5 Essential iPad Apps for the Work From Home Parent

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I’m a cliché. A 30-something mom, with two kids at home, for whom “the thought of not having a flexible schedule bums me out.” So, I took control of my life and joined the ranks of the self-employed, giving up my secure, corporate job in journalism to become a freelance writer.

In my experience, one thing has made this possible: my iPad. Today’s technological advances are a game-changer for parents that work from home. Tablets and smartphones afford the flexibility to keep on top of your work from anywhere, something every parent knows is essential when you combine active children with an unpredictable schedule.

The following apps have made the iPad indispensable to my workflow during times I couldn’t be at my desk, and, as a bonus, my ally in managing my family of four.

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8 Tech Tools for Taking Control of Tax Time - Yahoo Finance

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The first time I did my own taxes I almost fainted. I owed Uncle Sam $475.34. To my 24-year-old self, that was a fortune. What had I done wrong? Why was I being punished? Once I got over the shock, I sought out some expert advice and came away with two mandates: Get educated about which tax breaks you are entitled to and get organized. Every year since, I’ve received a substantial check from Uncle Sam.

While you’ll have to seek out a much more number-friendly person than myself for tax advice, if you’re still emptying a shoebox of receipts come tax time, I’ve got some great tech tools for taking control of tax time and keeping you organized year-round. After all, there’s no use throwing everything in that shoebox and then panicking on April 14. Use some, or all of the following apps on your smartphone and tablet every day this year and you (or your accountant) will be as cool as a cucumber come April 15.

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Essential Tech Tools for Telecommuting

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Telecommuting is fast becoming part of the mainstream workforce.  If you’re considering a career change that allows telecommuting or planning to implement a remote workflow into your current job, these tech tools will help make cutting the office cord work for you, and – more importantly – for your employer.

A Tablet Turns the World Into Your Office

Thanks to technology, the choice is no longer between a germ-ridden communal office and the isolation of a home office. With a tablet, today’s telecommuter can work from anywhere there’s a really good WiFi or LTE signal. Hooked up to the office via a remote access program such as GoToMyPC or LogMeIn, a tablet can free you from a desk 90 percent of the time. Depending on your office eco-system, the choice is likely between Apple’s iPad, which works far better as a productivity device than it was ever intended to do, and Microsoft’s Surface 2, which, when equipped with LTE in early 2014, looks set to become the darling of telecommuters everywhere.

Read the whole post on @Work: A Career Blog. 

How to work from the beach, or anywhere you need to be

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Technology has transformed telecommuting from a drab agoraphobic life, where your cat and your pajamas are your only creature comforts, into a multi-tasking, jet-setting lifestyle whose only tie is to a strong data connection. Whether you’re running your coffee-roasting business from a smartphone while traversing the globe in search of the perfect bean or you just don’t want to have to pull your kids away from their sandcastle to go sign off on that proof, it is possible to cut the office cord and maintain your productivity and professionalism.

When I said goodbye to the cramped office where I worked as a magazine editor for 8 years and dragged my family of four cross-country to Charleston, South Carolina, all it took was a few pieces of hardware and a lot of organization to enable me to write, edit and produce the magazine sans office. And yes, some of that work was done on a beach.

Read the whole post at under30ceo.com here.