Working remotely may sound like many opportunities to travel the world, spend time in beautiful coffee shops, and just get on with your life without being attached to a specific schedule.
Unfortunately, it’s the reality that things are upside down, and many companies rely on remote workers just as much as they do on offline teams. Besides, many startups don’t work at the office for 100% of their time but still need productivity metrics and revenue to come to life. So, on the other side of things, how does a remote position affect you? How can you make it work for you and show great results?
We’re ready to share some useful tips to get you started. Let’s dive in!
Plan a Day in Advance
The most popular jobs of the future are connected to the remote environment. But no matter if the job is about AI education or IT services, it still needs a solid organization to achieve great results.
The 3-hour Netflix binge before bed sounds great unless you have to start working at 9 A.M. Many studies show that our willpower and productivity get to their peaks in the morning; therefore, leaving the most complicated tasks “for later” may play a tricky game with you.
Adjust Your Work Environment
Make your own “home office” where you can feel the vibes of inspiration coming around. Well, of course, that’s an exaggeration, but how you arrange your space means a lot for your business day. If you feel bored at home, use a coffee shop or a co-working space. See how changing an environment affects your ability to concentrate and follow up with the other team members.
Separate Work from a Personal Space
Don’t think working from home permits you to do tasks while walking out your dog or preparing food. It’s still a job with a paycheck, and the employers need you to be available during the agreed hours. Use your bedroom to rest, the living room for entertainment, and your home office for work. Thus, you’ll set the frame for improving productivity and won’t expect to nap or watch TV while working.
Connect with Peers Regularly
Remote work can make you feel like no living and breathing people are talking to you. Well, let’s prove you wrong because somebody on the other side of the screen may feel just as isolated as you do. To make the online job more humanized, you can start all meetings with personal check-ins, dedicate some time to ask how everyone’s doing, or send some warming pictures into a group chat. Who said you couldn’t share your Christmas tree or memories from your last vacation in Switzerland? That’s what good colleagues do — they connect!
Track Your Productivity
The science of management has a very vivid principle: what can be measured can be improved. Thus, if you’re aware of how many hours you work and the number of tasks you’ve completed, you can see the weak spots and improve your performance.
You may use the apps to boost your progress or go an old-fashioned way and create Excel spreadsheets. You can even connect a time-tracking app to your Google sheet to automatically log each day’s time.
If you’re feeling less productive, here are some popular techniques people share over the internet:
• Pomodoro: the idea is to break a big project into fixed sessions (25 or 50 minutes each) with breaks in between. It helps to stay mentally fresh and follow deadlines.
• GTD (Getting Things Done): make a list of things you need to finish today and prioritize the important ones.
• ABC & Pareto Principle: divide the tasks into three groups — A (urgent), B (important), and C (neither urgent nor important). After that, make sure you tackle those tasks that require your most attention.
Instead of focusing on one method for your work accomplishments, try testing the different time-management techniques to find the best match.
Don’t Forget About Mental Health
The main perk (and the main evil) of remote work is the momentum to stay at home. You don’t worry about the weather; you’re in comfortable clothing and live on takeaway food.
But sometimes, you’re no longer satisfied and need to connect with the outside world. As a result, you fall into a trap, and suddenly your mental health is the main victim of a ” remote work crime.”
Is there any way to prevent burnout? Try these simple methods:
• Take short walks
• Find time to exercise
• Drink a lot of water
• Meditate
• Take a break and breathe deeply
Use remote work to obtain more healthy habits. First, ensure you don’t drive yourself to exhaustion. Then, treat your work as a career, not a lifestyle, and you’ll be happier and healthier!
Put Willpower to a Good Use
Willpower is something people talk about a lot but rarely understand. It is a finite resource: you start a day with a limited number of “willpower points,” and as soon as you spend all of them, you’re prone to temptations and distractions.
Here’s something that may work out well to spend your energy wisely:
• The principle of less resistance: instead of resisting the urge to check your social media, try blocking these sites altogether during work hours
• Re-design your environment: make sure your laptop is on, prepare a “To Do” list, and open the primary work tools (Google Calendar, Google Docs, etc.)
Personalizing your work environment will make it easier to fight off distractions.
What’s Next?
Figuring out how to organize remote work is tough. First, you must set up your own home office and ensure it’s high functioning.
There are many ways to boost your productivity, but the main principle is separating your workspace from your personal life. It will help to avoid burnout and enjoy the momentum of working from home.
