With the pandemic still shaking the world, many people are forced to adopt a remote working strategy to combat the spread. But working from home doesn’t mean you’re going to relax on your bed all day or keep going to the kitchen to grab some snacks. You still need to be productive when working from home because the bills are waiting.

You have to create your little office with everything you need for productivity and engagement. You need a host of equipment, tools, and apps to help make this transition easy. You must prepare a working from home checklist that will guide you as you start this great journey.

Just a laptop and internet connection are not going to get you going. Aside from the tools and apps needed, you also need to ensure your comfort.

So, are you ready to get started? Here is a checklist of the things you’ll need for your remote work.

Have Reliable Internet Connection in Working From Home Checklist

A reliable internet connection should be number one in your working from home checklist. Wherever place you’re connecting from, ensure you have enough bandwidth that can support your workload. Before you even start working, run a speed check to see how much bandwidth you’re going to work with.

You also need to check your Wifi connection to ensure your routers are strong enough. If you stay in a big house, you want to make sure your internet connection covers the entire house. Consider connecting your devices to the router or moving closer to ensure reliability.

If you’re going to share the internet with many people, consider a VPN and other tools that ensure security and protect from cyberattacks. You might also consider passwords, so you don’t just give anyone access to the internet. Remember, cybercriminals are still working, and they can attack even if you’re working from your home.

Set Up a Home Office

You’re going to have to equip your home office to ensure you can work comfortably. Your couch may look beautiful and comfortable, but when it comes to office work, they’re not the best to use. You don’t want to start complaining of neck pain and back issues a few months after you start working from home.

Make a point of getting yourself a proper office chair and a working desk. Get a separate room and let all the household members understand that they can’t just move in and out of the room. Set up some lighting and all kinds of furniture such as a laptop stand to provide maximum comfort.

Make the room quieter, well ventilated, and clean all the time. Keep your working table clutter-free and clean the room before you start working. If you want, you can consult a professional to help you sort out the room according to your needs.

Have Your Equipment Ready

There are those things you can’t work without, even though they appear so simple. Office equipment comes in many forms depending on exactly what you do.

Consider things such as a phone, a laptop, hard drives, and all the necessary files. If you need a computer for business and all other accessories like a mouse, keyboard, external hard drives, check out Lenovo.com, and choose what suits your business. Always go for quality and not price when buying the equipment.

If you’re going to store files and documents, you’ll need a fire safe box or a file. If you’re going to do a lot of printing, you’ll need a printer with all its accessories. You also need small appliances such as shredders, surge protectors, monitors, pens, notebooks, and more.

Software and Tools in Your Working From Home Checklist

Many office jobs require a lot of software use, and you should get the right ones. You should know what the software does and learn to use them. This may be challenging at first, but you will learn to adjust yourself better once you identify the challenges involved.

One of the most critical software is collaboration tools. You’re still going to need to collaborate with your team members, have a virtual meeting, and ensure project completion. You’ll need video conferencing tools like zoom, scheduling services of Google calendar, and collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams.

If you’re going to have a video conference call, make sure you set up everything well. Learn to use reliable video call software, choose the right camera, check your sound system, and enhance your lighting. Don’t forget to set a professional-looking background and dress up for the meeting even if you’re just at home.

Consider Project Management Platforms

Many offices use project management tools, but this goes to new levels once you start working at home. Not being able to check in-person will make staying organized and meeting your deadlines quite a hassle. Well, you might not overcome the challenges, but consolidating everything in a single remote work technology can help.

You need your personalized list of activities to handle every day. Monitor these tasks, so you keep track of your productivity. Track your important tasks and how they’re performing.

There are renowned project management platforms such as Trello and Asana that can be of great help. Come up with a project management plan early enough so that you don’t get out of track. Develop regular updates on how things are going and encourage your team members to follow the same trend.

Invest in Good Offline Communication Gadgets

You’re also going to need some other offline communication accessories to stay in touch with everyone. You need a clear communication protocol with your team members and clients. You should also set up some communication principles which you can personalize based on your work characteristics.

You can add essential items that can facilitate your phone calls and video meetings. Consider investing in a good headset, a telephone, and a webcam. If there are other people where you’re working, consider getting noise-canceling or isolating headphones.

Get headphones with integrated microphones, so you connect and talk with your clients and teams effectively. Get a tool that can mute the background noise, so the noisy environment doesn’t get in the way of your communications.

Have Water and Healthy Snacks

No matter how busy you are, don’t forget to keep yourself refreshed and energized. Make sure you have water, fruits, and some healthy snacks by your side. Get everything ready on the desk before you sit down to start working.

Preparing your snacks early enough helps avoid distractions such as walking to your fridge now and then. Besides, going to your fridge always will get you to over snack as you’ll be tempted to grab something on every trip. Ensure you stay energized by eating less and more frequently.

Also, the snacks you have on the table should not be a replacement for your lunch. Keep the snacks at minimal so that you don’t lose your appetite and forget to take lunch. Schedule a lunch break just the way you do in the office and have a healthy meal.

Ensure Uninterrupted Power Supply

The problem with working from home is that you can experience power cut issues at any time. Well, it’s expensive to invest in powerful power backup systems like the one you use at the office, but you can still try to have an uninterrupted power supply. Remember, you can’t give your clients excuses that you had a blackout.

A reliable, uninterrupted power supply will cover you for some time once the power goes off. This way, you get time to save your work and shut down your equipment safely. You can then find a way to finish your work and not inconvenience anyone.

Set Up Digital Assistants

Digital assistant products record a 50 percent growth every single year. Everyone is embracing this technology, and you might already have one in your home. If you don’t have one yet, you might already be familiar with some of them, like Google Assistant, Amazon Echo, or Siri-enabled Apple products.

You can use these products to their full potential if you’re going to work from home. There are digital assistants for making calls, taking notes, sending emails, and more. Using these devices at home can allow you to perform some household chores with ease as you continue working on your projects.

Others are made to allow you to hold conference calls without any difficulties in coordination. Digital assistants are great technology while working from home that will help with your transition.

Make Your Home Office Transition Easier

Working from home continues to become a necessity because of Covid-19 and for other personal reasons. But while many people think home is warm and comfortable, working in a new environment is a great challenge. Use technology to your advantage by adopting this working from home checklist and make the transition smoother.

If you still need more help to skyrocket your productivity even as you work from home, we still have other helpful guides for you. Please keep visiting our blog for tech-related articles.