Personal Productivity
No Network Found. 6 Ways to Stay Productive if the Internet Goes Down
AUTHOR: Audrey Robinson
Finding out the internet is down can sometimes feel akin to an apocalyptic scenario. Modern society needs the internet for almost everything. The internet is a source of both work and leisure for millions of people, making both productivity and relaxation feel impossible without WiFi. It’s almost impossible to consider that being without internet is a productivity lifesaver.
Fortunately, you can still stay productive even if the internet is nowhere to be found. When you can’t connect, focus on the things right in front of you. You’ll be surprised by how much you can get done.
1. Clean Out Your Computer
Does your desktop look like a rummage sale? Are there icons from documents you haven’t touched in the past two years? It’s time to give your computer a thorough cleaning. While the internet is down, start deleting old photos and memos you no longer need. Uninstall obsolete software. Run a deep clean, make sure everything is up to date, and improve your workflow with great folder organization. It’s an important task that we’re all guilty of putting off, and there’s never been a better time to do it.
2. Organize Your Desk
Stop focusing on your computer. Instead, focus on what’s around your computer. All the pens and papers and binders and folders that have been piling up while you’ve been checking your email will need to be dealt with at some point. Optimize your space for productivity. Get around to buying that desk organizer you’ve always said you needed to get. Give every paperclip and sticky note a proper home. Better yet, take everything off of your desk and give it a few thorough passes with a sanitizing wipe. How long has it been since you’ve had the opportunity to give the thing a thorough cleaning?
3. Make a Priority Checklist
What do you need to do when the internet comes back on? The day to day norms are a given. Of course you’ll need to go through your inbox and review your upcoming projects. Think about the things you haven’t gotten to. Do you need to update your security software and properly delete or shred old documents with sensitive information? Can you back up the information you have saved to a safer location? This is a great time to improve your business cyber security plan, making sure your computer is safe from any potential threats.
4. Write Out Your Plans
If you’ve left yourself little notes all over your desktop or cubicle walls, you can turn your millions of small ideas and reminders into a functional schedule. If you have a day planner or a calendar, start filling it up. Once you see how much you really have to do, it will be easy to keep yourself busy. You might find that you have so many things to get around to that you wouldn’t feel stifled if the internet stayed out for a few days. Real life tasks are just as important as anything you could do from your desk.
5. Get To Your Paperwork
Admit it – you’re not a big fan of paperwork. Nobody likes reviewing important memos and filling out physical reports. We have a tendency to shove them to the back of our to-do lists and only get to them five minutes before the deadline. Take your internet outage as a blessing in disguise. If you get all the paperwork out of the way now, you’ll have less to wade through later. Remember to shred sensitive documents you’ll no longer need and scan the things you’ll need to store digitally for use at a later time. You don’t need the internet to scan, copy, or print.
6. Use Apps to Stay On Track
If you absolutely need the internet to handle your most pressing tasks, there’s always apps. If your coworkers or team members already use productivity apps, jump on and see what they’re up to. If they don’t, encourage them to start. Believe it or not, you can do almost anything you can do on your laptop on your smartphone.
Unfortunately for habitual procrastinators, losing internet connectivity isn’t a real reason to lose productivity. For those who strive to be productive no matter what, you’ll have no trouble keeping your hands busy until the network is fixed.
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