How to be productive in a remote job
Working remotely can be an amazing experience. You have the ability to work from anywhere, set your schedule, and have little to no commute. But there are some difficulties that also come with working remotely, and being productive is one of those problems. You may enjoy having the ability to work from home, or a hotel room, or even at your local coffee shop, but if you aren´t being productive with your time, it can be detrimental to your work and to how your boss sees you as an employee.
Here are some useful tips that you can utilize to stay more productive while working remotely.
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Set Your Space
Setting up your workspace is a key component in how successful and productive you´ll be while working remotely. Sure, it´s great to have the possibility to work anywhere in your home, and even be able to work in your pajamas, but having a space dedicated solely to working will help you be more motivated and productive to work. Inconsistency in your workspace can leave you stressed and block any productivity you might have to work.
Having a comfortable chair that you can work from and a desk are the most important aspects of setting up your space to work. Also, keeping your work limited only to your workspace will greatly help you stay focused on just your work.
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Communication Communication Communication
As a remote employee, it can feel difficult to be included in the office culture and feel out of the loop. The best way to feel as though you are a regular employee and connected to everyone at the office, is to communicate; communication is the only way that your boss will know that you´re on task for the deadline that you need to submit your work by, and this helps the other employees feel as though they can rely on you.
It´s always a good thing to continually check up throughout the day, either by calling, using Skype, Trello, or even a simple email can ease the minds of your boss and other employees about the tasks at hand. Any kind of communication is better than no communication!
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Be Organized
Even though you´re working remotely, you don´t want your workspace to get disorganized and dirty. If you were working in a normal office setting you wouldn´t want your office to be unorganized, as this wouldn´t be helpful for your work flow and would probably leave some bad impressions with your bosses and coworkers. You should treat your workspace as your office. Having an organized workspace will help you keep your head clear and improve your productivity.
If your workspace changes daily, it´s important that you invest in a planner or organizer that will keep everything together and you won´t have to take a lot of time looking for something.
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Set your work hours
Even though working remotely gives you the freedom to work whenever you want, it´s important to set a work schedule and stick to it. By not sticking to a set schedule, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. It may seem difficult to stick to a set schedule when you´re working remotely, but it will increase your productivity and make you feel like a more regular employee.
Just like having a set workspace, set work hours are great to have. This also means setting times for breaks and for you to eat. It can be difficult to get away from your work when you´re in the middle of everything, but giving your self that break will improve your focus and productivity after you get back from the break.
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Control the technology that you use
Just as you would at work, put away your phone and set up programs that block certain sites or social media throughout your workday. It can be difficult to not check your phone, or Facebook, or any other social media throughout the day, but if you stop yourself from doing so and use apps to help, it will increase your productivity and you´ll feel more fulfilled at the end of your workday.
These are just a few tips to help you increase your productivity while working remotely.
