Remote Working Part 2 – The art of working smarter | VOIP Phone Service Information and Reviews

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Remote Working Part 2 – The art of working smarter

Saturday, August 8th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

The number one reason workers fail to adjust to operating remotely is they fail to see the need for first class organisation and solid self discipline.

I have been working remotely for almost a decade since I first uncovered Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software web application and was motivated by the fact that if you can perform accounting on the Internet then why shouldn’t it be possible to perform other key types of of work remotely?

Whilst working remotely has significant advantages there are numerous pitfalls which evolve into issues that cause cuts in productivity and lower motivation. The major reason for low work output from remote employees is disruption and it is a established and well known fact that it can take a employee up to twenty minutes to establish their original output level after experiencing a distraction.

Research also shows that people who are continuously affected by disruptions are more likely to be susceptible to decreased memory ability and are prone to developing mental health trouble in later life. We live in an over communicated society and it is important that you recognise the issues this causes before you commence working remotely. Whilst working remotely you must do everything possible to reduce the jeopardy of being interrupted.

Here are the essentials:

1, Get a habit, make sure that everybody knows it and rigidly adhere to it!

Good examples are a specific time of day when you look at or write and send electronic mail and make or will accept phone conversatiions. Before I began working remotely I used to get as many as hundreds of electronic mails over a period of twenty four hours. Now I think I am unfortunate if I receive more than 4. To ’reset’ my e-mail experience I modified my e-mail address and tenaciously took steps to look after the details being made known to anyone. I then ‘trained’ everyone 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 attending to mail and if an item required my urgent awareness to mark it as ‘Urgent’.

2. Get rid of alerts.

Disable every possible mechanism that can send you a perceptible alert. This includes mobile and
ordinary phones and types of alerts from electronic mail such as on screen pop ups, audible warnings, display changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your work room and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.

In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – Basic Toolkit’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.

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