Debilitating heat waves or not, in most places, the summer is usually a more precarious time to work from home. Not only do we have to deal with possible power outages and overheating computers, the heat is more likely to make us all more sluggish, tempted by wanderlust, or just downright cranky and more likely to procrastinate.
If you want to beat the heat while you're working from home, here are a few suggestions:
Prepare for possible work downtimes or workarounds due to stress on the power grid. If you have a laptop, that's great, because it can run on battery for several hours--consider getting a second one. If you have a desktop, invest in a power supply with emergency battery backup.Install a tethering app on your smartphone so you can use your cell phone data plan as a back up, should your Internet service go down. You'll essentially be using your cell phone as a modem for your computer to make sure you can still keep working or stay connected even in an emergency.Crank up the A/C. You may be a frugal, energy-conserving person, but if your laptop or computer runs too hot it can seriously be damaged (or at least worsten performance). Ideally, both you and your computer should be comfortably cool. (In researching our top 5 tips for cooling a hot laptop, we found that the ideal environment is 70 degrees Fahrenheit or below).Make sure you stay hydrated and take regular breaks as well. Working from home requires a lot of diligence, focus, and stamina; to stay productive as a telecommuter you need to take care of your health. Especially when it's a gazillion degrees out there.Share any tips you have for working in this awful heat in the comments.
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