Prepare ahead - Don't wait till the lights go out to find out your laptop and smart phone battery was not fully charged. At the start of bad weather, charge every battery powered
gadget in your home.
Dim your screen - Most laptops, tablets and smartphones come with the ability to adjust the brightness level on your screen. Bring them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.
Cut down on programs running in the background. Shut down everything that isn't crucial when you're on battery. Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain your laptop battery. Remove or shut them off when you don't need to use them.
Don't charge devices like your iPod or smart phone with your laptop when you're running it on battery - that's a quick way to wipe out battery life on your laptop.
Hibernate not standby - Placing a laptop in standby mode doesn't save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC's state as it is, and completely shut itself down.
Don't multitask - Do one thing at a time when you're running on battery. This is actually also a great productivity tip. Both your laptop's battery and your own brain function best if you concentrate on only one task at a time. Go easy on the demands - passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than playing a DVD. If you've got a single battery charge - pick your priorities wisely.
Make them take turns. When the power does go out, choose your priorities and use one device at a time. Don't keep your tablet, smartphone and laptop all on at the same time. Line 'em up and use them in turns - you don't know whether the power will be back on in 5 minutes of 5 days!
