Contrary to popular belief, working remotely is pretty hard.
You still have to have amazing output, but you have to do it at your own pace. Which is insanely tricky at times considering all the temptation around you. Especially if you’re working from your house.
If you’re just starting to work remotely, have been working remotely, or just taking a couple of days to work from home. These tips will help you become hyper-productive at work.
1. Find a Place That Encourages Productivity
I know it sounds fun to work on your own and away from your office. But you still have to perform good, if not, better than your usual standard.
So whether you’re working from home, at a coffee shop, or a shared space, just make sure to have a location that will allow you to work at your best.
Working from home is cool. However, you might get too comfortable, and you definitely don’t want to wake up in your PJ’s every day and stay at home.
It may sound awesome, but trust me, it gets boring after a while. But hey, if it works for you, more power to you.
I would recommend a shared space. Especially one that is tailored to your type of crowd. Working down in Miami, I found that I wanted to work from an office (being that my company is HQ’d in Canada).
I didn’t want to go to one where I felt like I had to wear a suit all day, so I ended up renting a space for tech entrepreneurs and artists. It has inspired some of my work and led to a lot of long nights of inspired work.
So if you’re looking for a shared space, make sure that it meets your needs.
2. Create Hyper-Productive Habits
Chances are, you’re on this site to create hyper-productive habits that will allow you perform better.
Well, remember to get out there and do that. Building better habits relies on one thing, and one thing only. Your mindset. So if one day you want to start doing something, make time, set things up, and make sure you start doing it.
I recently spent one whole day cleaning up my workflow. I’ll be mentioning some of the things below, but know that before anything, it started off with a straightforward idea and then I took action to make it a reality.
To paraphrase a quote I read in a book recently; success is nothing more than making your thoughts into reality.
So, if you want to start going to the gym, set different reminders to wake up early and have a kick-ass gym schedule ready. If you want to start making more time to read at night, keep all your electronics (or distractions) in a different room. Whatever the case, make sure that you’re taking the appropriate steps to succeed.
Just make sure that you’re doing things that make you happy and productive.
3. Put Down Your Phone
We live in a very different time. We’re always looking at our phones, continually looking for that next notification to pop up.
Remember one thing, all those Facebook messages, Instagram posts, texts, phone calls, Angry Birds updates, in the grand scheme of things, don’t matter. These apps are designed to keep you hooked and continuously going back for more.
Get your brain back and start doing things to get rid of all the time spent checking your phone. For instance, turn off all vibrations and alerts for text messages.
I found this to work on my iPhone, as opposed to having it on “Do Not Disturb” or “Airplane Mode.” I even turned off all those alerts from other nonsense apps on my phone.
I am in various group chats and generally have a lot of people trying to reach me via text and Messenger. I caught myself continually reaching for my phone every minute as waves of text would come and go.
This can be extremely detrimental to workflow. Especially if you’re trying to do more faster.
So now, I’m able to check on text messages whenever I please. In fact, I take a couple of breaks per hour to see what’s happening. Besides, if anything it REALLY important, they can call me. That’s what phones are for … right?
4. Use A Couple Of Productivity Tools
I once read “Whatever you can measure, you can improve!”
So make sure you’re doing your best to become a better employee and worker on a regular basis. And now and then, switch it up. Once you start becoming stagnant, it’s terrible for your personal and professional development.
I tend to measure how much I can do regarding work every single week. I also tend to download and try apps that will make me work better and more efficiently.
Here are a few:
- Brain.fm: Music to stimulate the brain and improve focus.
- RescueTime: To manage my time better and make sure that my work output is in the right places.
- StrictWorkflow: To make sure I can focus for a set amount of time without going on some of those distracting sites on the Internet.
- Trello: I use this for task management with my team, we’re able to see who is doing what and where we’re at. It’s the best in the business.
- TimeOut: To take a couple of breaks (I’ll get into that in a bit).
There are dozens of productivity tools that will help you obtain results in whatever your niche is. I’ve found plenty that have helped me manage my time and do more with less. Just go out there and search.
5. Take Healthy Breaks
Earlier, I had mentioned the TimeOut app that I have installed allowed me to take a couple of breaks.
Well, this is extremely important. Not just for you, but for your health.
Every hour or so take 5 minutes to go outside and walk around and talk to people.
Remember, you’re not in your company’s office anymore, so it’s up to you to still be social. Even if you’re an introvert, it’s still vital to have some social interactions now and then.
Also, use your breaks to take care of stuff. Whether it’s paying stuff online or checking in of family, it’ll be beneficial to you.
6. Stay in Touch With The People From Your Office
You may not be working within your office anymore, but you still need to keep the same kind of environment and communication with your team.
Find a good way to keep the company culture alive by using things like video chatting and messaging around. And make sure when you guys are doing so, have a little fun with it.
Remember, you’re still going into battle with your team, so have a little bit of fun. And when you have a big win in the office, give each other some high fives.
Conclusion
Working remotely is a fun challenge. It’s the best way to obtain work-life balance. So remember to do things that’ll make the experience fun and productive.
Also, try wearing some business casual attire now and then. Shorts and sandals are great, but a nice outfit can change your mood and increase your productivity significantly.
How do increase your productivity when working from home? Drop us a note; we’d love to hear from you!
Jeffrey Fermin is the co-founder of Officevibe, an employee engagement platform that encourages collaboration through team building activities. When he’s not working on his product, he spends the majority of his time reading, writing and meeting new people. Connect with Jeffrey on Facebook: www.facebook.com/officevibe.
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