The main reason individuals fail to adapt to operating remotely is they fail to see the need for superior organisation and robust self management.
I have been operating remotely for almost a decade since I first uncovered Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software web application and was blown away by the fact that if you can perform accounting on the net then why shouldn’t it be practical to perform other important types of work at a distance?
Whilst working remotely has substantial gains there are numerous things that workers don’t realise which convert into issues that result in lower productivity and lower motivation. The top reason for reductions in effectiveness in remote workers is disturbance and it is a established and well known fact that it can take a professional up to 20 mins to establish their original output level after experiencing an interruption.
Studies also show that individuals who are consistently subjected to interruptions are more likely to be susceptible to reduced memory capacity and are prone to developing mental health problems in later life. We live in an over communicated society and it is imperative that you know the issues this causes before you begin working remotely. When working remotely you must do everything possible to mitigate the risk of being disturbed.
Here are the essentials:
1, Get a consistent schedule, tell everyone about it and stick to it!
Good examples are a consistent time of day when you read or compose and reply to e-mail and make or receive phone calls. Before I began working remotely I used to receive as many as 200 e-mails every 24 hours. Now I think I am unfortunate if I receive over five. To start over with my electronic mail experience I altered my e-mail address and vigorously took precautions to guard the details being passed on to anyone. I then made sure every person who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it prudently. I also configured an automatic reply that swiftly informed anyone sending me mail my routine for processing mail and if someone must have my urgent attention to mark it as ‘Urgent’.
2. Get rid of alerts.
Turn off absolutely everything that can send you a interruption. This includes mobile and
ordinary telephones and forms of alerts from e-mail such as visual alerts, warning sounds, display changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your office and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.
In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – Basic Toolkit’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.
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