1. Top Story

Time-Saving Tips for Telecommuters

Telecommuting is a fact of life in today's business world whether it's working from home or checking in when you're traveling for business. These nontraditional working spaces present challenges for employees. Here are some tips to help you stay focused when you're working outside the office.

Create an "Office"

Separate your workspace from your living space. In a hotel room, this means using the desk rather than lounging on the bed. Some experts even suggest making the desk resemble your desk at the office, including family or pet photos.

In a home office, distance yourself from distractions. Set up your office away from your home's center of activity. Determine how you will manage your files and paper and select the appropriate furniture and storage solutions. You'll save time by staying organized and eliminating redundant actions.

Manage Your Communications

You also can use your time efficiently by managing communications. Establish a check-in schedule with the office and stick to it. Call your contacts only at the scheduled time, and discuss all the day's issues in this meeting.

For email messages, set aside two or three times per day when you will check and respond to messages. File your messages in folders based on priority level or project. If available, use shared folders to delegate work or share information with your team.

Share Your Work

Shared documents are especially helpful when you're out of the office. Rather than emailing an attachment to a group and combining everyone's comments, a shared folder gives everyone access to the same document, and changes are made in one place.

Use a shared calendar to find out if the contact you are trying to reach is in a meeting or out of the office that day. If you regularly work from home, a shared calendar helps you schedule meetings with your team without taking the time to call or email each person to coordinate schedules. Checking this calendar every morning is a great way to boost productivity.

Make Downtime Productive

Not only does your productivity lag when you're stuck at an airport, but boredom sets in. Laptop computers, "smart phones," such as a Blackberry, and PDAs can make your downtime productive. When you're waiting for a flight, you can sort through your backlog of email messages, work on your presentation or update your to-do lists.

Discipline Yourself

No matter how great your setup or how many tools you have, the most important part of managing your time is you. Your self-discipline and drive to get the job done are central to your success, and procrastination is your biggest obstacle. So, settle into your office away from the office and start working.

Kathryn Jones of MidwestBusiness.com contributed to this story.

2. Hostway News

Virus Protection Added to Exchange Plans

We take care of virus scanning for you. Every email on our hosted Exchange servers is checked for viruses. If found, we remove the threat and alert you that a virus has been removed from your email.

Learn more about Hostway's hosted Exchange.

Mobile SiteBuilder Makes News

IT Week interviewed Hostway's UK Director Neil Barton for a story titled "Big Names Get Behind the Mobile Internet." Barton describes Hostway's new Mobile SiteBuilder as "a simple drag-and-drop tool," in the January 15 issue of IT Week, a UK publication for IT leaders.

Learn more about Mobile SiteBuilder.

3. Smart Tip

Choose a Mobile Device that Supports the Exchange Features You Need

Mobile device manufacturers choose which Exchange ActiveSync features to support. If you plan to use Exchange's mobile features, select devices that support the functionalities most important to your business.

Find out which manufacturers partner with Exchange.

4. Special Offer!

PhotoshopSupport.com

Get $10 Off imageSynth Plugin Texture Generator for Photoshop

Streamline tiling and texture-making with the imageSynth Photoshop plug-in. Not only does it simplify seamless textures, it makes high-resolution images from low-resolution sources.

Learn more about imageSynth.