Challenges for a remote job

Working remotely is today a synonym of freedom and success, but it also means a huge commitment and a need of a strong sense of organization and ability to focus.    Challenges for a remote job

Definitely working remotely brings great things along. No commute, no office attire, the freedom to work from home and depending on your particular position, a flexibility of schedules and the possibility to manage your own time.

But that flexibility also can cause that the commitment becomes extreme and it is very often that remote workers find themselves working way too many more hours than the conventional office professional.

So today we want to take a look at those challenges related to remote jobs and the best way to overcome them.

Working way too many hours

As we mentioned before, this is a common problem amongst people working remotely.

There are many reasons that lead to this problem. Usually is the difficulty to disconnect from work, as it is right there beside you for the rest of the day. The fact that remote workers never really “leave the office” doesn’t help to switch off.

Also, it is also difficult to set a schedule and decide when the day really begins, especially when you work remotely with people located in different time schedules.

When you work from home everyone knows that in some say you are 24/7 at the office, so it is easy for other colleagues or clients to get confused and contact you at any time or any day of the week.

To avoid this situation that could end up wearing you off and also having a negative impact on your productivity and performance, we highly recommend to set your work schedule straight and commit to it.

It is equally important to stay extremely organized, set your meetings and appointments on time and make sure your colleagues and clients know when they can reach you and when you will be officially out of the office.

A good idea as well is to (as much as possible) separate your work area from your living area, to avoid temptations. If you find it too hard, maybe it is time to consider looking for a co-working space or an alternative to separate your personal life from your professional life.

Dealing with interruptions

Working from home, we are exposed to many different forms of interruptions that don’t happen in an office. It is also true that we don’t have colleagues around and office gossiping taking our attention away from work, but we have the mail man, our house phone, the TV right there maybe going on, and even sometimes our own kids running around or coming in to show you something.

To avoid those interruptions, explain everyone around you what working remotely is and why is important that you are respected during those hours. Sometimes is difficult to understand that you are “at work” while you are right there.

Also, make sure that what needs to be taken care of while you are working is in good hands. Whether is a pet, or children, hire the help you need to make sure during your work hours you are 100% focused on what you need to do.

Set a sign or something that means that you can’t be interrupted, even if it is the shortest comment or question, it is not as easy to get back to what you were doing a second later. Usually the people around will get used to the fact that you are actually “not there”.

But if nothing works, and you still get unrequested visits and constant interruptions, again we recommend finding an alternative place to work from.

Feeling lonely

Yes, working remotely means that you are very much free, but it also means you don’t have pretty much anyone around you, so you spend many hours on your own.

For some people that is best part of working remotely, but for others it can feel lonely. If that is your case, maybe you can try taking a break from time to time to get out and grab a coffee with someone. Even working from a coffee shop or a co-working space might solve that feeling of solitude.

Work on your social and communication skills, with your friends around you but also with your other colleagues, make sure to be on the loop of what is happening and if you feel disconnected from the team, raise your hand and ask for support. Working remotely doesn’t mean that you are on your own.