Secret to working from home

By Louise McKeown

THOUSANDS of Irish people are already used to working from home, but many more will now have to familiarise themselves with the concept.

Magnet Networks has some top tips to make sure your home working experience is comfortable and productive.

You are going to need a dedicated work area for your desk and chair. A spare room is ideal but a corner in a quiet bedroom will do just as well.

You have lots of flexibility working from home, but it is important to be disciplined. You will be psychologically prepared for the job if you stick to a routine. Don’t forget to schedule time for lunch.

Working alone can be a bit jarring at first, especially if you are not used to it, so regular communication is important.

Many people will be moving from enterprise class to home broadband and will need to maximise their available speed.

Take time to run all updates as online browsers are constantly updating, and generally, the latest version will run faster and smoother than its predecessors.

Ensure that you don’t have a lot of extensions and add-ons running on your browsers and schedule your anti-virus scans for non-working times as they can often slow down your speed.

Your router is vital for maximising connectivity and the closer your workspace is to it, the easier your home working life will be.

Place it where you can see it, preferably at the same level as your laptop, free of any obstructions which will diminish the signal.

Connect with an ethernet cable where possible to optimise speed – this will always give you a better result that over Wi-Fi.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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