Working Remotely: 4 Steps to Organize and Motivate Yourself – Those who love remote work and those who were forced to switch to it face similar difficulties. Let’s find out how to make working from home productive and enjoyable.
Table of Contents
Finding the Pros and Accept the Cons of Remote Work
Remote work has both advantages and disadvantages. It’s important to find what you’re willing to put up with for the pros.
Pros:
- Working from home adds a couple extra hours of time that would normally be spent commuting.
- Remote work helps save money. You don’t spend money on trips to the office and meals out of the house, and you can choose housing in more remote areas from the center.
- You can combine work and household chores at home.
- There is no need to dress according to a dress code at home.
- Introverts are stressed when working among other people, while working alone is beneficial to them.
Cons:
- Lack of personal interaction with colleagues.
- Possible loss of motivation.
- Constant anxiety because of the inability to organize the work schedule.
- Complication of some work processes due to the inability to solve the issue in person.
- “Noise” in work chats.
Arranging Your Workspace
In the office, everything is at hand, and everything adjusts to the working mood. At home, it can be difficult to concentrate if a baby is crying behind the wall, your mother is watching TV, or a partner is offering you to play at the Mason Slots casino mobile app. Whatever the living conditions, you should allocate yourself a place that is intended only for work. And let there be no access to it neither children nor other family members. This way you can focus on business and not get distracted. Alternatively, try working in co-working spaces, cafes, or libraries.
Lack of conditions is one of the main reasons why people refuse to work remotely. If you work remotely, it’s important to set up a place to be productive.
Finding a Way to Communicate with Colleagues
Most young professionals who work remotely feel lonely. Working away from the office reduces the development of communication skills, negatively affects motivation levels, and doesn’t contribute to professional development. This leads to higher levels of stress and anxiety as employees stop seeing colleagues as a reference point, don’t feel part of a team, and lose sight of their career path.
Reduced social contact is a source of stress for many people. If earlier during a break it was possible to talk about some personal topics, drink tea, and exchange news, at home, there is usually no one to do it with.
Try to bring quality communication back into remote working:
- Arrange for colleagues to call you in the morning or in the middle of the workday to have short debriefs and check in on how things are going;
- Meet at weekly meetings in the office, go out to corporate events and coffee shops;
- Start an informal chat room where you can just talk and blow off steam by discussing work difficulties.
Planning and Following a Plan
A common problem faced by remote workers is the blurring of boundaries between work and leisure. At home, there is a great temptation to interrupt for an extra cup of coffee. And all work matters are left for the late evening, when you should be resting and devoting time to hobbies or entertainment. This way of life leads to a constant sense of urgency, increases anxiety, and prevents full recovery. As a result, the days become indistinguishable from each other, there is no time to think about goals and personal development, and family relationships can deteriorate. The household, as a rule, also suffers.
You don’t have to sit at your laptop from 9 to 5. You need to divide your time into large blocks: let your day have room for household chores (if this way of distracting yourself suits you), a full meal, socializing with your family, and work.
Within the work blocks, divide tasks by importance: complex and urgent tasks should be done in the morning, when you have energy and are less likely to be distracted, and the rest can be done in the afternoon.
Build simple tasks around coffee breaks. You’ll have time for a few distractions, but doing the smaller tasks will help you get in the mood to work faster after your break.
Work on a timer. Use one of the time management systems: in a remote job, when you’re not keeping up with the team, it’s important not to fall out of sync.
