Working from home wasn’t novel when the pandemic hit, yet COVID-19 forced businesses globally to give remote work a real try. Two years later, employees have a new view of modern work. Many expect to work from home, at least part-time. If you’re “commuting” daily within your home, you’ll want to consider these easy upgrades for your home office.

First, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can save you a lot of stress. Although common in the business environment, homeowners may not have thought about one. A UPS allows your computer to keep running in the event of a power outage. Think of the UPS as a backup battery giving you a short window of energy to protect your data. They can also regulate voltage in the event of a power surge.

With a UPS, size typically matters: the bigger the battery, the more power it will store. So, consider what technology you’ll want to keep up and running and for how long.

Size can also matter with your computer monitor. Working on a laptop can be convenient, but the screen will be smaller. Setting up your home office with a wide monitor can lead to productivity gains. This is especially true for people who like to keep all their files and folders up on their desktops.

You can also reduce the time spent scrolling through open windows with a second monitor. That extra monitor may also save you from printing documents and cluttering your desktop with paper.

Improving work quality in the home office

The business environment is going digital. Do the same with a document scanner that handles many pages at once. Flatbed scanners can provide quality scans, but speed and quantity may matter more. Plus, once your documents are scanned, you’ll be able to search for information using keywords. Instead of poring over pages of text, you can go pour yourself another cup of coffee.

If you’re stuck at your desk once the workday starts, invest in a standing desk. There are many options that allow you to easily convert the desk from sitting to standing and back again. This can help your energy levels and reduce stress on your body from sitting in the same position all day.

Speaking of reducing physical stress, an ergonomic keyboard is another good investment. Plus, you may want to get yourself a better office chair. Back when your home office was a seldom-used space, sitting at an old dining room chair wasn’t a big deal. Now, though, you’ll want to do your body the kindness of getting a comfortable, supportive chair.

One more simple upgrade to consider: noise-cancelling headphones make it easier to focus on your work while dogs bark. You'll also avoid volunteering for extra work without realizing that was what your boss was saying while you were shushing a child.

You drop your computer in the bathtub, or your basement home office floods and the desktop is under water. Or you spill your tea across the keyboard. If any of this happens, you can guess right away that you’ll be dealing with water damage. Only it’s not always that obvious. Knowing the common signs to look for can help you diagnose water damage in your devices.

If you are right there when your computer is exposed to liquids, unplug it immediately and, if you can, remove the battery. Wet components can short-circuit and cause issues for your motherboard, hard drives, and more.

Still, you might not know immediately that water damage is to blame. You might live in an area with high humidity. Or maybe someone in the family watches Netflix while in a steamy bathroom. That's when you look for signs that there's moisture inside your computer.

Signs you can see yourself

Water spilled inside your keyboard can make keys or the trackpad stopped working. Even a few water droplets can cause the keyboard or trackpad to start responding to your touch erratically.

You might also experience screen issues. This depends on where the liquid penetrates your laptop. Look out for:

• images not displaying properly;
• pixel discoloration;
• a display that won’t turn on.

These are pretty obvious signs you need to get help. You might also see some discoloration on the outside of the computer. The white or green residue is not a good sign.

Another scary indicator? The computer won’t turn on at all. That suggests that internal components are damaged, and you’ll need to take action.

Signs that repair shops can see

Most people should not be opening up computers on their own. Even if you think there might have been water damage, it's safer to take the computer to a trained expert. That way, you won’t do more damage trying to see what’s wrong in the first place.

At a computer shop, the person doing the repairs will look inside for corrosion around connectors and your motherboard. They’ll be looking for that white or green residue you were hoping not to see on the exterior.

Another sign? The water damage indicator shows exposure to water or liquids. The indicator is a small device inside the computer that’s used by manufacturers to deny warranty coverage (despite the consumer’s protests the laptop never got wet).

What to do with a wet computer

Unplug it and if the battery is removable...take the battery out. Get help. The sooner you take a water-damaged computer in for repair, the more likely it can recover. Work with a professional IT repair shop to diagnose and repair your device issues.

We're here to help.  Call us today at 940-282-0290.