Managing Time and Productivity in a Remote Work Environment

Though remote work settings have been around for a few decades, their popularity skyrocketed in 2020, thanks to the pandemic that forced almost the entire workforce around the world to implement remote working. Now, a few years after the pandemic, remote work’s popularity is still high, as many companies have seen the positives it brings to productivity and employee satisfaction.

Its flexibility is one of the main reasons remote work remains popular. It significantly cuts commute time for a lot of employees, giving them more wiggle room to transition into work without being rushed or already exhausted from the commute. However, as heavenly as it sounds, remote work also presents some challenges, such as time management, difficulty in separating work from personal life, and productivity issues.

Whether or not the pros outweigh the cons is up to each individual, but remote work remains popular. The greater flexibility allows employees to be more in charge of their own time. However, it also comes with unique challenges. Remote employees might encounter difficulty separating work and personal life, and poor time management, among others, which can lead to burnout and lower focus. What are actionable steps to combat these issues? This article dives into all about productivity in remote working.

Have a Daily Structure

Not having a structured routine can come with the flexibility remote work provides. In the long run, the lack of a structured routine, such as a clear start and end to a workday, can lead to overwork or procrastination. Once an employee falls into either one, it is more challenging to get back on track. Hence, preventing overwork or procrastination is crucial in having a healthy remote working environment.

Setting a structured routine and doing it consistently helps to differentiate between work and personal life. Each routine can be different for each individual, but doing something along the lines of making coffee, stretching, and eating breakfast before work can help improve focus and prepare the mind for a workday ahead. Setting a routine is beneficial if paired with having a clear start and end working hours. Stepping away from work at a decided time helps keep the structure and prevent work from continuously bleeding into personal time. Work-life balance is key!

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Create an Office Setup

Working remotely or from the comfort of your own home is a massive plus for a lot of employees. However, it is a slippery slope – there is often no clear separation between work and relaxing space, and over time, this can lead to decreased focus. A messy workstation, especially with no separation, can increase distractions. If the space allows, having a designated and tidy work area in your home can significantly help in keeping the focus and productivity high, which leads to better quality output.

A comfortable desk, chair, and good lighting can easily affect how a home office feels. Having a proper and comfortable home office can boost productivity, as it starts from your environment. There are also a handful of ways to maintain focus, such as using noise-canceling headphones and white noise, but this is subjective. Keeping files, both digital and physical, neat is also a factor that boosts productivity as it keeps the working space organized and helps minimize time spent looking for certain objects.

Utilize Time Management Techniques

With flexibility, often comes time management difficulties. A small slip in a disorganized timeline can quickly snowball into missing deadlines and decreased productivity. Other than having a set structure for each workday, noting down (digitally or on paper) tasks can be a great way to track what work needs to be done and the time slots needed to finish them. There are a ton of time management techniques, among those are:

• Pomodoro
  • This technique uses 25-5 (25-minute work and 5-minute rest) or 50-10 structure (50-minute work and 10-minute rest), usually totaling in two or three hours. The time windows help keep the focus high while giving ample time for breaks, with minimum distractions.
• Time Blocking
  • Setting aside a dedicated time slot to finish a certain task, or time blocking, can help improve structure and productivity. It helps keep the focus on only the dedicated task and only to work on it at that time. Other time management techniques are out there for you to explore, and finding one that works for you can help boost productivity and reduce procrastination in the long run.

You vs. Distractions

Distractions are your best friend (or enemy) when working remotely. They include household chores, endless phone notifications, and social media. Multiple studies have been conducted to see the impact of distractions on work productivity, and it is found that even a short 30-second phone break can lead to a 25-minute delay in finding the focus back to continue working.

The act of taking a 30-second break may only take 30 seconds, but the time it takes to regain the focus can truly push your momentum back. This is not to say taking breaks is not necessary; just make sure to take breaks when needed. Taking a short 30-second scroll every 10 minutes of working is not exactly ideal to maintain momentum and finish your to-do list.

You can minimize distractions by locking or time-limiting your social media apps or putting your phone on silent mode. It is crucial to know when you need to take breaks and to take them effectively. In the long run, this will help in increased productivity and efficiency.

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Utilizing Productivity Tools

Keeping track of work tasks is one way to stay organized and productive. Nowadays, there are a ton of digital tools to achieve this goal, and some come with additional features that allow automation and collaboration. The popular ones are Trello, Asana, and Notion, among many others. Utilizing these tools can keep remote workers organized and help keep the remote workflow running smoothly, preventing hiccups and miscommunication between team members.

Considering that communication is a major need in any remote work setting, utilizing productivity tools can be a game-changer. It can be the one place where all relevant information, people, and tasks are stored for all team members, which significantly improves productivity and team coordination in a remote work setting.

Work-Life Balance and Procrastination

Work-life balance and procrastination often go hand-in-hand in any work environment, and a remote work environment is no different. Its flexibility can sometimes blur the line between work and personal life, which can eventually lead to burnout and procrastination. Hence, keeping a sound work structure, such as dedicated start and end of work time, is beneficial to keep the work-life balance.

Procrastination can be caused by being overwhelmed by work tasks, which can really impact productivity. One way to battle this is by breaking each task into smaller tasks to make it more doable. Usually, once the smaller tasks are getting done, you do not realize that the big, overwhelming task is already done. Everything takes time to get the hang of, and the more you do it, the better you get. Consistency is your best friend!

Conclusion

Remote work has been a popular choice for the past few years and is here to stay. More employers and employees see the benefits it gives them, both for the company and individual employees. Its flexibility has been proven to boost productivity and employee satisfaction, which drives good work results.

The integration of remote work is creating new work settings, such as a hybrid setting that balances remote and in-office work for certain days of the workweek, and the use of digital productivity tools that streamline the workflow. Staying focused and having a work-life balance is key to keeping remote work productive and effective. Finding the balance can help you thrive in the remote work environment while maintaining top productivity.

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