With the holidays coming to an end, now is a good time to focus more on yourself and the things that you need to make 2015 a productive and successful year.
Portable Travel Router
Finding a Wi-Fi hotspot isn’t always the easiest option, nor is it the safest. If staying connected while on the go is important to you, consider purchasing a travel router. Public Wi-Fi hotspots are notoriously insecure and popular hotspots are easily bogged down during peak usage times, making them a dangerous and unreliable option. With your own portable Wi-Fi router, you are not only able to create a mobile hotspot for your and your friends/colleagues, but you can do so safely with the right router.
When choosing your router, be sure to check that it has the option to set up a password to protect your network. This will help ensure that only you and those with the password are able to access the network. There are several additional features available, so be sure to do your research to help you choose the router that is ideal for you. PCWorld published a review of 6 routers available and is a great place to get started.
Mouse
Your mouse can help you do a lot more than just point and click these days. With a mouse like Logitech’s Marathon M705, you are easily able to program the various buttons to perform specific functions, including keyboard shortcuts. So, if you are a frequent Excel user you can save time by programming the scrolling wheel to copy when you push it to the right and then paste when you push it to the left. The good thing is that you can program it to perform the functions that mean the most to you, making it a good customizable productivity tool.
Portable Scanner
Staying organized isn’t easy – especially if you are constantly on the move. You can save valuable time and sanity through the use of a portable scanner. With one of these devices, you can quickly and easily digitize important documents or receipts. This will eliminate the need to hang on to random pieces of paper and help reduce the likelihood of misplacing such items. This isn’t to mention the ability to instantly digitize and share a document with others – work won’t have to be put on hold while you work on getting a document to your colleague or client.
Portable scanners come in various sizes, ranging from the size of a pen to the size of a small desktop printer. You can also turn your smartphone into a portable scanner with one of the many apps that are currently available for both the iPhone and Android-based phones.
Noise-Cancelling Headphones
The ability to effectively focus while working is key to productivity. Whether you work in a busy office or from home, reducing distracting background noises will help keep you focused. You can accomplish this through the use of good noise-cancelling headphones. While standard headphones and earphones are typically more affordable than ones designed for noise reduction, they are not as effective at eliminating background noise.
The majority of the top noise-cancelling headphones are over-ear headphones rather than the in-ear variety, but there are a couple of good in-ear options as well. PCMag published a list of the 10 best noise-cancelling headphones – two of which are earphones.
Portable Battery
Nothing puts a stop to productivity quite like a dead battery. People are increasingly reliant on their portable tech devices, and the more you use these devices, the quicker they run out of battery. Rather than carrying around your charging cable and constantly being on the lookout for an open power outlet, you can now carry a rechargeable battery with you.
There are many options for portable battery chargers of varying capacity, but you can typically expect to be able to charge your mobile tech device at least one full time before having to recharge the battery.