The top reason workers fail to adjust to operating remotely is they don’t see the criticality of having good organisation and solid self management.
I have been working remotely for more than six years since I first uncovered Quickbooks online an 'on demand' small business accounting software online system and was motivated by the fact that if you can perform accounting on the web then why shouldn’t it be practical to do other key types of of work away from the conventional office?
Whilst working remotely has substantial gains there are numerous pitfalls which lead to problems that result in decreased work output and lower motivation. The key reason for reductions in work output from remote professionals is interruption and it is a confirmed and well publicised fact that it can take a employee up to 0.33 hours to establish their original efficiency level after experiencing an interruption.
Studies also show that members of both sexes who are regularly experience disruptions are more likely to be susceptible to lower memory power and are prone to developing mental health issues in later life. We live in an over communicated time and it is imperative that you are aware of the problems this causes before you decide to work remotely. When working remotely you have to do everything feasible to minimise the threat of being disturbed.
Here are things that really do work:
1, Get a habit, communicate it to absolutely everyone and obsessively maintain it!
Good examples are a specific time of day when you review or write and send electronic mail and make or receive phone calls. Before I began working remotely I used to receive up to a couple of hundred e-mails every 24 hours. Now I think I am unfortunate if I get over four. To ‘restart’ my e-mail experience I altered my e-mail address and obsessively took steps to protect the details being passed on to anyone. I then ‘trained’ every party who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it wisely and sparingly. I also set up an automatic reply that swiftly informed anyone sending me mail my schedule for processing mail and if something must have my immediate attention to mark it as ‘Urgent’.
2. Get rid of alerts.
Turn off absolutely everything that can send you a visual or audible alert. This includes mobile and
conventional telephones and types of alerts from e-mail such as display events, warning sounds, screen changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your study and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.
In 'Remote Working Part 3 – My list of essentials' I will reveal my favourite tools and software.
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