Five tips to help you work on the go

To be truly effective in business we need to make our work portable. Being able to work on the go not only helps us to be productive in the times we are early or caught waiting, it also gives us to have the flexibility and lifestyle many of us went into business for in the first place.

So whether you need to work while you’re interstate on business, need to send an email while you’re at the park with your kids or simply monitor things while on holiday, here are five tips to help you keep your work portable:

1. Get the right equipment

Set yourself up with portable WiFi internet hotspot, a smartphone, laptop and/or tablet PC in addition to your normal desktop computer so you can work on the go. For greater efficiency, make sure you can sync your work, to-do lists and app content between all your devices.

If you only have a laptop to work on, consider working off your smart devices while you’re out-and-about. While you may create backups regularly, if your only computer was dropped, stolen or had something spilt on it, you won’t be able to work easily until it is fixed or replaced.

2. Keep your calendar online

Even if you prefer to record everything in your paper diary, make a note of meetings, calls and commitments on your other devices for greater portability. This way, if you are caught without your diary and need to schedule a meeting, you won’t double book and have to reschedule.

If you’re loyal to your paper diary and don’t want to input dates into two separate calendars, take a photo of your weekly schedule so you can reference it easily. Then if you do make appointments while you’re out, send yourself an email with the details to remind yourself to update your diary when you get back.

3. Work in the clouds

Keep the documents you regularly work on (or at least copies of them) in the cloud so you can easily access them from anywhere and any device. Cloud storage is perfect if you can’t sync between your devices and an ideal backup solution should one of your computers/devices breakdown.

4. Get apps

There are thousands of great business apps available that can help you work more effectively and portably.

From managing your business finances, marketing campaigns and website analytics on the go, to recording your customers’ details, tracking leads, managing your time and keeping track of your ideas. There really is an app for just about anything you need in business.

When choosing apps, look for ones that can be synced across all of your devices or easily emailed, shared or saved to the clouds so you can access the content where ever you are.

5. Be portable ready

Keep a work-on-the-run bag or briefcase so you’re ready at a moment’s notice. Include a notepad, pen, your portable WiFi internet hotspot, a charger and anything else you’ll need to be able to work on the go.

How do you keep your work portable?