Win Big for Your Best Work From Home Hacks

#61

Great thinking, a good chair is like a comfy pair of slippers. You try to keep them for as long as you can.

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#62

I plan a few distractions for my cat (treats hidden in a box or put out a toy that has been resting in catnip) so she doesn’t start causing kitty chaos.

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#63

Invest in a desk. It doesn’t have to be fancy, big, or expensive (I found a nice used one for $10 online). Once I had a real desk and was able to get organized, I was more comfortable and productive.

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#64

Using a good microphone to have the best sound in a virtual meeting really makes you stand out. Not only will the participants hear you better, but they’ll listen to you more.

Not everybody has an external microphone, but here’s a tip that anyone can use. ALWAYS use headphones in a virtual meeting for the following reasons:

  • With speakers, your microphone can pick up feedback. You get echoes, screeches, and your participants being repeated over your microphone

  • If you don’t have an external microphone, headphones with a microphone will pick up your voice much more clearly. You also won’t have to constantly mute yourself

  • You’ll end up listening better

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#65

Not sure if they’re necessarily hacks, but I’ve got some pretty good ideas.

  • Have a decent quality mic and headset. Zoom meetings calling/receiving will be less nightmarish for everyone involved. Also look into giga-bit internet services. Soundproofing doors and walls will be appreciated, ambient sounds can be VERY distracting.

  • Keep your workspace separate from personal space. Be mindful that if you’re using a companies VPN or portal, all traffic goes through there servers and they can monitor what you do. Make sure to take breaks through your mobile carrier or wi-fi. YouTube can use a lot of your data-cap and bandwidth, so be mindful of housemates.

Work from home:
If you’re working remote or off-site, be sure to keep correspondence with at least your supervisor/manager. At the very least, if you’re showing not enough hours or want to slack off and nap… at least you have a digital footprint.

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#66

Run a VM and do all work from within the VM, then non-work outside of the VM is not visible.

The VPN is within the VM.

Remote desktop is to the console of the VM therefore can be accessed remotely.

Full desktop sharing is of the VM so they can’t see what you’re doing away from the meeting.

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#67

Working from home was a new concept to me, I am used to the office environment and have my desk setup a certain way so that I am comfortable. At home I didn’t have that luxury and had to work at the kitchen table I found this annoying as every evening I would need to clear my laptop, note book and headset away so that we could use the dining table for its actual purpose of sitting to eat.
I am an avid Diy fan and so decided that I needed a comfortable work space that I could leave setup ready for the next days work. I purchased some second hand worktop and ordered some breakfast bar legs from screwfix, long story short I now have a workspace where I can sit comfortably, but I didn’t stop there as many have mentioned at work I have a multiple monitor setup and working on the laptop screen alone hindered my productivity, solution I purchased a portable monitor these differ from a standard monitor by being ultra thin and light and take up hardly any room, productivity increased :smiley: next I was tired of being on long conference calls and not being able to move around to make a coffee or just stretch the legs. being at home with a wooden floor and a Labrador meant I couldn’t just put the meeting on speaker and mic due to the tip tap of his claws on the floor so a new wireless headset was purchased this was a huge game changer I could continue to be involved in the call and move around and most importantly grab that all important caffeine fix. The final hack was to print a stand for the headset and my phone, I am 3D designer and quickly designed a stand that holds my headset and my mobile so that they are conveniently to hand and I can use my phone whilst continuing to work. I am in a much better situation now than I was when first required to work from home my next task is some cable management to tidy the mass of power cables and cords I’ll probably complete this just as it’s announced that we can go back to the office but it will always come in handy.

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#68

I pinned a blue blanket at the wall behind my bed so I can use a pic of my workplace as my background while staying in bed for any kind of meeting :yum:

A more work oriented hack: I started to use my Microsoft Surface as a paper substitute uploading everything I write to the cloud immediately while watching a lecture on a second monitor. Works perfect :+1:t2:

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#69

Open word, place heavy object on space bar, enjoy a few extra mins break without worrying about Skype/teams showing me as “away”.

Maybe you meant good hacks :yum:

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#70

If work has supplied the laptop and have concerns about remote workers the software can spot who’s working. The laws are different by country so they secretly activating camera isn’t allowed in some countries, but keyboard activity sensing is legal everywhere.

Of course if they told you what they checked on you’d find a way around it, so you’re not told.

If you’re not administrator on the system, is a sign.

Check your employment contract, you agree to work and they have the right to check if working.

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#71

My best work from home hack is to not work from home.

You have the freedom to work from literally anywhere! Go rent an AirBNB in the mountains, or explore a new city! If your job allows it, visit a different country!

Or, if you can’t, at least try working from the park. My wife and I set up the back of our mini-van as a mobile office and let the kids[play in the park](https://www.neverendingfieldtrip.com/need-to-save-your-sanity-go-to-the-park/) while we took turns watching them. It was a much needed break from working inside.

Just make sure to bring a battery if you’ll be away from power. (Thanks, Anker)

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#72

My hack is walking with my dog before work and during lunch break. I guess you can do that without dog as well😃
Usually it’s 1 hour before and 30 minutes during the break.
I don’t have drinks or snacks my working place. So everytime I want to drink I have to go to kitchen to do that. It’s my second hack.
It’s very important to comfortable while working as well. So I did invested in new table, chair and phone speaker.

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#73

I think my favorite hack is using my kid’s tall IKEA Malm dresser for a standing desk. I miss my sit/stand workstation at the office, but this has been very helpful!

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#74

My favorite hack at this point is using my iPhone as my camera for video calls. I’m on a Mac and I use an app called Camo Studio and the companion iOS app. The rear camera looks better than most built in web cams. Add a good wireless headset and you’ve got a pretty great setup. The only downside is not being able to “multitask”/play games on your phone during project status meetings.

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#75

Gotta be only dressing from the waist up. Just don’t forget to not stand up before the team meeting has finished :see_no_evil:

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#77

Thanks for sharing some of your hacks guys!

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#78

I keep both monitors at low brightness and bluelight filter to ease eye strain.

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#79

Thanks @AnkerOfficial for the competition! When thinking of Work from Home Hacks, the first thing that comes to my mind is how with the help of an Anker hub, I revived my old 24” TV to be a second monitor. Colors and refresh rates aren’t great but it does the job :yum:

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#80

Thanks @AnkerOfficial for the competition!
My most efficient work from home hack is to mark my lunch break as Out-Of-Office. People really atop bugging you during that time, as they see direct they will not get a direct response.
As a sideeffect some people does try to contact others as they might think that you’re on vacation :wink:

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#81

I think my other elementary educator friends would agree with me on most of these! Educators got a chance to sample the “work from home life” other people live everyday.

Learning to make do with what we had!

  1. Clothespins work well to hold up a chart/paper when it is attached to blinds.
  2. Learning work-arounds to allow students to type on a PDF when they don’t have the software.
  3. We had drive-through award ceremonies and open houses.
  4. How to use your cell phone and some books as a hack for a document camera. (I didn’t do this but I saw videos of teachers standing in the shower to teach math and using the shower wall as a dry erase board.)

We never realized how helpful a second monitor could be.

We need to set boundaries on when we work & respond to emails.

Even if it was realized before, it became obvious very quickly that areas like mine without broadband internet definitely need to be brought into the year 2021. It is sad to see the difference it can make from one area to the next!

Providing tech support for students and parents via phone is a lesson in patience!! Teaching expectations for online meetings with elementary students is interesting, but they catch on quickly!

We got to eat lunch without somebody asking us to open a ketchup packet. No one asked us to tie their shoes. We got to be able to go to the bathroom without asking someone to watch our students.

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