As 2020 draws to a close, now may be a good time to start thinking about continuing to work remotely while indulging in travel and experience!
The COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are now authorized by the Food and Drug Administration as safe and recommended for coronavirus prevention. While there are still challenges about making it available to the general public, it is encouraging to think that the world might slowly be going back to normal starting next year.
But for many who have experienced the benefits of working from home during the pandemic, “back to normal” might not include sitting in an office every day from nine to five. They might be planning of continuing their remote and flexible work arrangements, maybe even do more traveling once it’s possible again.
If you feel the same about your employment and are also looking forward to being a remote worker post-pandemic, here is a list of things that will be very helpful for long-term remote work.
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Antivirus software
When you’re working remotely and are on the go, there’s a good chance that you’ll be tapping into many Internet service providers and WiFi networks. You need to protect your work and personal information in case there are cybercriminals lurking around and taking advantage of the basic security protocols of public WiFi. There are many antivirus software providers to choose from: take your time to study their features and find one that can give you the best protection at the price you can afford.
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Microsoft Office 365 Backup
Making the choice to work outside of a well-equipped office means you take responsibility over the confidential data, documents, and other files that you need for work. So apart from anti-virus software, which protects your data from external factors, you also need to have a backup system to secure your work files in case you accidentally delete files or your hardware and the data stored in it becomes corrupted. Office 365 Backup for email and local file recovery can help prevent this.
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Cloud storage
It doesn’t hurt to have a backup storage venue for your personal or work files. When you need to free up hardware memory but cannot delete files, you can store them online to a secure, cloud account instead. The trick is to buy a premium account that offers a large storage capacity and is accessible through a website portal. Do not install the cloud service’s desktop application: doing so will automatically download and sync all the files stored in your cloud, consuming hard drive space instead of freeing up memory in your laptop or desktop computer.
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Gadgets and accessories
To complete your remote work gear, you’ll need noise-canceling earplugs or headphones; a universal USB hub; cordless mouse, and extension cords. These are usually the same things you find in an office workstation. Other things you might find useful could be an HD webcam, WiFi range extender, laptop base with fan, and a wireless keyboard with touchpad.
Flexible and remote work arrangements are convenient, comfortable, and exciting once travel becomes possible again. But employers who offer them also expect their employees to take extra caution and care. So as you enjoy the perks of remote work, make sure you can stay productive and protect your work using the essentials listed above.
