Throughout the past 12 years, I have spent my time in waiting rooms at hospitals and outpatient facilities. Sometimes, this involves hours of waiting for updates and has me out of the office. Since I typically need to focus on a task I can control in these situations, I’ve found bringing a work kit with me is very helpful. Sometimes, I’m stuck in a waiting room, sometimes in a patient room waiting for my husband to wake up from surgery or resting after one. Thank goodness most of those days are behind us, and now it’s simply waiting rooms in out-patient facilities. It’s so easy to be portable that I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned. For you frequent business travelers, this is a n0-brainer, but I thought it would be helpful for people suddenly thrown into the caregiving-yet-still-need-to-work situation.
Bring:
- As handy as the drive-thru and vending machines can be, bring your own water/beverages in a Hydroflask or similar – prevent spilling and buggies floating in the air from landing in your drink. It is easier to refill in the cafeteria.
- Easy, non-crumbly energy bars or containers of veggie snacks.
- GOOD, comfy headphones that connect to your phone and/or laptop. Bluetooth can be an issue.
- Space can be limited. Recently I didn’t have a lot of space, but had an outlet. I brought a phone charger.
- I love my extra portable screen from InnoView. It easily slips into my laptop case. Don’t forget the portable screen power device. The screen ties to my phone, so I don’t have to bring my full laptop set up when space is limited. I’m not a fan of one screen. I’m spoiled at home in my studio with three and use them all. Having two helps. We take it camping, too, so we can take longer trips.
- I’m also not a fan of trackpads. I can use them, but I prefer a mouse. Not always an option, so I suck it up and use the trackpad.
- If you get to be in the patient room, make sure you have your hotspot set up on your phone to toss movies to your portable screen to share them with your favorite patient.
- You may need to bring an extension cord, or power strip with surge protector – depending how many days you will be visiting or staying over.
- If you have advanced warning, consider downloading a couple of light movies, ebooks, and podcast episodes. I’ve found it’s a good time to rewatch webinars I signed up for but missed for whatever reason.
- Bring an extra set of headphones and a splitter so you can both listen without disturbing others. Bluetooth hasn’t worked for us trying this option as they both fight to be the “output” for the device. A hard connection with a splitter handles this.
- Check if you need adapters to split your headphones/earbuds, etc. Test before you need this to work, and keep the kit in a bag so it’s handy to grab in any quick situation.
- If you are doing work in a public situation – no different than airports and coffee shops – consider a VPN.
The non-business related list for longer stays:
- Deck of cards.
- Crossword books, coloring books, pens, or pencils.
- Notepad and two pens.
- Mints and gum – You are probably stressed, which is giving you terrible breath. You can also give them to your patient.
- A blanket if you will be there a long time. Your blanket is way more comforting and can take the chill off in the waiting or hospital rooms.
- Use a neck pillow if you have to nap while sitting up in a chair.
- Chapsticks for the patient, wipes, paperclips to hold stuff together, and a large envelope to keep everything organized.
- Staying overnight to be your patient’s guard and advocate? Bring that fresh change of clothes in a backpack to free up your hands, your own meds, toiletries, eye mask, and cozy socks.