The very idea of the “workplace” is being redefined. Many companies are adopting policies of flexible work hours, work from home options, and the ability to bring your own device to work. Working in this way allows employees the flexibility to work how and when they choose and - most importantly - where they choose.

This type of flexibility is embedded into our culture at Blue Beyond Consulting. The flexibility of being able to essentially work from anywhere has led me to some interesting places in the past few years. From the mountains of Lake Tahoe to my hometown on the South Carolina coast, the idea that my office can be anywhere is a true gift. 

But - with this gift comes great responsibility. It’s about staying connected, staying productive, and keeping up with the “water cooler” talk even though you aren’t physically present. Here are three tips I’ve found useful for staying connected while on the go:

• Really get to know your smartphone. Your smartphone likely has features you didn't know existed - particularly features designed to help you on the go. The hands-free capability and the new landscape calendar views for the iPhone have changed my life while away from my computer or on a commute.
• Keep boundaries. You have to find ways to separate work from home - particularly if you are in a home office the majority of the time. I've found setting ‘office hours’ for myself is critical. Even when I’m working from home, I try to save the laundry and dinner planning for after hours. Breaks here and there are critical, but don’t plan on doing household chores during the workday - and the opposite is true when the evening comes.
• Utilize cloud-based services. Tools like Box.net or Google Docs are cloud-based services that enable you to access your documents across devices. I’m constantly toggling between my laptop, smartphone and iPad so it's critical for me to be able to access my files from anywhere.