Remote workers gain many advantages, such as flexibility, avoiding commutes, and the opportunity to work from any location. However, if you are new to being a remote worker, it does come with challenges. One of those is staying motivated to increase your productivity. It is often more difficult to stay productive when you are working by yourself. So, here are eight great ways that you can increase your productivity
as a remote worker.
1. Stick to a Routine
If you want to maximize your productivity as a remote worker, you need to get into a routine as much as you would for spending the day in the office. Why? Because without a routine, the line between your work life and your home life will become blurred. If you get up when you want and stay in your pajamas all day, for example, you will not feel as though you are in work mode. As a result, your productivity can suffer. So, set a routine that works for you and stick to it.
The more you stay on the same schedule each day, the more you can increase your focus and productivity. And, even if your desk is only a few feet away from your bed, make the effort to shower and get dressed each morning to get into work preparation mode.
2. Play Online Games Like Freecell Challenge Games
By keeping your brain active, you can improve your mental health. In turn, that can make you more productive. There are a number of brainteasers, puzzles, and games you can play online to keep your mind sharp. Such games can also be a good way of switching off from work at lunchtime or at the end of the day.
One such online game you can play for mental sharpness is Freecell solitaire, which is available at Freecell Challenge. The card game solitaire can calm your mind and help you to develop better decision-making and strategic skills. Play such games for a short while each workday and your alertness and productivity could see a marked improvement.
3. Define Your Boundaries
One of the biggest challenges of remote working can be finding a space you can use effectively as an office. You not only need to think about the space itself. You also need to consider things like the noise level. If you live with others, you will ideally want to set up an office in a spare room instead of working from the lounge. You might even consider working from a local coffee shop. Wherever you choose to work, make sure you feel comfortable in the space so that you can be fully focused and productive. It is a good idea to consider investing in a high-quality noise-canceling headset so you can completely focus on the work at hand.
If you are working from home, it is also important to prevent intrusions into your designated workspace. Whether you have a room devoted as an office or are using the corner of your bedroom as your office area, make sure others in your household know not to disturb you during work hours. By defining your boundaries, you ensure you can increase your productivity.
4. Get the Right Equipment and Tools
If you are working from home, having a designated office space can help you to focus and be more productive. But even if you are simply using your laptop on the kitchen table, it is important you have the right equipment. For instance, you should invest in a comfortable ergonomic chair that will allow you to sit up straight and concentrate on your work while also cushioning your body in the right places.
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You need to have the right tools, too. Make sure your company provides you with good cloud-based software and apps that can help remote workers to communicate, share information, and handle task management easily. When you have the right tools for the job, you will naturally become more productive.
5. Communicate with Your Coworkers and Boss Regularly
Having the right tools can also help you to communicate with your coworkers and boss. Remote working has many advantages, but it can get lonely. Because you do not have the opportunity to hang out with colleagues at the water cooler or knock on your boss’s office door to ask a quick question, it is crucial you make the effort to communicate with others remotely on a regular basis.
Of course, you will need to communicate about things like milestones and deadlines, but you also need to make sure you simply check in with your boss and have informal chats with your coworkers. The more you feel a part of the team and have human interaction, through tools like video chat and email, the more you will naturally increase your productivity.
6. Avoid Virtual Distractions
Distractions do not only come from people in the same household. They also come via the form of things like email and social media updates. As a remote worker, you will mostly be tied to devices all day long, so you need to ensure your work life and leisure life are separate. If you spend a chunk of your day looking at your friends’ posts on social media platforms and responding to messages, your productivity will soon spiral downwards.
It is best practice to log out of all non-work-related accounts and turn off your personal cell phone so that you are not tempted to engage with non-work matters during work time. The more focused and less distracted you are by other things, the more you can increase your productivity.
7. Ensure You Take Breaks
When you work remotely by yourself, it can be easy to forget to take breaks. Indeed, if you are in the middle of an important project, you may think it is better to keep going. But if you do not take regular breaks in the same way as you would at the workplace, you will soon burn out and have much less energy to be productive in the long run.
Take short breaks in the morning and afternoon to stand up, stretch, and get drinks and snacks. Remember to take time to have lunch as well. You need food to fuel your body and stay focused. So, do not forget to take breaks and do not overlook eating if you want to stay productive and perform at your best.
8. Get Outside and Exercise
Without the commute to work and physical interaction with your coworkers, you will be spending a lot more time by yourself indoors as a remote worker. So, it is important that you get outside at least once a day. If you can, take a walk in nature at the end of your workday because mounting research shows spending time in nature lowers stress and clears the mind. But just getting outside can have a similar effect. Any form of exercise also reduces stress, so go for a walk or short run each day.
Manage your evenings so that you can destress and look after your physical and mental health. You might be surprised at how doing simple things like exercising and getting outside can majorly impact your productivity.
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