With the following tools you are set up to be able to carry out mobile working anywhere. This may because you are travelling whilst working or because you are a road warrior. Either way the tools are essentially the same but the outcome varies wildly dependant upon what you are capable of.
1. Smartphone with tethering / hotspot capability
With a Smartphone that is capable of tethering it can provide you with much needed internet access whilst away from home or near to a WIFI hotspot. For most circumstances 3G is good enough although if the deals are good then you may wish to enter into a 4G scheme. There are still times when you need to be able to make old fashioned phone calls or send regular text messages. It is for that reason that I consider the smartphone as the number one most essential device for mobile working.
Also your Smartphone is also the best camera you are likely to carry with you so don’t forget that it is great for taking visual notes of things and dropping them into apps like Evernote or Google Keep.
2. Tablet
Dispense with paper and read everything on your tablet. If you are on the train, in the air or driving about a tablet can be your best friend providing much of the functionality of your Smartphone but with the added bonus of a larger screen for more comfortable experience. I like to use mine for playback of Audible audio books and run the SatNav function in my car. It also is my Spotify player holding my favourite offline playlists as mobile working should be fun.
3. Laptop
Phones and Tablets are brilliant for 80% of most work tasks but you’ll probably need to rely on a laptop for more detailed work. The screen, keyboard and mouse arrangement is great for spreadsheet and database manipulation which mobile working tends to depend upon. There will come a point in time where a laptop is no longer essential but for many information workers that time hasn’t yet arrived. This is especially true when you are collaborating with others as tools like Microsoft Office really require a full laptop experience to be able to get the most out of them.
4. Bag
The bag is somewhere to stash your laptop, tablet and the various adapters you need to make everything work together. This is something that you can use to display a bit of personality or keep things nice and minimal. I’d suggest looking beyond standard laptop bags as there’s nothing that screams steal me more than a bag that looks like it is holding an expensive laptop.
My perfect setup
I’m currently heavily dependant upon the Apple eco-system for getting things done so rely on my 2012 Macbook Air and iPad Mini as main input devices and flit between using an iPhone 4 and Nexus 4. I would have completely gone over to the Nexus 4 if it could work with my Bluetooth car kit but have kept the iPhone going for this very reason.
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