How to be more effective working remotely.

[justdimin]

The best way to decrease effectiveness of working remotely is to decrease amount of elements that can distract. Working place must be far away from kitchen, food or TV. Separate room is a must. Also, dress code is necessary. If you work from home dressed in sleepwear, lays on sofa - then your working day wont be productive. Your remote work will be sort of a working from vacation.

I would suggest to simulate office working day while working remotely. Work from separate room, dress appropriately (jeans + t-shirt is ok), make timetable (when you have a lunch and 15min rest). Otherwise remote work will be not a proper work, but an addition to relaxing at home.

I do this mostly, I am away from kitchen or living room or anything, I have an "office room" of my own where I just have my books, and my PC, and I keep working here with closed doors because it allows me to just focus on the good parts of the working day, and doesn't have any distractions. However sometimes PC itself could be distraction, there are so many websites you could go to and get distracted, a simple youtube search could literally cause you to lose hours upon hours, so you should be careful.

I disagree on clothes, many people say it but I never liked it, not only it doesn't work, it also makes me feel uncomfortable and unless the point is to be uncomfortable enough to want to finish work quick so you can take the clothes off, it doesn't work for me.

[1715297547]

1715297547

[Sanitough]

Working from home has actually become a double-edged sword to a lot of workers. It would have been better if working from home remains to have fixed time setup. The problem is that there isn't to many workers. I have heard of complaints from teachers here in my place that working from home has actually made them a lot busier than it was when they worked at school. They're now heavily loaded that the time they're spending working has actually increased. So while you're working from the comforts of your home, it isn't a big deal since you're still too absorbed in your work.

Well, it might give an advantage for some but for others, it may end up ineffective. Especially if you have other responsibilities to be done at home, then your main job will be compromised and become less priority. The reason why some workers still want to go out and work in their own working places because that’s the only way that they can focus to finish their jobs without the intervention of others.

[dunfida]

Working from home has actually become a double-edged sword to a lot of workers. It would have been better if working from home remains to have fixed time setup. The problem is that there isn't to many workers. I have heard of complaints from teachers here in my place that working from home has actually made them a lot busier than it was when they worked at school. They're now heavily loaded that the time they're spending working has actually increased. So while you're working from the comforts of your home, it isn't a big deal since you're still too absorbed in your work.

Well, it might give an advantage for some but for others, it may end up ineffective. Especially if you have other responsibilities to be done at home, then your main job will be compromised and become less priority. The reason why some workers still want to go out and work in their own working places because that’s the only way that they can focus to finish their jobs without the intervention of others.

When working remotely then the main thing that would really be affected is about socialism + health which would really be both of those things will really be making some adjustment which you should really be that watchful specially into your health and since there's no much activity nor movement you would really be making then it would be sensible that for you to take care of your health at least then basic exercise is needed.
Its true that working from home does really give out that convenience but its true that there are people who doesnt really like on having this system but rather much preferred on dealing with other co-workers
which they can make out some interaction rather than making themselves been spoiled on their own homes.Well, it does really vary on someones preference and options.

[bakasabo]

The best way to decrease effectiveness of working remotely is to decrease amount of elements that can distract. Working place must be far away from kitchen, food or TV. Separate room is a must. Also, dress code is necessary. If you work from home dressed in sleepwear, lays on sofa - then your working day wont be productive. Your remote work will be sort of a working from vacation.

I would suggest to simulate office working day while working remotely. Work from separate room, dress appropriately (jeans + t-shirt is ok), make timetable (when you have a lunch and 15min rest). Otherwise remote work will be not a proper work, but an addition to relaxing at home.

I do this mostly, I am away from kitchen or living room or anything, I have an "office room" of my own where I just have my books, and my PC, and I keep working here with closed doors because it allows me to just focus on the good parts of the working day, and doesn't have any distractions. However sometimes PC itself could be distraction, there are so many websites you could go to and get distracted, a simple youtube search could literally cause you to lose hours upon hours, so you should be careful.

I disagree on clothes, many people say it but I never liked it, not only it doesn't work, it also makes me feel uncomfortable and unless the point is to be uncomfortable enough to want to finish work quick so you can take the clothes off, it doesn't work for me.

