How To Deal With Tech Problems When You Work From Home

After years of commuting to work and sharing a noisy office with your coworkers, you are more than ready to embrace working from the comfort of your home. There’s just one problem. Your tech may not be as prepared.

Bad connections, unexpected outages, and the blue screen of death can stand in the way of a productive workday. Luckily, you don’t have to suffer through these tech-based problems. You can protect your tech and finances with these tips.

Set Up An Emergency Fund For The Unexpected

Something unexpected in the workday is rarely cause for celebration. It’s usually something that interferes with your workday, like knocking over a piping hot cup of coffee all over your laptop.

An emergency fund is there to help you handle the financial side of these issues. You can tap into these savings to afford a computer repair or outright replacement. It may even provide a buffer if you need to take time after work to handle other tech woes, like coordinating technicians to fix your Internet connection.

What if you don’t have enough savings to cover these costs? If your emergency fund is low, a line of credit might provide a convenient safety net. You can easily apply online with your phone if your computer is out of commission. Once approved, you can tap into you credit for emergency expenses and, as long as you pay them off, keep this account open for the next emergency.

You can always think about borrowing online after you ask your employer to see if they’re willing to help. If your boss won’t provide financial assistance for your tech repairs, a line of credit might be a quick way to handle your emergency.

Invest In Better Internet

Does your Internet go down every few days? Do Zoom, Teams, and any other video conferencing apps glitch? What about your upload speed when you access the cloud — does it take several minutes for you to access a shared document?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need better Internet service. Take the time to compare your local Internet Service Providers that offer broadband and check community boards to see what customers in your area have to say about their quality.

Pay close attention to your upload and download speeds. You should aim to get at least 25 Mbps download speed. You may also have to think about updating your router. Older routers can cause spotty Internet as they age.

Know Your Work-Day Backups

Losing the Internet is the least of your worries if your power goes out. You can only work for as long as your battery lasts, and that’s only if you have offline tasks.

For most work-from-home warriors, power outages are a rare yet frustrating speed bump in the day. Know where a co-working space, work-friendly café, or your nearest library is. You can log on from these spaces if you can’t afford to take an unplanned day off.

If you take advantage of remote work by living in a rural area, outages may be more frequent due to faulty wires and poor infrastructure. At this point, you may want to consider a backup generator for your home.

Work From Home With Peace Of Mind

When you work remotely, you have to be your own IT professional. Make sure you’re up for the job by following these tips. An emergency fund, line of credit, better Internet, and backup generators may be just what you need.