Best 20 Tips For Remote Work

Looking back, more people than ever began working from home starting in March 2020, most of them with little to no warning. Organizations and people lacked the time to plan for remote work or to consider the best methods to change their cultures, teams, and procedures to operate entirely online. After this, lots of businesses have improved their strategies by adopting remote work, while others have pushed for a hybrid approach. Just by looking at the current state of work and how we communicate, one can comfortably assume that remote work will not disappear anytime soon, it is becoming more and more popular instead.

After years of remote work as employees and freelancers and getting to know a significant number of remote workers on a professional and personal level, we have discovered that, depending on individual personalities, habits, and lines of work, each of us has specific challenges to face when working remotely. However, its also true that many of the fundamental problems we encounter as remote employees remain the same.

If you intend to work from home, its important that you prioritize and take care of your mental health, starting by establishing clear and easy-to-follow boundaries between your personal and professional lives. This includes considering the best place and time to work. Not to mention requirements like office supplies, prospects for job advancement, training, and developing connections with coworkers online.

Working remotely requires resolving these and other challenges, especially if you do most or all of your job from home. Based on our knowledge and what we have learned through the years of living and experiencing remote work, here are 20 suggestions for living a better and more successful life as a remote worker.

1. Keep Your Regular Hours

Establish a timetable and adhere to it mostly. Many remote employees may maintain a work-life balance by setting clear rules for when to work and when to stop.

Nevertheless, when a job permits it, flexibility is one of the biggest advantages of working remotely. To account for someone else’s time zone, you may occasionally need to start your day early or prolong it. If you do, be sure to make up for it by finishing up earlier than normal or sleeping in a little the next morning.

You may monitor your adherence to your schedule with automatic time-tracking programs like RescueTime. They can also assist you in determining when you work best and least efficiently during the day. By securing the times when you are most likely to finish challenging job, you may take advantage of this information. For instance, if you typically work best between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., avoid scheduling meetings then.

2. Establish a Morning Schedule

Most people attempt to have a plan that makes them show up at their desk and start working at a certain time. But they fail to establish a pattern that helps them to actually get into the chair.

A routine may be more effective than a clock at getting you out of bed every morning. Does your morning ritual have a part that lets you know that work is about to begin? Making a cup of coffee might be the solution before starting on your to-do list. It can involve getting dressed or going home after a jog. (Wearing jammies is a work-from-home bonus for some, but a horrible tactic for others.) Look for an established routine that you have, like brushing your teeth or coming in after a dog walk, to use as your signal. You may then add the new habit of starting your workday in this manner.

Even though I say “morning routine,” not every remote worker adheres to a nine to five timetable. Your “getting started” process may differ depending on the time of day. However, attempt to start your workday after a habit you already have by looking for one.

3. Establish rules with everybody who enters your space

Establish ground rules with anyone who lives with you or uses your workspace while you are at work.

Consider establishing some clear guidelines if there are kids at home, starting with what they can and cannot do at certain times of the day, for instance, if they get home from school while you are still working.

You might have to negotiate quiet hours, meeting times, and any shared furniture, such as desks and chairs, if you share a room with another adult who is also at home at that time. Even just being aware that someone else has a meeting at a specific time might help you plan ahead. You might need to get a pair of socks out of the bedroom before someone comes in and shuts the door for a meeting.

Furthermore, family members should not assume that just because you are at home and able to care for pets or allow in service personnel, you always will. If it is your decision to take on the majority of the domestic work because you are a remote worker, that is fine, but if you simply accept it because you are at home, you might feel taken advantage of, and your ability to finish your work and maintain concentration will not be the best.

4. Enforce Rest Periods

If you work for a company, be aware of the policies about breaks and take them. If you work for yourself, schedule enough time each day to step away from your phone and computer. For full-time US employees, a lunch break and two 15-minute breaks seem to be the norm. When working at a computer or doing other sedentary activities, it is vital to sometimes stand up and walk around, ideally once an hour. Regular eye movement, even if it just lasts for a micro-break of 10 to 20 seconds, is also beneficial.

5. Really engage in breaks

Do not cut corners when you have a break, especially during your meal or lunch break. It’s easy to just write that last line of code or that last sentence and then take your break, well, good news is you can still do that after it.

You may arrange when you will lock yourself out of your computer using software like TimeOut for Mac and Smart Break for Windows. Or even better, RescueTime which features a pause option that enables you to schedule 15-minutes and 1-hour intervals. No need for any more applications in your life? Use a conventional clock to keep track of the time or set an alarm or timer on your phone. No matter how you keep track of your breaks, be sure to use them all. For instance, if you set aside an hour for a break and come back to your work after just 40 minutes, take another 20 minutes’ break.

