Work Smarter From Home With Windows 10

Working from home takes some getting used to, and among the hardest things is to develop self-discipline to work. It's important to approach working from home in the right way and with the right tools or you risk being incredibly unproductive. While the tools you need will vary depending on the precise nature of your work, there are some programs and options that will apply to most people.

Here we have brought together some features of Windows 10 that are helpful.

1. Keep things separate with virtual desktops

Some of us are predominantly used to external monitors and separating our views, windows and work assignments/projects between our laptop screen and external monitor. Below features and options will come handy to achieve the same on a single screen. Get used to it and it does come very handy. 

Press [Windows]+[Ctrl]+[D] to create a new virtual desktop.

And [Windows]+[Ctrl] + [Arrow keys (<- or ->)] to move between them. 

Press [Windows]+[Tab] to access Task View which include virtual desktops at the top of the screen. And you can shift different open windows/apps to different desktops by selecting and adding them. 

2. Divide Screen for Multiple Windows and Apps. 

Pressing Windows Key + Left Arrow makes open window fill up the left half of the screen. Again, pressing up or down key makes it occupy 1/4th half of the screen

Windows Key + Right Arrow makes open window fill up the right half of the screen.

3. Use Focus Assist to avoid distractions

There are more distractions at home, so it makes sense to do whatever you can to stay focused. Windows 10 includes Focus Assist which can be used to limit the number of notifications that are displayed, hopefully helping you to stay on track. You can search for Focus Assist from Search Menu and configure the same as per your need. Click the notification button at the far right of the taskbar, and click the Focus Assist icon to toggle between Alarms mode, Priority alerts mode, or turning it off.

4. Use cloud storage to share files and also as Backup

There will almost certainly be times when you need to work with others collaboratively, even when you're working from home. This will often mean sharing files with co-workers, and while you can email files back and forth, it's much easier to use something like Microsoft One Drive /Google Drive. Not only can you store files in the cloud and share them with people, but you can also edit files online, and even collaboratively edit at the same time Word, Excel, One Note and Power Point. It also keeps your files safe and can be accessed from any device.