Three simple ways to use technology to set yourself free

New technology means it’s possible to work wherever you want. You’ve already decided you want to work for yourself and away from the traditional office, but now – with a few simple tips and tricks – you can enjoy unprecedented flexibility, and work almost anywhere, from your local coffee shop to the public park. Freelance Advisor and Home Working author and expert Emma Jones explains how.

Working on the move with your computer

If you already have a fairly up-to-date laptop computer, you have all you really need to work away from home. Most can pick up wireless Internet access from receivers already built-in. But if you have a slightly older laptop, buy a small adaptor which you plug into a spare USB port. Affordable options are available from a company called Belkin who provide pretty clear instructions to help you get started.

If WiFi hotspots are few and far between, you can now get on the Internet practically anywhere, with a USB dongle. It looks like a flash thumbdrive and allows your laptop to connect to broadband speed-Internet from a mobile phone provider.

Wi-Fi hotspots are usually free of charge in places like public libraries and independent coffee shops, where owners encourage you to use their hotspots to boost sales. If you’re looking for out of home working locations in your area, check out myHotspots.

With your mobile or smart phone

A Blackberry is a smart phone and one of the most popular devices for working away from the home office. It allows you to surf the web, check your e-mail and edit office documents.

Most mobile phones allow you to check email on the move, but it’s best to check with your service provider before giving it a go. Unless included in your contract, checking email or surfing the web on your mobile phone can be quite expensive.

If you use web mail, from Google for example, or Yahoo!, it’s easy to check your email as there are mobile ready versions of their websites, which you can view on your mobile phone’s web browser.

Yahoo! Mobile -Google Mobile

Mobile broadband is great if you’re often on the move or use your laptop in a variety of locations, but it can be pricey. Look around for unlimited packages and those that provide the hardware for free.

A forwarding number

Skype, offers a call forwarding feature, which allows you to direct incoming calls to your Skype account or Skype phone number to your mobile phone. Depending on your package you can forward calls at no extra cost and it’s easy to set up.

Taking these steps will free you up to work from anywhere and, with the sun starting to shine, why not head into the garden to take on the inbox!

三種利用科技來使自己更為自由的簡單方法

新科技意味著你可以在任何自己中意的地點工作。作為一名自由職業者，你已經做出了為自己工作并遠離傳統辦公室的決定，但現在，只要運用幾個簡單的秘 訣和技巧，你就能享受到更大的靈活性：在任何自己中意的地點工作，比如在你家附近的咖啡館或公園。自由顧問及撰稿人Emma Jones將本文中說明如何做到這一點。

帶上你的筆記本電腦開始移動辦公

如果你已經擁有了一臺還算跟得上時代的筆記本電腦，那么你就已經具備離開家工作所需要的所有物品了。大多數筆記本電腦都能通過內置無線網卡實現無線上網。如果你用的是比較老款的筆記本，那么就需要買一個USB口插入式的無線網卡。Belkin的無線網卡能幫你的筆記本實現無線上網。

如果周邊WiFi熱點并不多見，利用一個USB集線器，你就能在幾乎任何地方連上互聯網。它看起來像一個閃存U盤但它可以使你的筆記本通過手機信號服務商以高速寬帶的方式連上互聯網。

WiFi熱點在圖書館和獨立咖啡店等地方一般都是免費的，在這些場所店主們會鼓勵你使用他們的熱點來吸引更多顧客。如果你想找擁有WiFi熱點的辦公場所，可以上myHotspots這個網站查詢。

利用好你的移動電話或智能手機

比如黑莓手機就是一款智能手機，它也是為那些想離開家庭辦公室辦公的人士們準備的最流行的電子設備之一。你可以通過黑莓手機上網、查收電子郵件及編輯文本文件。

大多數手機都能查收電子郵件，但在使用手機收發電子郵件之前最好先咨詢下你的服務提供商。除非這些服務已經包含在你以前的話費合同里面了，不然通過手機收發郵件或上網將是相當昂貴的。

如果你已經在使用網頁式電子郵箱，比如google提供的Gmail或來自Yahoo!的電子郵箱，那么通過手機查收郵件就非常容易，因為這些電子郵箱都已經具備手機版登錄界面，你可以通過手機上的游覽器登錄自己的郵箱。

Yahoo!的手機版本 - Google的手機版本

如果你經常外出辦公或需要在不同場所使用筆記本電腦的話，那么移動寬帶就是一個好東西，但它的費用也相當高。你可以尋找下那些能提供不限流量套餐以及免費硬件的無線上網服務提供商。

一個能實現呼叫轉移的電話號碼

Skype就具備呼叫轉移的功能，它能將那些撥入你的Skype賬戶或撥打你Skype電話號的電話轉接到你的手機上來。這種轉接服務是免費的，也很容易設置，具體要看你訂購的Skype套餐。

采取了這些步驟，你就可以在自己中意的任何地點辦公了，隨著太陽開始申請，為什么不去公園里查看下你的收件箱呢？