Staying Motivated While Working Remotely
Give me a break for bringing up the COVID-19 pandemic, I know we’re sick of talking about it nearly four years later but let me use it for this introduction. We live in a much different world now! Point, blank, period; life, school, and careers operate with our new common term, “remote flexibility”. With today’s technology and the pandemic aftermath, many companies have realized that they don’t need a physical office or to limit the geography of their employees.
At first glance, working remotely seems like hitting the jackpot! You can live wherever you want, take more time to travel, work from the comfort of your own home, however, there are a few downfalls that make working remotely a challenge. To maximize productivity, remote workers must establish a procedure for staying motivated while working from home.
Setting Up Your Workspace
1. Create a Dedicated and Organized Workspace: Be sure to designate an area in your home as your workspace. This does not require an entire office, it could be at your desk, dining room, kitchen counter, whatever best fits your home. The goal here is to have a distinction between your workspace and your personal space. Avoid working from your bed, couch, or other lounge areas to prevent the line between your work and personal life from blurring. If you are in a role that requires you to be on video calls, make sure your workspace provides an appropriate background: good lighting, professional backdrop, and an eye-level camera view.
2. Eliminating Distractions at Home: Although one perk of working remotely is the freedom to enjoy work from your own home, do not let the home-life perks derail your productivity. It’s important to take breaks throughout the day, just as you would in a company office, but try to avoid blending your break activities with work. This includes spending time with roommates and family members, watching television, reading for pleasure, all great things, but you wouldn’t have access to them in a company office because they limit productivity.
Establishing a Routine
1. Defining Work Hours and Breaks: Depending on your employer, you may or may not have set work hours. Generally, work hours are from 9am – 5 pm, if that’s your case, treat that time period as though you are in a company office. Utilize time-blocking on your calendar to keep yourself on track, set an hour for one task, two for another, be sure to block off time for breaks and mental-health checks. Take breaks to have lunch, go for a walk, talk to friends and family, these are important for maintaining your work-life balance.
2. Maintaining a Consistent Schedule: Avoid procrastination. Yes, you may have the option to lose a few hours in your workday and make up the tasks later, but that starts a vicious cycle that can ultimately destroy your routine. Maintaining consistency in your schedule will build a healthy routine and maximize productivity during working hours to prevent damage to your personal hours.
Stay Connected
Maintain Regular Communication with Colleagues: One of the biggest downfalls about working in a remote environment is the lack of office culture and face-to-face interaction. For some people, this is the ideal situation! For others, it can be very difficult to stay motivated without peer interaction and encouragement. If you’re one of these people, be sure to build virtual social connections with the people on your team and in your company. Larger companies may have an entire community of employees who live in the same area, allowing virtual connections to meet in person. Even without the convenience of meeting in person, you can still build and maintain valuable connections virtually, this will reinforce support and open communication for your team.
Embrace the Adjustment
We’ve talked a lot about the big adjustments that come with remote work, but there are so many benefits to embrace as well! Working virtually gives you much more freedom to design your own work life. Think about it, sweatpants… at work! Your fridge full of your food…at work! Your kids, pets, loved ones…at work! Your work… on a vacation! It’s important to embrace these perks without abusing them.