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How to Reach Maximum Productivity While Working Remotely

These days, 52% of people all over the world work remotely at least once a week. I am pretty sure you are one of them. The tendency is not going to vanish as both employers and employees acknowledge multiple benefits of the workstyle.

By Luther AbramsPublished 3 years ago 9 min read
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However, nothing can be 100% positive and of course, we face some challenges while working remotely. In this article, I am going to bring some major issues related to remote work into the spotlight and share my own recipes for thrashing them and taking productivity to the maximal level.

No Boundary Between Work and Personal Life

When you work from home it’s really difficult to keep a work-life balance. Most people do one and the same mistake - they don’t separate their work and personal life. As a result, everything is messed up. Our mind is confused, it tries to solve multiple different tasks from these opposite spheres at the same time. This inevitably leads to stress, dissatisfaction, and productivity decrease.

So, how can you build a solid barrier between work and private life?

Well, it will require some mental and physical effort. The problem is deeper than it seems. I mean, if you get out of bed and sit at the desk, this won’t make you concentrated immediately. You need to separate home and work in your mind first.

Playing associations

You can do it by playing associations with your memory. Remember what makes you feel at home: a smell of fresh mama’s bakery, a huge garden tree with a swing made for you by dad. ‘Home’ associations are different and unique for each person, however, the result of such a psychological session is more or less the same. You will feel safe and relaxed, you will feel at home.

Now, you need to do the same for your office-self. Get into a ‘work’ state of mind. I am sure there is at least one thing that sparks your creativity and prepares you for business challenges. This should be something that interests you, that helps you get into the ‘flow’, totally absorbed with what you do.

For example, for me, it’s viewing statistical data from multiple sources. Some people start writing something, some read their correspondence, whatever.

Create physical spaces

Now, when you have successfully established mental ‘home’ and ‘work’ states, create physical spaces for work and leisure. Make ‘home’ even cozier by taking all things associated with work out of sight and chase away all thoughts about work should they cross your mind.

Equip your workspace will all things that switch your workaholic mode - laptop, chair, notebook, glasses (if you wear them), etc. and start to actually use homespace and workspace according to their designations. No exceptions, no excuses. Do one thing at a time to find your Zen, and start to deliver great results.

Too Many Distractions

According to statistical data, 75% of people say that there are fewer distractions at home than at the office. I guess I am one of that 75% annoyed by office noise, pressing boss attention, and colleague interruptions.

Though, it doesn’t mean that home is a distraction-free environment for those people. It all starts from sleeping a bit longer. Why not? You don’t have to go to the office, you are already there.

If you have kids, it becomes even more difficult to stay focused. You can’t ignore that they are hungry or want to tell you something that happened at school or ask you to help with homework.

Working from home you are tempted to do some cleaning during a break. This extends your breaks and you end up sitting at your computer late at night to finalize your tasks.

Distractions ruin your work schedule which prevents you from being productive during the day and happy with accomplishments in the evening.

Luckily, you can easily address all the above issues by:

  • Getting up and getting to work at the same time every day.
  • Changing your pajama to the office/smart clothes.
  • Turning off phone notifications, especially for social media.
  • Prepare snacks for yourself and your kids ahead of time in order not to spend time cooking during work hours.
  • Communicating your work schedule with roommates or family members. Everyone should know when they can’t disturb you and when you are available. Use special visual signs when you are in your “do not disturb mode” if necessary.
  • Setting timers for work sprints and breaks. This is a brilliant way to keep yourself motivated and complete your tasks in time. A sense of urgency created by the timer will prevent you from pointless browsing and longer breaks.

Lack of Communication and Collaboration

When I only started to work remotely communication and collaboration were great concerns. It seemed rather challenging for me to collaborate on the project with other team members having no possibility to see them in person.

However, as soon as I started to work for a 100% remote software development company, I understood that if organized properly, telecommunication can fully replace direct contacts and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

By the way, did you know that telecommunication saves you 11 days per year if you work half of your time remotely? You don’t waste your time in traffic jams and unnecessary travels and use it the way you wish, be it work or pleasure.

