So… Remote Work. I know what you’re thinking! No commute, pajamas every day and all the time in the world to do laundry.
Work remotely isn’t for everyone, not even for the most hardworking among us. But at some point, we all need to work from home, and it’s in those times we realize that work remotely isn’t as easy as we all might think. Remote work is like working at the boss level: everything is more difficult! Maintaining focus and a healthy work-life balance is a big task.
As a software-house and an outsourcing partner for companies around the world, part of our daily work is to collaborate remotely with multiple teams globally. Remote work is what we do, and we love it! So, here are a few tips to help you in this journey:
1. Start early and dress up
Sounds silly but, when you work from home, you feel like you have all the time in the world. But no. Your day has the same 24 hours as any other person. So, establish a routine as if you were leaving home: get up of bed early and get out of those pajamas! Did you know 61% of women and 53% of men who work remotely don’t get dressed in the morning?
Despite the idea of being in pajamas sounds satisfying, the truth is that it has a great impact on your productivity: psychologically, getting into “workwear” helps you get into work mode!
A simple step, yet crucial!
2. Find the perfect workspace
As I said before, a dedicated workspace can make or break (literally) you and your productivity!
Besides that, just like getting dressed, if you don’t separate your workspace from your relax space, your brain will trick you. Basically, your subconscious goes into relaxation mode through association. And now you’re ready to start working!!!
But, if you don’t have that dedicated workstation at home go out! Libraries, Starbucks or a coworking space could be the solution!
3. Keep a smart schedule
Once again, the secret is to help trigger the brain and remind him it’s time to work! No matter if you’re an early bird or a night owl, the most important is to set a wake-up time and define a schedule to start working, have lunch, and ending the day.
We all have that period of time when we are more productive. So, structure your routine around that! Don’t you know when you are most productive yet? This app will tell you.
4. Minimize distractions
When you work remotely, you can feel lonely. So, the first instinct is to keep as connected as possible.
And this is a good thing… to a certain point!
We all know that those pinging notifications can seriously impact on our productivity.
If you are like me, you can’t resist having a sneak peek. Every single time!
My advice? Turn on the “Do not disturb” mode! This is a wonderful feature that stops notifications, alerts, and calls from making any noise, vibration or lighting up the phone screen when the screen is locked. And better, you can activate exceptions by contact or frequency if you feel the need to stay connected to certain people! This feature is available for smartphones and even your laptop!
EXTRA-TIP: For every time you complete a task, reward yourself with a social time! That way you can take that much-needed break and catch up on what’s happening!
5. Plan your day in advance
It wasn’t me who said it, was the great Benjamin Franklin:
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
One perk of being home is being flexible. But when you have pre-setup to-list you can get more done in less time, instead of figuring out what you’ll do next. Try to schedule the day before, making it feel more official when you wake up the next day to get started on it.
Remote teams need to be motivated
When we work as a remote team, communication can be hard. But it’s that communication that helps us maintain focused and motivated. That’s why is so important to keep the communication lines open and collaborate as much as possible with your team. That’s what we do, here at Near Partner ?
To help us with this, we have many tools at our disposal. Here at Near Partner, we use Microsoft Teams, but other companies use Slack, Google Hangouts, HipChat, and even WhatsApp. Choose one and start communicating now! Keep a time slot on your calendar to talk to your team. And turn on the camera! We want to see people, facial expressions and emotions. ?
Wrapping up. Work remotely with a continuous dialogue helps team collaborate and, at the end of the day, do a better job!
What about you? What are the hacks you are using? Send us some tips!