Then it is very individual with the clothes. They way I dress for working remotely makes me feel like I am working from real office, but it is Friday and we have several hours left of work. I have tried the such routine as: wake up - immediately turn on laptop - login to working area - went doing breakfast. It all lead to me spending whole day in sleeping underwear, doing everything except work. Like lazy Sunday. That is all to due to habits and lack of discipline. Of course I am allowed to go to work in shorts, flip flops and a t-shirt with funny sign. But that all will trigger "inner me" not to take work seriously.

[Silberman]

I have been working remotely for past few month - it is the most difficult thing in my entire career.
The point you have mentioned it very valid - one should be properly dressed before the meeting and before the work - because it adds to your performance
I have noticed that when I work in my night suite I m more lazy but if I shower and change my dress  - I am. more active.

I suppose that it depends on your preferences, personally I find not having to commute or dressing up to be very refreshing, as I can perform my job very well regardless of what I'm wearing when I am working, but I can understand why some people may not like this and could prefer to dress up and follow the same routine they have followed for years on their regular job, even if it isn't absolutely necessary since they are working from home.

The stress and the hassle on getting up on bed early and make those usual routine specially on daily commute is really gone when you do work remotely and thats the beauty of it which it cant really be
that stressful on your part but in exchange which you do work on a space where you are just the only one on that certain place or on your bedroom which other people find out to be that too boring
on doing such thing which i couldnt really blame them on because there are really times which we do really love to socialize and interact with other people thats why they do really prefer on going into
certain job sites and do able to see and feel the ambiance with other people but since there are ones who are lonely types or just love to work solo then its up to your choice.
We do have different preference and interest in life.

I really think that's the most difficult part of working remotely, even if people complain a lot about their coworkers and what happens at the office at the same time it is a source of great enjoyment for those which work in a healthy work environment, so working remotely can be a great pain for people like that, however since in theory you have more free time available due to not having to commute to your job you could always use part of that time to gather with those coworkers once in a while and maintain the positive relationship that you had.

[ololajulo]

I also create a focused work space by finding friends (3-4) who work remotely and stay close to me to share a workspace with. To help us stay focused and create a productive working environment for each other, I suggested that we switch homes every week. Taking short breaks is difficult when working together, but doing so together encourages focus

[Davian144]

I also create a focused work space by finding friends (3-4) who work remotely and stay close to me to share a workspace with. To help us stay focused and create a productive working environment for each other, I suggested that we switch homes every week. Taking short breaks is difficult when working together, but doing so together encourages focus

I think it also depends on what kind of work you are in or what you are running, because if you work in a team that requires a work team, you definitely need several people to focus on achieving the desired target. But if it's a job that doesn't require more people and results that aren't bad either, I don't think it's necessary to use so many people to get focused and satisfying results. Although working with a team or several people is easier to do because you can assign specific tasks for them to carry out.

[Dunamisx]

I see working remotely as an opportunity to cut living and working expenses down in other to be able to achieve some savings by maintain the same quality of production outputs, this is actually my own definition and understanding that interpret working remotely, there have been many people who work in the major cities for years of nothing to show forth, no savings and no advancement, but i believe even in that remote area, development will soon get there and things begin to change for good with time, for every success, there must be a starting ground.

[KingsDen]

I see working remotely as an opportunity to cut living and working expenses down in other to be able to achieve some savings by maintain the same quality of production outputs, this is actually my own definition and understanding that interpret working remotely, there have been many people who work in the major cities for years of nothing to show forth, no savings and no advancement, but i believe even in that remote area, development will soon get there and things begin to change for good with time, for every success, there must be a starting ground.

You are correct. Bur when I went through some comments here, it looked as if working from home is a favour to only the employees. No, the employers and the company benefits also.

• In terms of expenses or total cost of production, is reduced because costs like transportation, welfare and others are reduced
• The risk level is reduced. Ranging from transportation risk, to and fro work to internal accidents that accour at work. A muster point that houses 20 workers may have only 8 because of working from home.

So, it is an advantage to both the company and the employees.

[coolcoinz]

Of course both parties benefit but I think that the employee gets more out of it. When a company has people available physically, they're able to represent them if somebody pays them a visit, you can make someone go somewhere, to another company, to the government office. Think of it like moving pawns on the board. When you're all at the office the boss can physically move those pawns, you can check their work as you go. For the employee it sucks because the boss is always watching them, it depends on the company though. Software development companies usually find it easy to move to remote work because people there are used to working alone and brainstorming ideas on meetups and conferences, which can be done just as good online.

