The biggest challenges when working remotely and how to overcome them
As we all know, working remotely has its appealing perks. There is no daily commute which may get you tired and exhausted, there is no strict dress code unless you are expected to appear on online meetings. There are also disadvantages when working this way. You are no longer working alongside your team and you do not have any colleagues to interact with.
Below you will find a list of some of the most spotted issues which every remote worker is facing as well as tips for overcoming them.
- Staying well organised
When working in the same place you live in you can get easily disturbed and therefor get disorganised. If you do have a space, try working in a different place than where you spend your leisure time. This generally helps you to divide and separate your work and play. If this is not possible, try at least to keep your work environment like desk organised and tidy.
Apart from keeping it physically tidy, try to keep your virtual world in pristine condition too, making sure that your computer desktop, folders, files and imagines are kept immaculate, it will be then very easy to find what you need.
- Time managing
I would recommend scheduling your day like you would in normal office environment, this will help you to stay well organised as you know how many hours of work is left. If you use online calendar, create personal events as well as reminders that tell you when to shift gears and start on with new tasks.
We have discovered these in past articles and there is even one solely devoted to the time subject, please feel free to take a glance on this article.
- Remembering to take regular breaks throughout the day
Without having a structure and being in completely new or different environment, you may easily forget to take your regular breaks. Breaks are there to increase your mental wellbeing and productivity so eliminating them may have a bad impact on your life.
There is a study conducted by DeskTime which found that most productive 10 percent of their users did 52 minutes of work, followed by a 170minute break. The key is working efficiently and effectively. Try settings alarms or reminders on your phone which will alert you about a need of taking a break.
- Simply Switching off
It is not always that obvious on when your work ends, as you are working remotely, people may have different expectations of you and may think that you will just work more. It is absolutely crucial to set boundaries in early stages of working remotely, letting people know what you can and will do within working hours and what isn’t achievable and you simply won’t do out of your working hours.
Having a set finish time could also help you to separate and improve things. And it can help to not check these emails or not be available on chats until your work is completed. You can leverage these by using your communication apps, you might be able to change your status to “do not disturb” or “busy.
- Collaborating
When working at office, it is generally easy to ask your colleagues for information or updates. You are generally sitting in the same room and sharing it with others. When you work away from the office, you don’t simply have this.
Luckily there is plenty of tools available for you to keep connected with people you work with. There is a phone, VOIP, chat systems or messengers of any sort. What is great is that you are not expected to reply immediately as well as you cannot expect it from others meaning you can take time before you reply and often comes up with a better reply, all of these are in writing so it is easier in future if you need to bring something up within a conversation.
- Social interacting
Interacting with other people is a positive aspect of many jobs. Of course, you are there to work, but social contact is as important and can help with productivity.
It is best to setup a time to interact with others, but make sure you don’t do it for too long or when your productivity hour is. These small chats will definitely keep you mentally sane and it will make you feel that you are still human despite the fact being actually away from others.
What sort of challenges do you come across when working remotely. How do you overcome those? Let me know in the comments section below.
All the best,
Lucas