6. Leave your house

Get outside and move about as often as it is safe to do so. Your body need blood flow. Additionally, the clean air and natural light will benefit you. Preferably, spend some time outside before, during, and after your working hours.

For those who perform in-person labor, the same counsel holds true. At least once a day during business hours, leave the building.

To break up the monotony of staying at home, you may also visit cafés, libraries, and co-working places if your circumstances and conditions permit. That is excellent, but the most crucial step is to go out of your house, take in some fresh air, and walk about.

You do not have to leave your solitary office to escape to congested public areas. Go on a stroll. tidy up the garden. occupy the stoop. You see what I mean.

7. Never Be Afraid to Request What You Need

Request the equipment you require as soon as you begin working from home, or within a few days of recognizing you need anything new, if you are employed by a firm or organization that supports your work-from-home arrangement.

It is crucial to establish early on that you will ask for what you require in order to complete your work comfortably. The appropriate monitor, keyboard, mouse, chair, desk, printer, software, and other accessories might be among these things. Companies that often use remote workers generally have money set aside for home office supplies. Inquire about it and how frequently it is renewed. Asking if there is a loan arrangement or who will pay for return shipment or disposal of out-of-date equipment is also a good idea. Some remote companies let workers bring in a specialist to check on the ergonomics of their workstations.

If you won’t be working form home permanently and will need to return to the office, be sure to ask for what you need, but be ready to make reasonable adjustments. It might not be possible to get a new desk and chair for the office. Instead, for less than $200, you can acquire a back-supporting cushion, a laptop riser, a mouse, and a keyboard. There are additional simple and affordable ways to enhance your home office.

8. Maintain a Separate Office Space

In a perfect world, remote workers would have two computers—one for business and one for personal use—in addition to a dedicated workspace. It makes the workplace more safe and allows you to do all of your NSFW activities in privacy.

However, not everyone has a spare room in their house that they can use as an office, and maintaining two machines is not always practical. Instead, set apart a desk or table area as well as a few accessories that will only be utilized for work. For instance, it is work time when your laptop is connected to the display and external keyboard. That is personal time when it is on your lap. You could even wish to set up a unique user account just for work (or school). Making even little distinctions between work and leisure time helps your brain recognize when you are not working, which improves work-life balancek.

9. Keep a Different Phone Number

Set up a phone number that you solely use for calls with coworkers and clients if your employment requires you to answer traditional phone calls. It is not necessary to set up an old-fashioned landline, get a secondary mobile phone, or even getting an extra SIM card. It may be a VoIP service like Skype or Google Voice.

Having a different phone number can help you maintain your work-life balance, much like some of the other suggestions, since this is an extra boundary that will allow you to respect your personal time.

10. Get a VPN

Using a VPN every time you connect your devices to a network that you don’t own is considered a good security practice and is recommended. These include any Wi-Fi connection in public places such as coworkings, coffee shops, libraries, airports, hotels, etc. Off-site employees frequently require access to a company’s VPN in order to access certain servers or websites that house data intended solely for internal use. You will also need to utilize a VPN at home in those circumstances. It is a good idea to make it a practice to frequently leaving your VPN connected because it is always safer to do so.

In addition to using VPNs, there might be other security concerns you may address to improve security while working from home. One additional thing to remember regarding VPNs: avoid watching porn using a business VPN since if you are connected to an organization’s network, your employer may be able to see what you are doing.

11. Socialize With Your Coworkers

For extroverts in particular, loneliness, disconnection, and isolation are prevalent issues in distant work environments. Businesses with a remote work culture typically provide opportunities for socializing. For instance, they may use channels in a group messaging program like Slack for discussing shared interests or planning get-togethers for locals.

How many interactions with others must there be for you to feel involved and connected at work? Not everyone will receive the same response. Give a few interactive activities a try, whether it is an online happy hour or a book club, even if you are quite shy and do not enjoy socializing, so that you are familiar with them if you ever decide you want them. You might need to take more initiative in fostering relationships if your office does not have a strong remote culture.

Team messaging programs are great places to socialize, but they can often be distracting. For advice on avoiding Slack overload, see these ideas.

12. “Show Up” at Meetings to Speak Up

You will undoubtedly participate in conference calls and video conferences while working remotely. Attending occasional optional meetings is a wonderful idea as well as a method to stand out. To let everyone know you are on the call during meetings, make sure to speak out. At the end, a simple “Thanks, everyone. Bye!” goes a long way toward establishing your presence.

