Flying out again soon? As exciting as the prospect of another travel opportunity is, there is also that dreaded part regarding the amount of work we are leaving behind. With all that time spent sitting and waiting while in transit, just imagine how much work we could have done then, right? To help you avoid that first-day-back shock, and most of all, to help you remain productive during transit, here are a few travel tips and tricks that you can try out!
Author’s note: I understand that connectivity is tricky when traveling, so we made sure all of the tips presented takes that into consideration.
Answering emails offline
What you need: Outlook and your email properly synced on it
How it helps: Helps you answer pending emails while in transit
Let’s start off with one of the essentials - managing your inbox. Given that connectivity is a tricky thing when you’re in transit (most especially if you’re traveling via plane), there is very little chance for you to actually respond to emails as they arrive. However, what you can do is to at least minimize the amount of messages that you would need to respond to once you do get a connection.
How? If you have Outlook installed on your devices (particularly for laptops), just simply open it and have your inbox sync and receive your new messages while you still have connection. Preferably, before you head out of your home or while waiting for your plane/bus/etc.
As you travel, you can easily go back to your Outlook and actually read and respond to all of your new emails. Though you can write and send out your messages, these would all be kept in outbox until you do get a connection again. Once you find a connection, just open your outlook again and all of those kept in your outbox will automatically be sent. All in all, this can at least help you decrease the gravity of the initial inbox shock and also keep you productive during your flight or travel time.
Need help adding your email to Outlook? Here's a helpful link: Outlook Email Setup >>
Work with smaller devices
What you need: Mobile app counterparts of Office programs
How it helps: Gives you the chance to keep working on that document/presentation/spreadsheet without having to take out your laptop
For those that are traveling via plane, it’s pretty common to take out your laptop mid-flight and continue working. However, for those traveling via bus or other means, pulling out your laptop may not be as easy as perhaps just pulling out your phone or tablet.
If you would need to continue working on documents but are in a situation or position that can’t allow you to take out your bigger device (e.g. laptop), one workaround is to install the mobile counterpart of your Office apps on your smaller devices such as your tablet or even your smartphone (Read: Office for Mobiles). Worried about the cost? Don’t! Microsoft’s Office for Mobiles are all available for free and they offer all the essential features that you would need and expect from the desktop versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel (even the equation function is available in Excel!).
It is worth noting that these apps work offline, which is perfect should you have connectivity issues as you travel. However, similar to the previous tip, it is also worth noting that you should sync/download your files to your devices before heading out in order to maintain access when offline. By the time you do get a connection, it would then be easy enough for you to simply sync the changes or upload it back to your cloud storage to continue working on it on your via your laptop or other devices.
Save and access cloud storages offline
What you need: Cloud storage desktop client
How it helps: Gives you offline access to important files saved in your cloud storage
Accessing and securing a backup of your important files are an important consideration – regardless if you are traveling or not. To help you maintain offline access to your cloud storage and conveniently backup important files to it in one fell swoop, the best course of action is to simply sync your Cloud storage accounts to your desktops/laptops through its desktop client. Through your storage’s desktop client, you would be able to both access and save important files to it, which would then sync once you get a connection.
How does this help? In terms of accessing files, this helps you maintain access to important files even if you don’t have any connection. On the other end, you are also given the ability to easily save files to your cloud storage regardless of your connection. However, you should take note that these files will only be synced once you do connect to the internet, so it is best for you to give yourself a few moments to properly sync important files before heading out.
How to do this? Though you may have different cloud storage accounts, the process is fairly similar among all and it only requires you to download (for free, of course) and install their desktop app. For additional details, I’ve laid out here the necessary links based on your cloud storage:
- Onedrive for Windows 10 >>
- Onedrive for Windows 7 >>
- Google Drive desktop app >>
- Dropbox desktop app >>
- Box desktop app >>
Sounds good?
All in all, traveling shouldn’t necessarily be an unproductive time anymore. With these tips and tricks, you would then be able to easily manage and accomplish important tasks on-the-go, regardless of your connection.
To help you take mobile productivity to new heights, here are a few other NGO offers we are offering that can definitely help you out:
- Jed Dominic Adao's blog
- Login or register to post comments