Different Ways to Work Faster when Your Internet Connection is Slow

When it comes to the “information superhighway”, we’ve been in the fast lane for years.

But while we take our fast Internet speed for granted, there are many situations in which a slow connection is a problem. You might be using a computer in another part of the world, or trying to connect wirelessly while travelling. Your computer’s health can contribute to a slow connection too: spyware and viruses, add-on programs, and the amount of memory and hard disk space the computer has can all affect your connection speed.
With all of these potential scenarios, it’s good to know a few tricks to keep you productive when your connection is slow:

1. Compress your e-mail
Reducing your e-mail file sizes can help you send them more quickly. When sending large or multiple files, use a compression tool like WinZip. And if you’re sending an e-mail to multiple people, try creating a distribution list instead of listing each recipient separately – this is faster and more efficient. Finally, you can reduce your e-mail file size by ensuring your e-mail signature doesn’t contain any graphics, videos, stylised fonts or other content.

2. Work offline if you can
Working offline can help spare you the pain and frustration of a slow connection. And there are lots of tasks you can do without being online; for example, you can use an RSS reader to download articles for offline reading. For offline webmail, install an e-mail client such as Mozilla Thunderbird to download your messages for offline reading and responding (it actually has a built-in RSS reader as well). Outlook users can work offline using Cached Exchange Mode, which stores a copy of your mailbox on your computer.

If there is a web page you frequently reference for information, you can save it to your computer rather than load it over and over again. Here’s how to save a web page in Internet Explorer:

• 1. Go to the Web page you want to save.
• 2. On the File menu, click Save As.
• 3. In the Save As type drop-down menu, select Web page, complete.
• 4.  Click Save.

3. Block or disable unnecessary content
Web pages that contain heavy graphics or videos take longer to load, so turning them offcan speed your Internet browsing. Here’s how to disable these elements in Internet Explorer:

1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. In the Internet Options dialogue box, click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Settings box, scroll down to the Multimedia section. Clear the following boxes:

• a. Play animations in Web pages
• b. Play sounds in Web pages
• c. Play videos in Web pages

You might also want to install an application that blocks annoying, bandwidth-consuming ads that make pages load more slowly.

4. Use tabbed browsing
Tabbed browsing doesn’t just reduce clutter on your desktop, it also helps you work more efficiently with a slow connection. When browsing through multiple pages, click your mouse scroll wheel or Control/Command click to open up each page in a new tab. This allows you to read one page while waiting for others to load, saving you time. You can also open a number of pages in multiple tabs, then disconnect and read offline.

While a slow connection can be annoying, you can help reduce frustration – and boost productivity – by knowing how to make your online activities more efficient. These tips should help you get more done, even when the Internet doesn’t move as fast as you do!

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