Studying or working from home, or mostly known as “telecommuting,” can be beneficial for families as it enables flexibility of work schedule, eliminates daily commute, increases productivity and promotes work-life balance. Technology and the internet now make it easier than ever to work and study from home, as there’s an app or website that can help.

For parents working at home, there are also many ways to support your kids and enable them to have fun in their home-schooling. Here’s what you’ll need to successfully work from or study at home:

Free apps for virtual meetings 

You don’t need to be together in one place to have meetings! If you’re working from home, you would need a reliable online tool for your scheduled virtual meetings. Software like Google Hangouts, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and even Facebook Messenger allow you to hold meetings over the internet, with options to enable video, virtual presentation, and convenient file-sharing as well.

 Free apps to help your productivity

There are also specific apps that are convenient and safe for file-sharing. You’ve got sites like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, WeTransfer, and Dropbox to easily share large and confidential documents. 

You can also take advantage of free apps for notetaking, calendar, timers, and to-do lists that you can conveniently sync on your laptops and mobile phones. These will help you be organized, improve your time management skills, and get more things done.

Using these apps will help you stay focused at work and lead a productive and balanced lifestyle for your family at home. 

Free access to important government and news sites 

In light of the COVID-19 global pandemic, we need to stay updated and informed more than ever while working or studying at home. Moreover, these sites are important for daily viewing to get the latest news and credible information:

Government websites

• COVID-19 Tracker (ncovtracker.doh.gov.ph)
• National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (www.ndrrmc.gov.ph)
• Philippine Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
• Department of Health (www.doh.gov.ph)

News outlets

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• ABS-CBN News (news.abs-cbn.com)
• BusinessWorld (www.bworldonline.com)
• CNN Philippines (cnnphilippines.com)
• GMA News Online (www.gmanetwork.com/news)
• News5 (news.tv5.com.ph)
• Philippine Star (www.philstar.com)

 Free educational tools at home

Of course, the opportunity to learn, grow and discover new skills does not stop when working at home. Whether studying different languages, trying on new recipes, or learning how to make videos or graphics online, there are a lot of online resources that you can explore. 

YouTube is the best place to start, with billions of videos available on just about every topic. Of course, these include tutorials for anything you want to know. You can also listen to your favorite podcasts online for free. 

For families with kids who are home-schooling now, this is the best time to enjoy free audiobooks and ebooks online. Amazon-owned Audible is now offering free-to-listen catalogue of children’s stories including literary classics, fairy tales, and a lot more for pre-schoolers, elementary, tweens, and teens. In fact, all these are available in six different languages. 

You can also be creative with fun and educational activities for your kids. Now you can explore hundreds of museums around the world from the comfort of your home. Google Street View’s Arts and Culture section now offers free virtual tours and exhibits of different museums and galleries worldwide including Tour Eiffel in Paris, British Museum in London, Taj Mahal in India, and Lizares Mansion in Iloilo. The National Museum of the Philippines also offers a 360 degree virtual tour on their website.