Tips for Working Remotely Effectively
I’ve developed these tips for working remotely in my home office and how to be effective over the last couple of years.
QUESTIONS THAT ARE ANSWERED IN THIS PODCAST
[00:23] Work from home schedule
[00:49] What home activities should I do while working from home
[01:17] Work from home space
[02:00] Work from home dress code
[02:57] Work from home equipment
[03:55] Work from home breaks
If you a corporate leader and work remotely, you are often on many telephones and conference calls.
Tip #1 – Keep Your Schedule
As you transition to working to your home office, it’s important that you keep the same schedule and routine as much as possible.
If you would go to work from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm and take an hour lunch, I recommend you do the same thing in your home office.
If you need to support an international client and need to work at 4 a.m. to noon and that’s what you did in your work office, I recommend you do that in your home office.
Tip #2 – Treat It Like Work
Perform the same activities that you would do at your home office as in your work office.
For example, that means don’t go out there and:
- play with the kids
- pet the dog
- do the vacuuming
- do the laundry
- cook dinner
- any other non-work activity
That’s not stuff that you would normally do at work, so don’t do it at home. If you do it at work, then do it at home. Just treat the activities the same way. Tips for working remotely are easy if you treat your home like your workspace.
Tip #3 – Have A Designated Work Area
The best-case scenario is if you have an office, a dedicated office that has a door that closes.
The door is as much for you as it is for the rest of the family.
If you are working remote, it means you are typically on a lot of
- phone calls
- conference calls
- video calls
- screen sharing
And it means you’re wearing a headset and talking a lot.
Your talking is more disruptive to your family than it is to you. If you can shut the door, it will save the headache of them telling you to be quiet.
There will be a few times when they may be louder or noisier than you, and you can shut the door.
Tip #4 – Dress The Part
This is related to Tip #1 (keeping your routine and treating it like work) and Tip #2 (which is when you would get up in the morning) – if you work out and meditate, read, dress and go drive to work, then guess what?
That’s the same thing that you do when you work in your home office.
Instead of driving to work or commute to work, you walk to your home office.
You wouldn’t go to work naked or with your hair undone or messy.
Go to your home office just like you would to work.
Also, if you can be what I used to call “camera ready”, it’s also dressing the part.
This allows you to partake in the opportunity to do video calls with your colleagues. You don’t get a lot of face-to-face interaction with colleagues so, any chance I got, I always tried to do a video call because I wanted to see their face.
Tip #5 – Have The Right Equipment
Most likely you will have a laptop and a printer when working remotely.
What you probably need to invest in is a headset with a microphone, a USB mic for your computer.
I also recommend you have a good headset for your cell phone.
If you are doing a lot of screen sharing or streaming or video, that takes a lot of bandwidth and sometimes it takes a lot of power from your computer.
A cell headset helps to switch over and take the voice component off those calls. I would get better performance. It is a great backup option to have.
But you might need some other equipment.
If you are doing a lot of video calls, I recommend that if you don’t have a nice background. Ensure that the area behind your camera is clean, but then get a shoji screen or some other screen or background that will make sure it looks clean and you don’t have to worry.
Tip #6 – Step Out
I know it seems sort of odd, but you typically would step out for lunch or a break, coffee break or something at work.
Do the same thing when working from home. It’s probably more important now that you’re working at home because it’s lonely. You will want some human interaction.
My general rule is I would get out at least once a day. And if I was dressed, I was ready to go.
I could leave in the morning and go get my coffee or I could leave in the afternoon, but I had to leave at least once a day.
And I tried to choose lunchtime because I would at least take an hour and it was in the middle of the day and it was a great way to break up my workday.
You will find it’s going to vary by the place you live and the weather.
I live in Las Vegas. It’s hot in here, but I can still hop out in the day. And in the winter, even though it’s always sunnier or usually sunny, it might be chilly. It’s just a pleasant way for me to break up the day.
Tips for working remotely effectively:
- Keep your schedule. Whatever you do at work, do in your home office.
- Treat it like work. It is work, so do the same activities.
- Have a designated work area and make sure the door closes.
- Dress the part or this is what I called be camera ready.
- Have the right equipment. It’ll make your life so much easier.
- Step out. Get the fresh air and take the break.
Those are my six tips for working remotely in my home office and how to be much more effective.
I hope you found those helpful. Please comment below and let me know if you have questions or if you’ve learned any other tips on your own. Thanks!
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