This guide outlines how you can ‘office anywhere’ once you assemble a kit of the right tools, such as headphones, data access and multiple screens for laptop work.
Since the pandemic, remote working has been increasing. But at BusinessWomanMedia, we were already often leaving our desks to put ourselves in a certain frame of mind for more productivity or creativity. Often this means we work in a favourite cafe, or a new location — we especially love to do this while on business trips.
Places can serve as triggers to get into a certain mood or a certain “mode”. We think that’s exactly what’s behind it, which is why many people can work better in cafes, especially when they have a portable remote working kit with headphones and multiple screens for laptop work, plus access to wifi and electricity if needed.
Here are a few more remote working benefits
Stimulating
We perceive the environment differently and more consciously. What we already know very well, we hide. There are many things in another place that we can’t easily hide. This can stimulate and stimulate creativity.
Routine-free
At our usual place of work, we rewind our routines and habits. But they may not do us so well. If we are used to reading the morning newspaper in detail every morning or getting lost on social media, the exit is difficult. The place serves as a trigger. In a new, different place, we do not have this trigger and can easily install new, better habits.
Less distraction
Although there are more people and more noise in the café. But no dirty plates that can be cleaned and no stacks of unprocessed mail lying around. In the normal workplace, there are always many things around it that distract us or make us postpone something more important. With headphones and multiple screens for laptop working, we can creating our own distraction-free environment.
Inspirational
In a café, there are often other people who work. We always find this very inspiring. Although we could surf the Internet all day and no one would say anything, we don’t. We don’t exactly know why, but we suspect the aura of productivity is infectious.
Mindset is different
If you have the opportunity to work in a café, you usually have a lot of freedom in your work. These are people like me who do not separate work and leisure so sharply (such as (solo) entrepreneurs, freelancers, self-employed). That’s why the mindset is completely different and you can work well where you feel really comfortable (and the espresso standard is better!).
Different feeling
Working in the office feels like work. Work in the café feels more like fun. Working on the beach, by a pool or in a different city’s beauty spots feels Iike a holiday.
Distance to work
The lack of separation between work and leisure time can also be a problem. If you work from home – which we all mostly do sometimes now — it is sometimes difficult to get into work mode. But if we deliberately go to a café to work, this is a kind of commute that leads us to work. This can be helpful.
The ‘office anywhere’ kit: multiple screens for laptop work, headphones and data access
Access to your data
If you use two computers or do not have all the data on your laptop, you should always think carefully about what you need to have with you. It’s no problem for us, because we have almost everything on the cloud anyway. Of course, you can also consciously retire to the café if you need to read a report or documents. Then the Internet, data and electricity do not matter.
Multiple screens for laptop work
You’re most likely working from your laptop when working from a coffee shop. Working from one screen isn’t always the most productive, having to go back and forth between tabs to reference data. But how do you get a multiple monitor setup when you are relying on portability and mobility? The solution to that is an attachable portable monitor. It gives you the productivity of working on two screens but keeps the portability of a laptop. The SideTrak portable monitor makes it easy for you to be productive anywhere you go.
There is no denying that for many tasks, the laptop screen can be far too small. Especially if you are reading source material or data and creating reports or other content from it. The solution is a portable multi-screen attachment.
Good headphones
No question, it’s louder in the café than in the office. If there is only a certain background noise, then we can hide it well. But if we understand the other people around, it’s not that easy. Good headphones are needed here. Provide yourself with either closed headphones or headphones with active noise cancellation. Then you don’t have to make your music so incredibly loud, for which your ears will thank you.
Optimal music
Not every music is suitable for work. Certain music can whip you up, others can calm you down a lot. Depending on the task, you want one or the other effect. Only listen to music that you know very well and can hide with it. Do not listen to radio or rather music without text or at least in a language that you do not understand perfectly.
Internet
The Internet can of course distract. Depending on the task, consciously choose a café with or without Internet. Many of our keynotes are created while commuting, for example, where we can only access the Internet via mobile phone. For this, we can concentrate on a single task for a while. Ideal!
Electricity
Don’t forget to look for places where you have electricity. Or pack your bag with foresight: we don’t always take the charger with us, especially if we know that we are only sitting in the cafe for half a day.
What to look out for
Sitting in the café all the time can also cost money. But there are cafes where you don’t have to have a full cup in front of you all the time. Very pleasant! But still … buy something every 2-3 hours. After all, you are using the services of the café. It’s polite to purchase in return.
- Use cafés with free Wi-Fi. Do not go to cafes with (temporarily) limited or slow Internet. These days are over and such cafes should not support you.
- Work in the café is still …work. Prepare yourself accordingly, set goals and … work.
- The café can be a retreat. But make sure that you are still reachable. Redirect your phone to your mobile phone or use VOIP. The only condition: you need a good headset. But remember that other people can listen and don’t annoy them with constant and loud conversations.
Change location in the office for remote working benefits
Working in the café is great. We love it! But not everyone can spontaneously retreat to a café. However, you can also use a different space in the office. For example, at BWM, we usually use standing desk to create content (blog articles, newsletters, seminars, presentations, etc.). As soon as we stand at the desks, we are automatically in “Create content” mode. In the lounge area, on the other hand, we mainly read reports, news etc, or hold creative meetings to bounce ideas of each other. This is where the multiple screens for laptop and the data access become important.
But you can adopt the basic idea. It’s about a different, stimulating environment. Try this:
- Sit at the other end of your desk.
- Get up and use the low cabinet as an improvised standing desk, e.g. for reading or brainstorming.
- Retreat to an empty meeting room for an hour or two.
- Work in the canteen for an hour – preferably at a quiet time.
- Always get up for phone calls.
- If you have the opportunity, work regularly in the home office. You have to get used to it first, but if you do it regularly, you are just as productive here as in the office if you have the right remote work tools: headphones, optimal music if needed, multiple screens for laptop work, data access. wifi and electricity.
