Tips for Working Outside While Working from Home

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If you're still working from home — maybe your office is still closed, or you don't feel comfortable returning yet — you may be getting tired of being inside those four walls all the time, so today we're bringing you tips for working outside while working from home.

(We rounded up the pros and cons to different possible “work spaces” inside your home a few weeks ago!)

In the Northeast, where I live, it hasn't been very long that we've consistently had nice enough weather to work outdoors — but if you're in a warmer spot and can share some tips in the comments, please do!

If you haven't gone back to the office yet, what are your best outdoor work-from-home tips? Have you been mostly working inside or outside during the pandemic? 

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Here are our tips for working outside while working from home: 

Protect Yourself from the Sun 

Definitely don't skip this section! We haven't talked about sunglasses for a long, long time (since this post, way back in Kat's anonymous days!), so maybe we're due for a roundup… We did discuss the best online glasses stores a few years back, and you can find a ton of great sunglasses online, of course.

In the meantime, this guide from the American Optometric Association provides tips for buying sunglasses that will protect your eyes. (Even if you wear contacts with built-in UV protection, it's best to also wear sunglasses.) Polarized lenses typically make it difficult to see your laptop screen, unfortunately — so if you can't work in the shade, try increasing the contrast on your screen, or use a special screen protector (for example, from NuShield). 

Consider a wide-brimmed sun hat to protect your face and neck. Kat featured this reader-recommended hat from Wallaroo in a Coffee Break post a couple of years ago, and we did a Weekend Wednesday post a few years ago on summer hats.

Don't forget sunscreen! In a past post, Kat recommended this sunscreen stick from Neutrogena as well as a few other options, and I'm also a Neutrogena fan — I've used their Clear Face line for years.

If you're spending a lot of time doing work outdoors this summer, you might also want to consider UPF clothing, such as reader favorite Mott50. (Here's a guide from Wirecutter.)

If you don't want to commit to something expensive, a couple of colors of this UPF-30 tee from REI are on sale for only $15 right now. 

FYI: Speaking of the sun, the jury's still out on whether Vitamin D can help prevent COVID-19.

{related: the best women's weekend t-shirts}

Stay Hydrated 

Don't wait to get thirsty and then have to go inside for water — have a bottle of water handy from the beginning. To make sure it stays cold for more than 10 minutes in the heat, use an insulated bottle and/or put a mostly-full water bottle in the freezer before you go outside, and let the ice melt as the day goes by. (Leave room for the water to expand as it freezes, of course.)

In past Coffee Break posts, Kat recommended this stainless steel bottle from Vmini, and I wrote about my favorite glass bottle, which is from Syndicate.

To get yourself to drink more water while you're working, try these seven ideas from NBC News' health editor — or try Kat's recent suggestion of “unicorn juice.” This is also a great opportunity to use your SodaStream, if you have one. (Here are Kat's tips for what to use it for.) 

Recreate Your Office Outside

You might not be quite as comfortable outdoors as you are while working in your home office, but a few key things can make your outdoor workspace more pleasant. To extend your internet access outdoors, check out the WiFi products from Orbi, which are made by Netgear. The “Find My Orbi” tool on the company's website asks five quick questions to determine what product is right for you.

If all else fails — or if you simply want a cheaper option — use your mobile phone's hotspot. Just be sure to keep an eye on your data usage, or this option won't be “cheaper” at all!

A few other things that can be useful outdoors: a clipboard (to keep papers from blowing away), a Bluetooth keyboard (a favorite of Kat's), a lap desk, a portable, collapsible table, a memory foam cushion, and/or a folding chair.

Tip #4 for Working Outdoors While Working From Home: Keep Pests Away

Insects of all kinds are one big reason you'll rarely find me working outside… To brave a buggy yard, you can go the “natural” route, with citronella candles, DEET-free bug repellents, a USB fan or battery-powered fan (particularly for mosquitos, which are weak fliers), bug-repellent bracelets, and so on. Keeping standing water out of your yard (even very small amounts!) will help keep mosquitoes away, too.

Sadly, as Consumer Reports found, a lot of those “natural” products aren't very effective. Alternately, you can get serious and use strategies like applying DEET-containing repellent, wearing clothing treated with permethrin, and setting up DynaTrap insect traps.

(I'll share my own foolproof strategy for dealing with wasps, or any yellow-and-black bugs that could potentially be wasps: Run away while looking very silly to all bystanders.) 

Psst: these are some of our favorite ways to deter insects and prevent insect bites:

collage of 11 products to prevent insect bites; see caption for details
Pictured above: 1) Dynatrap 2) Bug lights 3) small fan 4) Thermacell 5) repellant bands 6) Sawyer Products Insect Repellant 7) repellant stickers 8) Cortizone cream 9) The Bug Bite Thing 10) StingEze 11) Westmore Body Coverage Perfector (also this Sally Hansen one, and this Dermablend one has SPF as well!)

Readers, share your best tips for working outdoors while working from home! What's the weather like right now where you live?

9 Comments

  1. I just ordered a shade umbrella for the backyard and I’m looking forward to doing part of my workday outside! A lot of my colleagues take their team video calls from their back yards.

  2. I just bought a WiFi extender (see Wirecutter) to make sure I had good signal on my back deck. Made it possible to work out there for the first time!

  3. Highly recommend Japanese or Korean sunscreens as they are more cosmetically elegant and comfortable. Biore is a popular option and so is missha aqua gel

  4. Does anyone have problems being able to see their laptop screen when working outside? I would love to work outside but can’t use my laptop because the screen isn’t visible in the sunlight!!

    1. I was just reading another article about this and they recommended a shade for your laptop. I just did a search on Amazon for “shade for laptop outside” and it brought up options at several different price points. I have no experience with using this but thought I would share.

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