Working With the world population at an estimated 7.9 billion, close to 5 billion people have to work or study from home. With these figures, you would think that the world economy, as a result, would collapse, and rightfully so. Numerous economic analysts are in fact in agreement that we are heading into one of the worst economic contractions in human history, only comparable to the Great Depression in the 1920s and the aftermath of World War II – unless we adapt to this situation.

And adapt most of us have, as working from home has been the saving grace of so many businesses, not to mention entire economies from a total shutdown. Moreover, if done right, working from home cannot just save companies, but allow them to profit. With operating expenses lessened because offices and shops are closed, companies can actually make themselves fiscally strong. Thus, with remote work looking like it’s going to be the norm, how can we maximize it to make it work for our companies? What are the best practices in remote work that will …

As in the course of human history, the COVID19 pandemic is bound to end. Some scientists and mathematicians opine that things will return to normal after six months, while some analysts have adapted a more pessimistic view, saying things will not normalize until a cure or a vaccine for the virus is discovered and made public.  Thus, when this turmoil will end, we do not yet know. But as an adage goes, nothing lasts forever and thus, the pandemic will end.

So, while we know that currently, what we will have to do is to stay at home, not get sick and flatten the curve, what do you think the world will be like once the crisis is over? The events as they unfold currently have already changed the way we live, so the post-COVID19 world should be very interesting. What could possibly change and what never be the same again because of this virus that people easily dismissed as just another passing disease months ago?

Automation and remote will be the norms

Businesses will be under pressure to …

Because of the coronavirus crisis, a majority of us will need to work from home.  And as any veteran telecommuter will tell you, you will have to conduct a meeting with your team or your colleagues through a video conference call. While the technicalities of setting up a video conference may already user-friendly, there is still the issue of doing them properly, in proper etiquette. After all, just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you can slack, especially in these online video meetings. Here are some dos of video conference etiquette that you can do even before the meeting starts so that you can hopefully conduct them as effectively as possible.

Do: Have an Agenda

Doesn’t it irritate you when you attend a meeting where everybody just sits around, waiting for all attendees to be present, and then, when finally is already in the meeting, the person presiding the meeting takes a while to get things in order? At least in actual physical meetings, you can express your frustration to the meeting presider with facial expressions. With virtual meetings, …

The coronavirus pandemic has changed how we live, and that is no exaggeration. Entire states have declared lockdowns, residents have been instructed to practice social distancing and to stay home. There seems to be no near end in sight yet as cases of patients confirmed positive of the virus have been steadily increasing.  If we are forced to see any upside to what’s happening, it’s that everyone has become more conscious of personal hygiene. All around the world, authorities have regularly campaigned for the public to adhere to sanitation practices like the 20-second rule of handwashing, keeping our hands away from our faces, and maintaining proper coughing and sneezing behavior. For us who can’t seem to live without a social media update every hour, good hygiene should also mean making sure our gadgets are virus-free.

There is still no documentation of the COVID-19 virus being transmitted through surfaces, as the most common means of transmission current is through direct human contact or respiratory droplets. However, health authorities such as the CDC suggest that surfaces should still be cleaned, as recent …

By now, unless you’re on a YOLO mindset, you should already be staying at home. You wouldn’t want to catch the COVID19 virus, would you? Even if you’re the altruistic, other-before-self kind of person, you shouldn’t really be outdoors because if you bring the virus with you home, your family and those who get in contact with you might be the ones to get sick. So really, stay home.

So, now that you’re being a good person and staying home, doing your part to “flatten the curve” and stop the spread of the virus, you can’t really say that you’re bored and left with nothing to do. You’re in the comforts of your home (or wherever it is you’ve chosen to camp during this lockdown period). True, you can’t do any and all outdoor activities, but there are still so any things you can do at home. Think about it: There are so many things we have put in the backburner, activities we have postponed; and now is the time to bring them back to the forefront. Need a bit …

Aren’t we living in ironic times?

Just when we’ve been feeling so drained and complaining about being overworked, spending 14 hours in the office just to bring home the bacon, not having time to pursue our passions (from crocheting to finally taking the weekend off for a paragliding adventure) because we just don’t have the time, the COVID19 pandemic hits the entire world. So, now we have all the time in the world, but we can’t do a lot outdoors because most of us are in lockdown. We can’t go out, we can’t have drinks with friends in our preferred club, and there goes your dream paragliding adventure.

So, how do we actually keep busy and not lose our sanity for the entire lockdown period? Before cabin fever sets in, here are some recommended activities we hope you’d consider.

Keep fit indoors

Just because you’re cooped up inside your house doesn’t mean you have to live a sedentary lifestyle and forget fitness. Everybody’s stuck up on their houses precisely because of this disease and reliable sources say the mortality rate …

Because of the COVID19 scare, a lot of people have been working from home. The problem is, many have discovered that their internet is working at a speed that is not to their expectations. Moreover, those who are staying at home and sourcing their entertainment from games and streaming entertainment their internet speeds aren’t up to par with what they were used to. So, in this period of people telecommuting and staying at home, what are the best ways to improve your internet speeds?

A quick note, though: If you are not sure of how exactly your internet is performing, try to run an internet speed test at various times throughout the day. Not only will you get exact numbers, but you will also get to check if there’s actually a fluctuation of your internet speeds, if it’s consistently slow throughout the day, or if there are only particular times of the day when it’s not as fast as the rest of the day.

Reset or reboot? 

If you have an average home network, you can enjoy a lot of …