Make Remote Work Work For You
Part 1: Stick to a Schedule
Stick to a schedule: With remote work comes much more freedom than in-office work. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a consultant, or a full-time employee, staying on track with tasks and deadlines can be difficult. Here are some tips for remote work that will help you.
With remote work comes much more freedom than in-office work. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a consultant, or a full-time employee, staying on track with tasks and deadlines can be difficult.
Find Your Ideal Schedule
While this might not be an option for employees expected to be online at a specific time each day, consultants and entrepreneurs have more flexibility in creating their schedules.
Are you a morning person? Nothing is stopping you from logging in at 6:00am and ending your 8-hour day at 2:00pm. Or you’re a night owl and you’d rather work until 2:00am so you can sleep in late. Meetings and deadlines aside, no rules determine when work needs to get done.
If your job allows it, you can even break up your day into two or three chunks. Working from 8:00 am until 12:00 pm and then again from 5:00 pm until 9:00 pm might alleviate a mid-afternoon slump.
Set Goals for Yourself
Remote work often takes a great deal of self-discipline and self-regulation. Projects can be lengthy with numerous steps and little communication from clients before the turnaround. Set monthly objectives, weekly goals, and daily to-do lists to keep yourself on track.
Take a few minutes to plan out your goals at the end of the day or the beginning of a new day. Even if this is just a quick list of a few tasks you’d like to accomplish, gaining alignment around the day ahead will help you stay on track.
For the old-school among us, physical planners are still a valuable resource. Sometimes the act of physically jotting down tasks and checking them off when complete brings joy. Use your planner in tandem with software to collaborate with your team and keep yourself accountable.
Enhance Productivity with Time Blocking
Once you have set your daily, weekly, and monthly goals, take those task lists and insert them into your calendar. If you share your calendar with your team or clients, you might find that your time fills up with meetings, leaving little time to complete necessary tasks.
Just as others block off your calendar with meetings and priorities, schedule your day out to leave plenty of time to get work done.
For example:
9:00-10:30 – Meet with client
10:40-12:00 – Create a project plan
12:00-1:00 – Flextime
1:00-2:00 – Out of Office
2:00-2:30 – Meet with team
2:40-4:00 – Create a template
4:00-5:00 – Draft cover page and cover letter
Time blocking will allow you to stay focused and productive for set amounts of time every day and dissuade distractions from unplanned meetings or calls.
Are you new to remote work?
Or perhaps you’re a remote worker struggling to maintain a schedule and an air of professionalism? Don’t worry; as a consulting company with an entirely remote workforce, we’ve picked up some tips along the way.
Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash