I know what you’re thinking, how could you need things for working remotely when you have a full-time job? Good point. Although I’ll challenge you back and say not only do I work from home once a week, I also work while I’m on vacation.
If you’re anything like me, you need the perfect space in order to be productive. Although I can find that kind of space anywhere as long as I have a few key things with me.
The best part of the list I’ve put together? They can easily be carried in a backpack or your carry on. Plus, they’re all affordable. I truly think it’s super important to have the best products around you to really help you get the job done.
A good laptop
Before finding the laptop I use now it took me ages to research. I wanted something that was lightweight, versatile and would last me a number of years. After hours and hours and hours of research, I finally found the right device for me: the Microsoft Surface Book.
This will probably sound stupid but I love the way the keyboard feels when I type. For some reason that makes a big difference to me in my productivity. I have the Apple
The best thing about the Surface Book is that it also doubles as a tablet, oh and it has a touchscreen. When comparing the Surface Book to the Macbook Pro, everything that I read had the Surface Book out on top. Plus it wasn’t as expensive. In the end it really was a no brainer for me when making the decision. I’ve never looked back!
An agenda
I try so hard to stay on top of being organized. Having a full-time job, a blog and going through home renovations makes life pretty damn busy (I know you parents out there are thinking just wait until you add kids to the mix). That’s why having a place to store everything is super important.
Yes, I could probably do all of this from my phone but being a self-proclaimed book nerd means I love putting pen to paper. Even as digital as my life is. There’s something about the process that almost helps me to remember what I’m writing down more.
My favourite agendas are always the Moleskin ones. They are pretty inexpensive and awesome to write on. They are clean and professional looking as well so you don’t have to feel like too much of a dork when you pull it out in public or at business meetings.
A cloud storage subscription
Yea I know, probably not the sexiest of things to say you need but I swear this is something you won’t regret having. A while back I signed up for a paid OneDrive account and couldn’t be happier that I did. It’s not only handy, it’s also saved my butt a few times.
The thing about technology is that it can malfunction. Before I got seriously into blogging I used to just keep all of my photos on my computer. Huge mistake. When that said computer decided to die on me one day, guess what I lost? Everything. The only photos I have left from my trip to California several years ago were the ones I uploaded to Facebook. So not only is the quality shit, I’ve lost so many good shots.
A VPN
Half of you are probably sitting there thinking, what the heck is a VPN? I know I was too until I started reading more into it. A VPN (Virtual Privacy Network) basically keeps your computer and your internet connection safe from hackers. Another benefit when working remotely is that your computer can ‘act’ like it’s still in whatever country you’re from so you can access the same things you do at home. Hello better Netflix while
But in all seriousness, the nerd in me is here to tell you how important they are. I bet if you work for a company and have the option to work from home, they connect you to their VPN. I definitely do. It’s super helpful because I’m able to access the same things on my work network from anywhere.
If you own your own business and are working remotely then a VPN is a must have. Just think about what would happen if someone were to hack your computer and get access to all of your or your clients’ information. They aren’t that expensive and honestly could save you massive headaches in the long run.
A good playlist
Yup I’m serious. Nothing can get me more focused to do my work then a decent playlist. I work in an open concept office and I actually enjoy the background noise.
I live for action so having people around me is a good thing for my productivity. That’s why sometimes when I work from home I like to head down to the local coffee shop and work from there. However, being able to be in the action but remained focused when working remotely comes down to one thing: a good playlist.
In times when I don’t need to be super focused I’ll listen to Spotify to discover new music. If I find a song I like, I’ll save it in a playlist for later so I know when I’m ready to get back to it I have some awesome music waiting for me. Well, self-proclaimed awesome music that is.
Noise canceling headphones
If you’re going to be listening to a good playlist while working remotely, you obviously need the headphones to match. Like I mentioned before, I love being in the thick of things but for those times that you really need to focus then this will do the trick for sure.
There are so many options to choose from out there but I do have the
The one thing I will say is make sure to test how they feel before you buy them. I know this sounds so silly but I’ve tried on headphones before that were super uncomfortable and while they do keep the noise out, they’re terrible to wear for extended periods of time.
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So there you have it, our top 6 items you need for working remotely. Tell me, how many of these do you use?
