Load Shedding and Your Career: Staying Productive During Power Cuts

Load shedding is a reality for South African workers. Whether you work from home or in an office, here's how to stay productive and protect your career during power cuts.

Planning Around Load Shedding

Use apps to track your schedule:

• EskomSePush — the most popular load shedding app
• City Power or municipal apps for your area
• Set calendar reminders for upcoming outages

Plan your high-focus work for when power is available. Schedule calls and video meetings outside of load shedding windows.

Power Solutions for Home Workers

Affordable options:

• Portable power stations (from R2,000-R10,000) — can power a laptop for 4-8 hours
• UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) — keeps your router and laptop running during short outages
• Car charger for your laptop — a free backup if you have a vehicle
• Charge all devices fully before load shedding starts

Investment options:

• Solar panels with battery storage — long-term savings
• Inverter systems — whole-home backup
• Generators — reliable but noisy and require fuel

Internet During Load Shedding

Your fibre router goes down with the power. Solutions:

• Mini UPS for your router (from R500)
• Mobile hotspot from your phone
• Prepaid data SIM as backup
• Co-working spaces with backup power (many in Joburg, Cape Town, Durban)

Communication with Your Employer

Be proactive:

• Share your load shedding schedule with your team
• Communicate in advance if you'll be offline
• Suggest flexible hours to work around outages
• Over-deliver when power is available to make up for downtime

Productive Offline Activities

When the power goes out, you can still:

• Plan and outline projects on paper
• Read industry-related books or printed articles
• Make phone calls (while your phone has charge)
• Brainstorm ideas and strategies
• Organise your notes and to-do lists
• Network via WhatsApp or phone calls

For Job Seekers

• Don't let load shedding cause you to miss application deadlines — submit early
• Inform interviewers about potential power issues before virtual interviews
• Have a backup location for important video calls (friend's house, coffee shop, library)
• Download job descriptions and company info for offline review

Load shedding is frustrating, but the professionals who adapt and plan ahead will always come out on top.