[mich]

Although many people would prefer to work remotely, I think it's better for me to have a day job where you have to report to an office. I feel more focused because I will have assignments and deadlines that have to complete.

And would also be less likely to get the job done if I were surrounded by other people distracting me or trying to get my attention. Sounds strange but I get more work done and not looking at my phone because I am busy at an office.

[bakasabo]

Although many people would prefer to work remotely, I think it's better for me to have a day job where you have to report to an office. I feel more focused because I will have assignments and deadlines that have to complete.

And would also be less likely to get the job done if I were surrounded by other people distracting me or trying to get my attention. Sounds strange but I get more work done and not looking at my phone because I am busy at an office.

I agree with everything you've said. Even employers state that the best way of effective work is the work at the office, because employees have higher sense of responsibility, they are less distracted, more focused on result, and most important, employees job can be controlled. An employee, even if he has no tasks to do, will at least do something while working at the office. Employers money will be well spent. Without task, an employee at home will do what ever he wants and get paid for nothing.

[Dunamisx]

I see working remotely as an opportunity to cut living and working expenses down in other to be able to achieve some savings by maintain the same quality of production outputs, this is actually my own definition and understanding that interpret working remotely, there have been many people who work in the major cities for years of nothing to show forth, no savings and no advancement, but i believe even in that remote area, development will soon get there and things begin to change for good with time, for every success, there must be a starting ground.

You are correct. Bur when I went through some comments here, it looked as if working from home is a favour to only the employees. No, the employers and the company benefits also.

• In terms of expenses or total cost of production, is reduced because costs like transportation, welfare and others are reduced
• The risk level is reduced. Ranging from transportation risk, to and fro work to internal accidents that accour at work. A muster point that houses 20 workers may have only 8 because of working from home.

So, it is an advantage to both the company and the employees.

That's an insightful taught, both ends benefit from the service, then one can have enough time for self to think, test, plan and engage doing other things that could aid a good living with a freedom of self reliance, work environment is always good because you have the opportunity of meeting with people and through such you learn from them but the hardship and challenges in it is more than the benefits it offers, working remotely gives you time to develop your abilities and work effectively on them.

[Zlantann]

Distractions and lack of boundaries

My worst period was during the Covid-19 pandemic when I was working from home. And the greatest challenge was a distraction from my children. They were homeschooling and it was so frustrating that I had to shift my work period to late in the night or early hours of the morning. Working from home is not a good option for me now because I still have young children at home, maybe it would be a good option in four years' time.

Loneliness and isolation

This could be a blessing or a curse based on the behaviour of the individual. Isolation is my least worry. I can stay alone for days without feeling bored. Infact working alone makes more effective and efficient because it reduces distractions. This could only be a problem for mainly extroverts and very sociable people.

Find the right space
Set a schedule
Get dressed
Plan breaks
Communicate, communicate, communicate

All these points are valid except Get dressed. You are alone at home and nobody is seeing you so why do you need to get dressed. You just need to put on what is comfortable and convenient at that time. Even during zoom meeting your just need to look good in the part that is visible to the viewers.


Managers take group picture with outfits they use for zoom meeting  




https://www.legit.ng/people/1451351-managers-take-group-picture-with-outfits-they-used-zoom-meeting-result-hilarious/

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Those are decent suggestions, OP, but they assume the worker has enough space in their house/apartment to dedicate to their working remotely.  Think about all the people who live in one-room apartments around the world.  There's no practical way I can think of to make a workspace and a living space (though I've never had to before).

Dressing professionally in spite of the lack of need to would be a boost to productivity I'd think.  I've heard phrases like "dress for success" and "the clothes make the man" all my life, and they've gone in one ear and out the other, but I do know there's a psychological benefit to putting on a shirt and tie (if you're a man) or just generally not dressing like a slob if you're focused on work.

How I envy those people who have big houses with spare rooms that can be turned into offices.  Wish I had something like that.

All these points are valid except Get dressed. You are alone at home and nobody is seeing you so why do you need to get dressed.

Necessary, no.  Beneficial, you'd be surprised.  Maybe those people in the picture are the exception, but honestly....just based on that photo, there's no way to know how productive they are or if it would help them to dress up.  I bet you it would.

