, such as sites not opening or returning an “error” message.
Refreshing your pages and clearing your cache is relatively easy, but like other functions, the annoyance of navigating to where you need to be can outweigh your motivation to get there.
Fortunately, these functions also have shortcuts: to refresh, press Ctrl + Shift + R—and your cache will get cleared at the same time. Some other browsers require you to press Ctrl + F5, while a Mac needs Command + Shift + R.
6. Declutter by shaking
Just like combining documents or putting them in folders cleans up your desktop, this nifty trick makes quick work of a crowded screen.
If you’ve got multiple windows open (not to mention the number of tabs in each) and want to put some of them aside while you focus on a single one, you can minimize multiple windows at once with a simple “shake”.
If you’re using Windows, click and hold the top of the window you want to open and shake it up and down with the mouse or touchpad. All other windows will minimize, and to maximize them again, just repeat the action.
7. Use apps to boost productivity
Working from home can be wonderful, but it does come with its pitfalls. Getting sidetracked by chores is a common issue, but what’s even more insidious is getting sucked into the virtual void when you click away from work to have a peek at Facebook or some other social media.
Luckily, there are hundreds of apps to help you stay on track.
A few of these are:
- Forest: plant a virtual tree and keep it growing by not getting distracted by your phone
- Krisp: a noise-canceling app that blocks out background noise during calls (and any other time)
- Freedom: an app to block distractions (apps and websites) on all your devices
8. Use a VPN
Some companies are happy with a very casual approach to working from home, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Using a VPN keeps your data secure and all you need is a single VPN server or a third-party subscription service to do so.
Working from home with a VPN makes it more likely you’ll stay on track with your tasks. You’ll be at your workstation, rather than clicking in and out of your personal computer.
The Takeaway
Remote working has its pros and cons, but these eight simple computer tips will undoubtedly help you be more productive and efficient while in your home office.
