Moving through Unprecedented Times

What has occurred in our country during 2020 has truly been unprecedented. With the onslaught of a worldwide pandemic, some things have dramatically changed – like how we interact with one another. And, unfortunately, other things have not changed – like the apparent corruption and poor leadership throughout the government resulting in a death count we could never have imagined.

The United States being number one on the planet for COVID-19 related deaths is far from our country’s proudest accomplishment. Because the pandemic hit us in an election year it was highly politicized. Unfortunately, it appears science took a back seat to politics. That choice by Washington fueled a truly dangerous situation – as can be attested to by the number of COVID-19 related deaths resulting.

While we are always helpless to change the past – we are always still in control of our immediate response to most stimuli in our daily lives. To those eternal optimists out there, one silver lining may be worth mentioning: The number of individuals who chose to go out and get into business on their own increased. While probably mostly due to severe economic pressure, regardless, they made the leap!

Proud to be Helping new Businesses

We at CharlesWorks are in the business of getting entrepreneurs online. We strongly empathize with all those individuals who – through zero fault of their own – lost their jobs as a result of this COVID-19 pandemic.

We have been so sorry to see so many businesses go under so far.

So, we at CharlesWorks are more proud than ever about the work we do for people. Helping them to get their online presence! Fueling the hopes and aspirations of folks just trying to make a living! Helping them to strive toward being successful at whatever new endeavor they have sought to explore!

The new Remote Workplace

COVID-19 is dictating much of how we live our lives at this point. Most of us understand we are on the virus’s schedule – not ours. COVID-19 has dramatically changed lives in most communities.

Many attempt to work from home. Some are more fortunate as their work may be more conducive to this. Others can’t and must simply remain home to slow the spread of the disease.

Hopefully some of this info will increase your coping with remote working. I’ve worked remotely on occasion since starting my business in 1998. If there’s a way to get it done I’ve pretty much figured it out. Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list and is mostly common sense:

Pros

– You gain your travel time. The importance of this increases with the distance you had to travel to work.

– Travel to work expenses disappear. Gone is the commute wear and tear on your vehicle. Your gasoline cost goes down.

– Driving risks go away. No worrying about being in a hurry and getting a speeding ticket or worse yet having a fender bender. So your car insurance premiums aren’t at risk of going up.

Cons

– Internet service can be slow. During high Internet usage times there can be traffic bottlenecks similar to what happens on the roads. Most people have what’s called asymmetric access to the Internet. In a nutshell this means that information sent from your Internet connection goes away from your device much, much slower than the speed at which it arrives. In techie terms this means your upload is much faster than your download. An example of this is when you type a character on your keyboard and you can see the delay of it appearing on your screen. Add to that the fact that cable Internet service is affected by the number of people online. DSL service is affected by how far away from a connection point you are. Wireless service is even more susceptible to both factors.

– Self-starters do better. Most of us in business for ourselves understand this. We are used to being out on that limb keeping our businesses happening. We understand that working by oneself can take a great deal of focus. It is very easy to become distracted and lose focus. You may need to write out a schedule yourself. It is important that you start work on time and always perform as though you were in an office where others can observe you. Putting on that show for you is every bit as important as putting it on for the boss. And you’ll feel better for it.

– Home computers and laptops can be slow. In the office there may be better machines with more horsepower so to speak to get work done than a machine you are using at home. Be cognizant of things like the number of windows open in browsers, how many programs you have open, and so on. Sometimes spending the additional moments to open and close programs can result in far more productivity and less frustration over the course of a day.

Suggestions for improved productivity

– Separate functions among devices. Let’s say you are connecting to a remote computer. Running Internet based programs from the company workstation uses the Internet connection that the company is physically connected to. Many companies have what’s called symmetric access to the Internet which is faster and considerably more expensive than your home asymmetric service. In techie terms this just means your upload is the same as your download speed. If you have a good data plan on your phone then using your phone separately to look things up on Google or visit sites you need to will help keep your desktop running more smoothly. This is a way of performing what’s called “load balancing” to spread out use across different connections to keep everything running reasonably well.

– Get up and walk around. Not only will you feel a little better but it actually helps to be more productive. If you have multiple bathrooms in your home use the furthest one. It especially feels good for your eyes to look away from the screen on a regular basis.

Setting up your remote services is beyond our scope. However, we can help by referring you to local professionals who do exactly that sort of thing. Feel free to call us at 603-924-9867 and we’ll find a good, reliable local fit for you.

With a little determination, willpower and focus we will all get through this thing. The important piece of this right now is to not overburden our medical systems. Go to https://www.coronavirus.gov for the latest coronavirus (COVID-19) information.

Portfolio of Some Websites CharlesWorks Hosts

Just a note letting you know that we put CharlesWorks.it online. It contains a portfolio consisting of a small sample of the variety of sites hosted here at CharlesWorks in Peterborough NH.

There are a variety of website developers who choose to host with CharlesWorks.

One of our strengths in this regard is the ability to make custom server configuration changes to accommodate developers website development needs.

Another of our strengths is our familiarity with the northeast. Most of the professional web developers partnered with CharlesWorks know members the CharlesWorks staff and desire to keep the business local. Being based in the northeastern United States we always want to recommend our “neighbors” first when it will be best for the end website client.

Professional website developers who have chosen to partner with us are more aware of these differences than novice web developers. The professionals CharlesWorks partners with know they will receive the best support possible. CharlesWorks strives to make its professional web development partners look good to their clients.

 

Our Own Hosting Infrastructure

CharlesWorks is unique in the Monadnock area in having its own infrastructure right in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Additionally, CharlesWorks has backups spread about in other locations of the United States.

CharlesWorks is operated and manned by believers in the local economy. Every dollar sent off somewhere else lessens the local economic strength.

While CharlesWorks has clients on four continents, the bulk of its client base is in the northeastern United States. This allows CharlesWorks to connect its clients to each other. CharlesWorks associates also refer business to CharlesWorks web clients – another unique quality this company. In that regard, three of CharlesWorks associates are involved in BNI, an international referral organization. They make referrals to businesses and help other businesses grow.

Charles Oropallo, founder of CharlesWorks, has been quoted as saying, “If I can’t find a CharlesWorks web client that provides a particular product or service, I probably don’t need it.”