I have been the “chief cook and bottle washer” of my prosperous small business for the past 7 years. I work from my home office, and at the same time my husband (who is away from home about 12 hours a day due to a long commute) and I manage a busy household with 4 children, 3 dogs, and a cat. I am able to juggle working full time (plus) and keeping the family together because I am able to work from just about anywhere. In this article I would like to pass along some of my tips for working wherever you are.

Store important files centrally

Whatever files are important to you should be stored centrally so that you can access them from your office, your home, the library, places you travel to, and wherever you anticipate being. You have many options for storing your files centrally:

• In your home or home office, buy an inexpensive Network Attached Storage (NAS) device on which to place your files. These devices are readily available and allow you to plug into your Ethernet network and then map a drive to the device from all of the computers on your network.
• In your home or home office, contact a local service provider to install a networked file server in your home or your home office. I have moved from NAS devices to a file server at my home office because my local service provider was able to install firewall software, a backup solution, and an uninterruptible power supply which helps me deal with the frequent power outages we experience during the winter months in our rural area. This is an expensive solution but really addresses my need for access and backups from multiple computers.
• For times when you are not in your office or home office, or when you want to backup files that you cannot afford to lose if something catastrophic happens at your office or home office, you can use an online service to store your files. I use Microsoft Office Live Workspace to save files I need to access outside of my home or home office. Microsoft Office Live Workspace is an online service that allows you to easily upload documents via a web browser and then access them later from wherever you are. You can even share documents with others if needed.

  My Office Live Workspace for storing files centrally so they can be accessed from anywhere.

  You can find out more about this free service here.

Stake out network connections

When I am home or at my home office, I take a notebook computer wherever I am. With a wireless network I can access all of the files I store on my Office Live Workspace from whatever room I am in. If I am waiting for a delivery, for example, I can work from the den by our front door quite easily. If I need to access other files, I simply bring an Ethernet cable with me and plug into the nearest Ethernet port so that I can access my file server or one of the NAS devices.

When away from home or my home office, I look for Wi-Fi signs that tell me that I can get a connection from my laptop computer to the Internet. You will see these signs at most coffee shops, airports, and libraries. From these locations I can access my Microsoft Office Live Workspace files and work comfortably, often with a tall single mocha within easy reach.

Surround yourself with computers

When your files are centralized and you have a network connection, you can work from just about any computer. That’s why I have my super cool Windows Vista desktop as my primary computer in my office, but also have 2 inexpensive laptop computers I take with me – one for the house that goes wherever I want to work, and one for the car in a discreet case with all of the power supplies and cables and connectors I might need. With computers where I need them I can sneak in a half hour of work here and there while I am taking the kids from activity to activity after school.

 Tip   If you use Outlook Personal Folders (PST files) to save e-mail messages to, if you close Outlook on every computer before you leave it you can open those same PST files on other computers. So when I am home or in the home office I store the PST files on the server and then open them from whatever computer I happen to be working on at that time.

Put your cell phone to work

I am one of the few people who rarely come near my allocated minutes on my cell phone plan. That’s because the primary reason I carry a cell phone is so that I can access my Outlook Inbox while I am away. I do this by using a cell phone that is running the Windows Mobile operating system. My Outlook Inbox, Calendar, Contacts, and Notes appear on my cell phone, and when new e-mail messages or meeting requests come in they are automatically delivered to my device.

My Outlook Inbox in the background, and a screenshot from my cell phone showing that same Inbox in the foreground.

I can send e-mail or add appointments and contacts from my cell phone, and those additions stay synchronized with my Microsoft Exchange Server-based e-mail. Having the ability to stay connected to my e-mail from my cell phone is perfect for those occasions where whipping out a laptop computer would be too much (such as the dentist’s office, football bleachers, or the movie theater). (In case you are wondering, I am using the HTC Diamond Touch cell phone from Sprint.)

Work when and where you can

Using the techniques discussed in this article you can work when and where you can. Whether you are a road warrior and travel extensively, or a working parent like me who travels daily but within a 10 mile radius, you can squeeze work into the time you have available. After all, technology can be your ally in the daily struggle for work/life balance.