Here’s what we do to stay connected and efficient as a team:

  • Share company values. Clearly written (we have a corporate handbook right on our website) company values help to build an efficient team from the very beginning. Company mission, vision, culture, and philosophy should resonate with the personal aspirations of team members. This is the keystone to the success of all involved parties.
  • Create OKR (Objectives and key results) plan. This way, all team members have a full understanding of company goals, expected results, and estimated deadlines. Each employee knows how to contribute to accomplishing all set objectives.
  • Use technologies for online collaboration and communication. There are plenty of tools developed for team collaboration. Our team uses Slack as a corporate communication channel and Trello boards for project management. Also, Google Meet and Zoom are great for team calls, video conferences, webinars, etc.
  • Hold coordination meetings and monitor employees’ happiness. We usually make quick 15 min standup meetings every day and a long 40 min team coordination call every Friday. This is enough to track the progress, balance activities, identify and address bottlenecks.

Loneliness

Almost 50% of remote workers feel lonely and I am not an exception either. Sometimes the perk of working from home turns into real pain and demotivator. Nothing can replace face-to-face interactions, friendly smiles, and peers support. We can’t exchange non-verbal messages on distance, which causes disengagement, disconnection, and depression. And this lack of socio-emotional values is not just a personal problem, it negatively impacts worker’s productivity, so it can’t be ignored.

Here’s what I can advise you to do to combat loneliness:

  • Talk to your colleagues. I am sure they feel the same, so if you share experiences, your connection will get tighter.
  • Change your attitude to tasks. Instead of thinking “I have so many tasks. I must do all of them by 18.00” try to think “I will do this and our site will fly up on Google” or “I will finish this and it will help Mary sell our product easier.”
  • Be aware of what are your peers busy with and offer your help and advice. I don’t mean that you should poke your nose everywhere, only when you feel/see that your colleague is struggling with the task and you can prompt a great solution, a kind of informal mentoring.
  • Be grateful and nostalgic. When you communicate through messengers and emails, your colleagues don’t see your emotions, your facial expressions. So, you need to compensate for this by saying “thank you” more often. I am sure your social bonds will get stronger if you use this simple trick. Besides, you can think about corporate retreats and other fun moments when the entire team was together every time you feel isolated. Share a couple of photos from these events to make your colleagues share your nostalgic mood and combat loneliness.
  • Go to the coworking space. This is probably the most actionable method of fighting loneliness and boosting productivity. Sign up for coworking space membership (I am sure your boss will be happy to pay for it) and enjoy its business-like supportive atmosphere along with numerous perks that start from free coffee, cookies, ergonomic furniture, and end with yoga classes, networking, and workshops for the community members.

Lack of Motivation

Even the most interesting occupation can get tedious sometimes. If you notice that you don’t want to process some tasks, procrastinate, and easily switch to more fun activities, it’s time to figure out the reasons for such behavior.

Feeling exhausted and burnt out is the most frequent reason for motivation decrease. If your doctor says you are in good shape, you have enough sleep, eat healthy food, and exercise regularly but still feel fatigued, the best remedy is to change the environment.

A workation is exactly what you need to bring your motivation back and increase productivity to the maximum. I know we are still limited in travel destinations but the situation is changing for the better, more countries open their borders, so it’s time to plan where to go to restore energy.

One of the most significant benefits of a remote workstyle is the possibility to work from any place. Going on workations you will make great use of this advantage. You will stop focusing on the downsides of remote work and finally start to enjoy its perks.

The main thing to remember here is that workation is not a vacation. It actually includes the elements of both but its main purpose is to reboot your mind, get inspired, and get your stuff done. For that reason, it’s better to plan your workation destinations thoroughly and consider nomadic villages like Ponta Do Sol, Madeira instead of hotels.

To Wrap It up

This was my personal list of the top 5 challenges I’ve met during my remote career and the best solutions to resolve them. There are no two similar individuals, so the above tips are not universal one-size-fits-all suggestions. They just work out for me, so I believe they will be useful to somebody else. Please feel free to criticize any item and offer your own recipes.

The article was written by Helga Moreno, the evangelist of remote workstyle and flexible workspaces working for andcards, a coworking space software company.

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