Now that hundreds of thousands of employees are forced to work at home, we need power moves for great success.
If you have read any of my previous posts on remote work, you will realize what a fan I am of that method of working!
Remote work has problems but it is still an awesome method of getting work done. I won’t go into the benefits as I have done that in previous posts.
In this blog post, I want to discuss my experience with the environment you work in and some tips to make your remote work successful.
Having worked remotely myself either part-time or full time for over a decade, I have learned a few tricks…unfortunately, it has been through trial and error rather than genius.
Frozen
I have battled this issue all my life while working at a desk. I get so engrossed in the work that I forget to stand up and move around! Sounds weird but that happens so often!
Then, when I do stand up, everything is stiff and I feel ancient.
Now, I try to get up and move around at least once an hour to keep the blood moving. When in a company office, movement happens naturally as you need to walk in from the parking lot, walking from floor to floor, walking to meeting rooms, walking out to a restaurant for lunch, etc. When you are working from home, none of that happens.
Some people do exercises while sitting at their desk. Others, break up their day by going for a run in the afternoon and work later in the day. Try a number of different things and settle on a method of keeping your body moving.
I personally get the droops about 2:30 in the afternoon. That is when I plan something different that requires movement. Know when your peaks and dips are and that will help your day. By 3:30 pm, I am fully alive and ready for finishing the day in style.
Keeping your mind at peak is easy to forget but is it every critical. I am not very prescriptive here as everyone has a different method and style for physical alertness. Try all kinds of things and see which works for you.
Get Boring!
I used to laugh at people with fixed routines every day when I was a young lad. Then I got a little older and a little more mature and realized the power of routines.
While I like to be ad hoc and never boring, that is not the best method of getting things done. Now, that I am much older (I will leave it to others to figure out if I am wiser), I have many routines and they are saving my bacon. I drop into these routines and it ensures I get my activities done.
Quit!
For those that are lazy (like me), quitting should not be too hard. But, I have to admit that quitting the workday sometimes does not happen on time.
When you are working from home, it is very easy to keep working and putting in a number of extra hours. While working extra is not a bad idea, but working long hours every day is not a workable solution.
Working from home it becomes even harder to quit on time. Pick a time to quit and force yourself to stop (until you have a critical deadline). You have to pace yourself and remember work is a marathon, not a sprint.
QUIT!
Find Your Own Style
Remember, these are only suggestions that I use when working remote. They work for me. I have no idea if they will work for you.
Try out a number of different methods that will work for you and stick to you