Do not hold out for an invitation to the workplace or an event. Take initiative. Do the asking. If your firm utilizes Zoom Meetings for video conferencing, our article Top Zoom Tips for Better Video Calls can help you rapidly become an expert user.

13. Obtain Face Time.

Ask to have at least a yearly company retreat written into your contract, spending some time to meet in person is well spent time, specially if your coworkers have different nationalities. It could be used for planning, training, or developing a team.

Alternately, you may attend to another professional gathering, such the company Christmas party, a nearby conference, or the annual financial meeting. Do not hold out for an invitation to the workplace or an event.

Take initiative. Do the asking. Set up a video conference with your coworkers or manager once a week to check in if you are suddenly working from home and wanting to minimize face-to-face interaction. Allow check-in meetings to last as little time as necessary without feeling hesitant. Sometimes maintaining a connection only requires a five-minute talk.

14. Take Sick Days

Ask for some time off when you’re not feeling well. Take the time you need off if sick days are included as part of your compensation. It is like throwing money away if you do not take it!

When working for yourself and not being compensated for sick days, it may be tempting to push through sickness, but remember that it is best to rest and completely recover so that you can return to work at your highest productivity level quicker, which will come helpful in the long run.

15. Look for opportunities for training and learning

You can miss out on in-person training and skill-development courses when you are not working in an office among your coworkers. Even worse, your firm can neglect to enroll you in its online training programs. Although it may be tempting to think of this as a dodged bullet, you could be passing on the chance to gain some valuable knowledge. Make sure you are included by speaking out.

In addition to receiving top-down instruction, you can ask for online or live training sessions, coaching, and other services. There are also a massive amount of online learning websites that provide courses, even for free, in programming, digital marketing, web design, and other subjects, as well as corporate soft skills. Remote businesses frequently allocate money for education and skill development. If not, inquire as to whether they might add it.

People who work entirely remotely may look for training options that are offered nearby or at the organization’s headquarters during non-pandemic periods. In this manner, you may receive instructions and interact with coworkers all at once.

16. Overcommunicate

Everyone who works remotely must constantly communicate.

Inform those who need to know about your availability and schedule frequently. Do not presume that they will recall. Tell someone when a project or significant work is finished. Overcommunicating involves repeating oneself, but it does not always entail writing a five-paragraph essay to justify every action you make. When you mention your forthcoming vacation again, make a joke about how you must have said it six times already.

17. Stay Positive

In completely distant locations, it can be quite challenging to read the tone of textual communication. An intended brief message may come out as abrupt and irritable the less face contact you have with individuals.

Everyone in remote work environments must be upbeat, even to the point where it may seem gushy or unnecessarily so. Otherwise, you run the danger of seeming rude. Unfortunately, it is the case. Accept the exclamation point, then! Choose your preferred emoji. You will require these.

18. Make Use of Your Benefits

I always cook a healthy breakfast and lunch, trying new recipes each week for years now. Why? Because I could, and I was at home. I enjoy cooking new things, but it requires that you be home since some dishes require several hours in the oven. You must be there to adjust the temperature or just to check everything’s looking fine, but it does not need a lot of hands-on time. When I had a full-time office job, it was simply impossible to prepare such meals.

Like this, unique benefits come with working from home, use them to your advantage.

19. Be kind with yourself and others.

Successful remote workers are known to be incredibly disciplined. After all, working a full-time job from an unusual location requires substantial concentration.

Having said that, everyone occasionally allows their focus to wander. Do not be too hard on yourself if you find yourself working one minute and looking at vacation rental homes the next. Instead, consider whether this is something that office workers also do. If the response is affirmative, give yourself some leeway before starting over. Above all, always remember to look for a balance between work and self-care. You run the danger of burning out if not.

We need to be polite and forgiving to our coworkers and clients, we don’t know if people are suffering any amount of tension and anxiety. Remember that you can’t always be aware of what the other person is going through or of they are having any struggles. Give them some leeway.

20. Establish a routine to end your day.

Create a habit or routine that marks the end of your workday, just like we discussed before at the beginning of each day. It may be a confirmation on a corporate messaging app, a nighttime dog walk, or a yoga session at home. It could be as easy as closing your laptop, preparing some tea and start listening to your favorite podcast. Whatever you decide that routine will be, make sure you do it in a consistent way every time the workday ends.

Conclusion

These collection of tips for remote working, have proven to be helpful for us and lots of people that work from home. They’re not set in stone, you should take what best works for you, test, modify whats not working and retry. In the end you should just aim for your wellbeing and a balanced and joyful life.

Remote work can help you to achieve this, but only if you do your due diligence and create a routine that best fits your life-style.

Of course, if you’re looking for a new remote job, we’re here to help.