How to get work done on the go, without breaking the bank on mobile data.
Whether you’re a gig worker, freelancer, part of the #WFH crowd, you’ll know that you can get your job done anywhere, any time. You don’t need to be stuck working in one place. If you want a change of scenery or need to work on the move, all you need is the right tech and the know-how to use it smartly.
Step 1: Get Connected
Start by signing up for a data plan, which gives you a fixed amount of data for a set period. Vodacom offers several options.
If you’re looking for a cheat code to exceptional value while working from home, Prepaid LTE data bundles have you covered. With Anytime and Night Owl data you can stay productive by day and still have data to unwind after hours. Providing a range of prices, data options and validity periods there’s a bundle that fits your routine.
Another option is a prepaid or contract monthly bundle, which renews monthly and gives you a fixed data allocation. If the data runs out, you’ll pay out‑of‑bundle (OOB) rates unless you disable OOB billing.
Then we also offer short-term, once‑off bundles that end when the data is used up or when they expire.
Step 2: Stay Connected… Without Blowing Your Data
If you’re working on a laptop, you’ll have to use your smartphone to create a mobile data hotspot. To connect to the internet directly, consider investing in a data dongle. Tethering to a mobile hotspot is easy and convenient, but it can chow through your data if you don’t manage it wisely. Switch off your laptop’s automatic software updates, disable data-heavy background processes like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.
Remember, hotspot data usage depends entirely on what the connected device is doing. Anything your laptop, tablet or other phone downloads or streams will count against your data plan.
Step 3: Get Connected… For Free!
It’s tempting to think that the best data connection is the one you don’t pay for. And sure, your local coffee shop WiFi may cost little more than a latte… but public WiFi is notoriously prone to hackers and scammers. Give yourself a layer of protection by using a VPN, which creates a secure ‘tunnel’ between your device and the internet. This hides your IP address and encrypting your Internet traffic. Options include NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Surfshark and many others.
Step 4: Keep In Touch, But Stay Focused
If you work with a team, you’ll need to stay in regular contact with those colleagues through messaging services like Teams or Slack (or just the office WhatsApp group). Sometimes, though, all those notifications can be super distracting when you’re trying to focus on a task. Set your status to “Away” or post a message informing colleagues that you’ll be muting your notifications and that they should call if there’s an emergency.
Step 5: Get The Work Done
Tick off your tasks as you complete them, by using an old-school pen and notepad. Alternatively, use an app like Todoist, TickTick, ClickUp or the simple-but-effective Google Keep. It feels good to feel productive, especially when you’re working on the go.
