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. (See 116 – Making Remote Work Successful)
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 to be successful…unfortunately, it has been through trial and error rather than genius.
Home Office
This is tough because your home may not have a separate room for an office. If there is any method of setting aside a separate room for your workspace, that is so very, very, very important!
When you step in that room, it puts you into a work mindset and ready to go. Plus, the 30-second commute from your bedroom to this home office is fantastic!
I have been blessed to have a nice, large separate room for my remote work. It is 15 x 15 and a huge desk with multiple monitors. Once I walk in there, it is game on and I am ready to get working. I have an integrated phone system with a large sound system so I can put conference calls on the large speakers and listen to a conference call with ease.
If you cannot set aside a room, try to have a corner of another room where you can have a desk set up and leave papers on the desk.
DANGER: putting your desk in the bedroom may sound great but it can be a problem with separating work with resting/sleeping. I cannot be restful if my sleep and workspace are in the same room.
Don’t be a hero and say “…I can work anywhere…” You cannot – at least you cannot work efficiently in the wrong environment.
In future blog posts, I will discuss other aspects of working remote.