5 TIPS TO WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY AS A REMOTE EMPLOYEE

Working from home can be tempting and enviable, because of some very obvious benefits, such as less early rising, movement stress, traffic problems, etc. It makes more productive time available for use, enable you optimize energy and creates a whole new room for more possibilities. However, its still possible to get carried away with your new mode of operation, if you fail to prepare and plan to maintain or even surpass your productivity while in a physical co-work space.

The truth is that every one of us want life at work to be less stressful and uncomplicated, which is exactly what working from home has to offer. Sadly, not all job functions can be executed from your home space, like the professional welders, needed for offshore rig activities. However, for those of us who can seamlessly execute our job functions right from our home space, here are 5 ways to be more effective as a remote employee.

1. Create a routine

2. Carve out your workspace

3. Track your task and productivity

4. Deal with interruption and isolation

5. Eat right, and exercise well

1. Create a Routine: Like me, you could feel tempted to roll-up your duvets in your fully air-conditioned bedroom after the 7:00am alarm, taking permission from yourself and saying just 10 more minutes. Boom!! Its 8’O Clock, what now; so you jump out of the bed, without freshening up and preparing for the day, straight to work.

The human body is wired to adjust and take-in all forms of corrections you wish to make, which is obviously deliberate. If you are like me, as described above, here’s what I did to help me become more effective as a remote employee.

I created a routine, to sleep not later that 10:00pm during the weekdays and rise by 6:00am in the morning. I ensured to take my three-course meals as at when due and the evening meals, earlier than before, to aid digestion before sleep-time. I have also disciplined myself to follow through with the routines and get accustomed to it. It worked!! No more, late rising or reluctance to rising from sleep.

2. Carve out your Workspace: Yes, I’m working from home and possibly from my bedroom, so I feel I should lay on the bed and operate my laptop, because it’s more comfortable and convenient. But, I found out that working from such a position isn’t completely great; I slept off after most times, when I had early breakfast and felt heavy, while the AC was on.

You see, work is work and must not be mixed with pleasure, yes you can play while you work but not an expensive distraction such as sleep during work-hours. Self-discipline is key, as your supervisors also have work to do, than chasing you all around, requesting video call and hourly report to ensure that you are doing your job. So, I decided to embark on self-discipline, carved out a workspace from my room with a table and a chair to help me work from a better position. Yes, it worked again.

3. Track Your Task and Productivity: This time, in addition to my determination for self-discipline, I decided to track my task and productivity as well, which was actually the job of my supervisors. But, to be sure I was productive, I needed to be certain for myself, by breaking down the work load into simpler tasks and allotted quality time to each task as well.

I found out, my mind was less occupied with other things that needs to be done, while focusing on the task at hand. Planning each day’s task ahead into the week and breaking them into simpler tasks, was how I delivered the set objectives outlined by my supervisors for each week.

4. Deal with Interruptions and Isolation: At some point, I had siblings and relatives who came to spend time with me, this did interfere with my job. They intermittently came to ask for one thing or the other, throwing in a lot of distractions during my work time. This is what I did, I put up a sign on my door, “AT WORK, DO NOT DISTURB”; and it helped a great deal, by reducing the frequent knocks on my bedroom door.

I worked straight hours up-till lunch time, took 1 Hour break and afterwards returned to work. Soon I realized, my social life was taking a serious hit from my ”Work from Home” status, I communicated only with clients, colleagues and supervisors, via chats messengers, voice and video calls. All these mediums were virtual and had no physical contact that aids and improves social life. I also discovered that after work-time, I spent the rest of the day and subsequent days roaming inside my apartment, which almost resulted into a social disorder.

Then, I decided to make some adjustments to my routine, by creating a 5 minutes chit-chat in every 2 hours at work-time, and, 2 hours outdoor social experience each day after work was mandatory. This did improve my effectiveness and productivity at work the next day.

5. Eat Right and Exercise Well: Now that I’m beginning to have a more organized lifestyle, I decided to top it up with eating right and exercising well; and here’s what I also noticed, you are what you eat and drink. Only a healthy person is able to work well, and your health is directly related to your eating and drinking habits. If you eat the right amount of vegetables, protein, carbohydrates and other vital minerals or classes of food, good for the body; it sure would result in a healthy living.

Exercise isn’t out of the picture, in fact, it should be engaged in more often because of the limited physical activities attached with working from home. Rising earlier for a road walk, jogging, and other physical exercise is very much advisable to keep the mind, nerves and body parts all greased up and functioning right.

These tips would improve your daily routine and help you pursue a work-life balance amidst other activities associated with living and working effectively. Have a great time working remotely.