Make Remote Work Way Easier with These 8 Computer Tricks

Unless your calling requires a hands-on approach, chances are you've made the shift from an office-based to a remote working paradigm. While many of us have spent a lot of time in the office dreaming about working from home, we are now eating our words.

Remote work comes with a number of frustrations and challenges that we must adapt to.

In this guide, we outline some simple tips you can implement anywhere to add some much-needed comfort and ease to your remote work environment.

Upgrade your internet speed

Most companies make sure their employees have high enough internet to provide any necessary upload, download, or web browsing. It is an integral part of most 21st century work environments.

If you have roommates or family members who use the internet all day long for study, streaming series and movies, downloading, online gaming or just general internet goofing around, chances are you're going to be frustrated. You don't want to be in the middle of an important Zoom call or trying to download a bulky file only to lose your line speed.

If you haven't already, talk to your employer about subsidizing a speed upgrade so everyone in the household can work, learn, stream, download, and upload to their heart's content without loss of functionality.

Use different browsers for business and personal online activities

One of the biggest problems with working from home is the easy distraction. There are no co-workers or supervisors to help you focus in your remote workspace. Unfortunately, one of the biggest sources of distraction is also one of the most important tools for remote work – the internet.

By using one browser for work and one for social media, online shopping, and entertainment, you can resist the temptation of bookmarks, search history suggestions, and any other potential distractions you would normally encounter during your personal work hours.

Alternatively, if you're particularly fond of using your preferred browser (e.g. Chrome or Firefox), you can usually create two or more separate user profiles for the same browser.

Disable unnecessary programs that run at startup

After installation, many programs run automatically when you start your computer. This is usually an attempt by the software developers to get you to use the program more often. However, if you have too many programs competing for processing power while your overloaded PC is trying to boot successfully, your computer's startup time will increase drastically. Having an operating system that starts up slowly can be incredibly frustrating and save valuable time from your busy work schedule.

Fortunately, this is a problem that can be easily fixed.

Access your Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc, then navigate to the Startup tab. Here you can see a list of programs to run at startup. Select all unnecessary ones and click Disable button.

Use Slack to keep in touch with colleagues

A key challenge when working remotely is keeping your work life and personal life separate. That can get even harder when your WhatsApp is constantly being blown up with work-related requests and messages from co-workers. We've all struggled with a plethora of corporate WhatsApp groups that distract our attention from the work we're supposed to be doing.

By using a platform like Slack, you can easily separate your work and personal communication. Slack also has some unique features that make online collaboration a lot easier. You can create dedicated channels for specific workgroups, manage documents from the cloud, sync your status with your Google calendar to let your colleagues know when you're in a meeting or for lunch, and more.

Install a blue light filter

As you may have heard, research into the effects of prolonged exposure to blue light from screens has yielded some pretty frightening results. There is evidence that exposure to blue light disrupts our circadian rhythms - better known as "physical clocks". This can lead to severe sleep disorders, which can cause a variety of other mental and physical problems.

In remote work situations, events that would normally take place face-to-face have gone online. If you're working from home, chances are the only breaks you'll get from your screen are when you're in the bathroom and during lunch (if you're lucky).

Installing a blue light filter can reduce the harmful effects of prolonged screen time, such as insomnia and eyestrain.

Find out about conducting webinars

There are few things more frustrating than joining an online meeting hosted by someone who is clearly unfamiliar with the platform. Poorly conducted webinars or online meetings are a waste of time and can hamper your productivity.

By learning the features and various inner workings of platforms like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom, you will no doubt impress your colleagues, clients, and bosses. It also saves you valuable time that you would otherwise waste fiddling with the settings.

You can also make the sessions more accessible for people with disabilities by enabling features like live closed captioning.

Use self control

No, that's not a typo. SelfRestraint is an extremely useful app for those struggling to avoid online distractions while at work. Once installed and set up according to your preferences, it blocks access to specific websites for a set period of time.

For example, if you have an important deadline and need to focus heavily over the next few hours, SelfRestraint will keep you from accessing sites you know are notoriously distracting, like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Of course, if you don't want to use the app, good old-fashioned self-control works too - all you have to do is exercise self-discipline!

Invest in a second monitor

When your work involves using multiple apps or websites at the same time, a second monitor makes an invaluable difference. By doubling the screen real estate of your laptop or desktop, you can keep your work chat window or Google calendar open on the right, while continuing to work on a document on the left.

Switching endlessly between windows just to keep track of emails or tasks can quickly become tiring and confusing. An additional monitor reduces that stress and helps you keep track of all the tasks you need to get done.

These tricks make remote work so much easier and reduce the stress, tension, and anxiety that comes from turning your home into your office.

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Author's biography: Robin Underwood is a freelance editor at several online outlets, where she delights her audience with fresh ink angles on topics such as e-learning, IT and gaming.

By: Make Remote Work Way Easier with These 8 Computer Tricks