29 Oct 5 Ways your remote working can be more effective

5 Ways your remote working can be more effective

Working from home or remote working poses a particular set of challenges, many of which are different from the office setting challenges we face every day. In this series of blogs, we will be exploring some of these problems and hopefully, advise on how to solve some of these issues.

With this year being completely different from anything having come before it due to the pandemic, many businesses small and large have had to introduce remote working to their staff. This has meant making what is normally created for you; a safe, productive, equipped, disciplined working environment in the comfort of your own home.

Sounds brilliant, doesn’t it? Working from home, no commute, no braving the weather, longer in bed in the morning. There are big positives to working from home but many don’t realise the extent of the challenges in creating an environment fit for work and how difficult it can be to stay productive in that environment. Here are 5 tips to make your remote working more effectively in the long term.

Organisation

Staying organised can be difficult when working in the same space you live in. It can be easy to get disorganised and in turn, become unproductive in how you spend your time.

I would recommend (where possible) to make a space specifically for working and all things related to work, this keeps a level of organisation and also helps prevent work from encroaching on your personal space. If you don’t have a dedicated office space, even something as simple as putting your laptop out of sight when work has ended can help you avoid the temptation to log back in.

Remember to take regular breaks

When in a different environment it can be difficult to remember to take regular breaks. Breaks are good for mental wellbeing which can be quite fragile when having less social interaction than normal (we will go into more depth about this later). Some advice says to take short breaks of 5-15 minutes every hour or so¹.

Switch off

When working remotely it can be difficult to distinguish when your leisure time begins and your work ends. When working from home, people may expect you to be available to have long conversations or do household chores for example. That’s why setting out clear boundaries for yourself and the other people that you’re going to be in contact with during your work hours are so important. Let people know what you can and will respond to or engage in during work hours.

Time management

When working from home, time management isn’t easy. To help manage yourself and stay on schedule, segment what you’ll do and when over the course of the day. ‘Microsoft Teams’ is a good tool for helping you plan and manage your time more effectively. I will go into more details on ‘Teams’ in the next blog.

Ensuring Social Interaction

Interacting with others is positive for most jobs. Productivity is boosted with social contact. On your Teams app ensure having a ‘chat’ for topics unrelated to work allowing for that office comradery to be mirrored at home. Perhaps have a weekly meeting, people can discuss work plans and problems for the week but also things that happened over the weekend and other non-work-related topics. Or even a workplace trivia quiz at the end of the weekly meeting.

In the coming blogs, we will explore different tools to achieve better standards of connectivity and collaboration, in turn making your remote working more effective by using ‘Teams’. We will also go into more detail on some of the topics above, making your remote working life more productive and hopefully more enjoyable.

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https://socialtriggers.com/why-you-need-to-take-more-breaks-and-how-to-do-it/¹