Top 10 Tricks For Working While On-The-Go

There’s only so much work you can do at the office before you go insane. If you need a change of scenery, here are ten ways to make the best of your mobile workspace.

Photo by Jack Shainsky.

10. Coil Your Cables Properly

We’ve shown you numerous ways to wrap your headphone cables so they don’t get tangled, but when you’re working on-the-go, headphones are probably the least of your worries. You’ve got USB cables, power bricks, mobile phone chargers, and all sorts of other cords just waiting to tangle themselves up in your backpack. Coil your small cables with a simple loose, overhand knot, and make sure you’re not putting too much stress on your laptop’s power cord. You don’t want to pull out your mobile workspace only to find that you’ve ruined your cables and they no longer work!

9. Keep Your Bag Organised

There’s a fine line between being prepared and overburdening yourself by carrying around unnecessary stuff. If your bag is starting to feel a little heavy, carry around a little journal and mark off what you actually use every day—you may find after a week or so that some of your so-called essentials aren’t getting used at all. Once you’ve narrowed down your actual essentials, an organising tool like the Grid-It is a great way to keep everything within close reach. Photo by Michael Josh Villanueva.

8. Learn To Be Productive At Cafes

If you’re off to the coffee shop to get things done, you don’t want to waste time trying to find somewhere to sit. There’s nothing wrong with sitting at someone else’s table, especially if they’re as hard at work as you. Furthermore, make sure you’re always a courteous customer, and if you really need to get some work done, skip the coffee shop entirely and hit the library. (Original Post) Photo by ajleon.[imgclear]

7. Try Using An Ultra-Portable Tablet Instead Of Your Laptop

Depending on what kind of work you’re doing, bringing your bulky laptop with you may be overkill. Consider taking that shiny new iPad or Xoom with you instead—it’s probably faster, safer, more portable, and more battery-friendly than your laptop ever was. Armed with a keyboard and a cheap stand, you’ll be getting things done like a pro in no time. If your work is typing-heavy, a netbook can also be a great choicePhoto by thms.nl.[imgclear]

6. Turn A Flash Drive Into A Portable Privacy Toolkit

If you’re stuck using sketchy public Wi-Fi (or on a machine that isn’t your own), you may want to pay a bit more attention to your privacy. With just a flash drive and a few simple tools, you can cover your tracks on nearly any machine you’re forced to work from, or any network with sniffing, Firesheeping ne’er-do-wells. (Original Post) Photo by Dave Boyer. [imgclear]

5. Keep Your Workflow In Sync Across Computers

Chances are you’ve got more than one computer you regularly use for work, and moving from your home desktop to your on-the-go laptop should be as seamless as possible. Dropbox is the most essential of all tools, letting you easily sync files between all of your machines, while browser extensions like LastPass and Xmarks (as well as a few other tricks and hacks) keep all your passwords, bookmarks, and application preferences with you wherever you go. Be sure to check out the cleverest ways to use Dropbox that you’re not using, too—you’d be surprised at how much you can accomplish with such a simple cloud computing tool. (Original Post)

4. Get The Most Out Of Your Batteries

While you might get lucky and snag an outlet at the coffee shop or airport, always be prepared for the worst. We’ve gone through numerous tips for maximising battery life on both your laptop and your smartphone, so make sure you’ve taken them to heart before heading out for a day on the town. Photo by [177] .[imgclear]

3. Anything Can Be Used As Extra Storage

Flash drives are as versatile as they are numerous, but if you need something with a bit more space (or you’ve just given all your flash drives away), remember that anything can be used as extra storage. Whether it’s that old, dead iPod or the smartphone you’re already carrying with you, you probably have gigs of unused storage lying around waiting to be filled with portable apps, files and other digital travel necessities.[imgclear]

2. Make Sure You’re Never Without Internet

It’s some law of nature that the one time you really need some Wi-Fi, it’s nowhere to be found. Make sure you’re an expert at sniffing out free Wi-Fi wherever you go. Whatever you do, though, be sure to stay safe on those public networks. Photo by °Florian.[imgclear]

1. Keep Your Stuff From Getting Stolen (And Know How To Get It Back If It Does)

So you’re an expert at staying safe on public Wi-Fi networks, but you don’t want to neglect the mobile workstation’s other obvious security problem: laptop theft. If you’re out and about, make sure you never leave your laptop alone—or, if you do, that you’ve got a pretty good security system in place. If that doesn’t work, you can always track down any stolen laptop with our favourite anti-theft software, Prey.