[worldofcoins]

Working from home has actually become a double-edged sword to a lot of workers. It would have been better if working from home remains to have fixed time setup. The problem is that there isn't to many workers. I have heard of complaints from teachers here in my place that working from home has actually made them a lot busier than it was when they worked at school. They're now heavily loaded that the time they're spending working has actually increased. So while you're working from the comforts of your home, it isn't a big deal since you're still too absorbed in your work.

To workers who are willing to stay at home and do their work to get the job they want, then I hardly doubt it's a problem for them.
Unless the people who're lazy get work from home and they ruin their daily job then that's a different story.

To sum it up I think it's good if people don't be lazy and do what they're supposed to either it's at home or through office, we'll develop a good society that way.

[Raflesia]

Find the right space
Set a schedule
Get dressed
Plan breaks
Communicate, communicate, communicate

All these points are valid except Get dressed. You are alone at home and nobody is seeing you so why do you need to get dressed. You just need to put on what is comfortable and convenient at that time. Even during zoom meeting your just need to look good in the part that is visible to the viewers.


Managers take group picture with outfits they use for zoom meeting  

https://www.legit.ng/people/1451351-managers-take-group-picture-with-outfits-they-used-zoom-meeting-result-hilarious/

lol looks like eccentric but that's the reality when we work at home and I can't deny that I also do things like this because when we work at home, for example, when we are in a meeting, of course we have to dress neatly and what we see is definitely the body parts above so that indeed other body parts that are not highlighted by the camera do not need to follow to make it look matching because we are at home and no one sees it

[lixer]

As someone who works remotely, having a quiet environment especially away from distraction will provide more efficiency in my task however it doesn't mean that you should isolate yourself among other people but rather to be able to have enough quiet environment to focus on. Yes, it is hard to work if your children are asking for this and that and playing which could distract from our work but still having someone around or beside you is a great thing to have if you're working remotely.

There are some tips that I do to avoid distractions during the day, without the noise and of course the kids fall asleep quickly. Night tends to be more effectively used for work. Well, that's what I've been doing since the 2020 pandemic started. I changed the pattern of working time moved tonight (stay up). The stillness of the night and the cool atmosphere gave me a much better level of focus. No need to isolate yourself from the people around you. We just need to manage time as ideally as possible.

Sometimes I love to work at night as well because it's more peaceful but the only enemy we have at night is that we are feeling sleepy and it's also cold too when it's passed 1 am in the morning. Also when I sleep during the day time, I have a difficulty of doing it because it's now noisy outside and then it is also hot when it's passed 10 am in the morning.

I wake up during these times many times because I can feel the heat inside my room. This is why I revert my schedule again back to morning even if there are some noise, only because I want to sleep peacefully at night. Our brain will function properly if we have a good sleep and our eyes doesn't hurt too the next day.

[imamusma]

Those are decent suggestions, OP, but they assume the worker has enough space in their house/apartment to dedicate to their working remotely.  Think about all the people who live in one-room apartments around the world.  There's no practical way I can think of to make a workspace and a living space (though I've never had to before).

So far I don't have remote work, but I seem to be starting to understand how busy a remote worker can be to manage his time. Over time I can say that the informal work we do at home will make a worker lose more time to relax. Honestly, that's one of the problems I'm facing at the moment and sometimes I also forget about the time off.

But the most positive thing I can think of when this work is done at home is, better quality and results. I used to prefer login to forum and make posting when is out house, it never really made me focus on quality, but as far as I started to focus on login in at home then I can post something that makes more sense than before. Although I don't think of this forum as a workplace, but when I have a focus then I really enjoy it as something more and more fun.

[South Park]

Sometimes I love to work at night as well because it's more peaceful but the only enemy we have at night is that we are feeling sleepy and it's also cold too when it's passed 1 am in the morning. Also when I sleep during the day time, I have a difficulty of doing it because it's now noisy outside and then it is also hot when it's passed 10 am in the morning.

I wake up during these times many times because I can feel the heat inside my room. This is why I revert my schedule again back to morning even if there are some noise, only because I want to sleep peacefully at night. Our brain will function properly if we have a good sleep and our eyes doesn't hurt too the next day.

Even if everything was perfect a lot of people have problems switching their sleeping hours as we are programmed to sleep when there is darkness and to wake up when there is light outside, so regardless of the circumstances most people will suffer insomnia or other sleeps disorders as this is something really difficult to overcome, and I say this because of my own experience as well as I have also worked a night shift and while you can do this for a time eventually you get to the point in which you cannot do it anymore.