It’s easy to see why working remote has become so popular. Not only is this something that more and more people are seeking out for themselves due to the flexibility that it provides, but numerous studies also point to how working remotely has a positive effect on productivity. On the whole, remote workers are more productive than in-office employees, making this working model a win-win for all.
While that may be the case, working remotely requires a certain amount of discipline. That sought-after productivity boost will only occur if you’re strategic about it, harnessing the advantages of remote working while avoiding the pitfalls. How can you do that? Read on as Circle Hub explains!
1. Mix Up Your Environment
One of the biggest benefits of being a remote worker is that you have the freedom to work from anywhere. Be it your house, a local coffee shop, a coworking space, or even a sandy beach, having access to a variety of working environments can do wonders for your productivity.
However, this is something that many remote workers don’t take advantage of. It’s easy to fall into a rut when it comes to where you work, but this monotony will only stall your productivity.
Mixing up your environment every once in a while will have the opposite effect. Spend some days working from home and others working from other locations. A coworking space, like Circle Hub, is great for this as it will immerse you in a professional ambiance. You’ll be surrounded by other people who are being their most productive selves, and this vibe will soon rub off on you. Research confirms this, showing that not only do people find themselves being much more productive after joining a coworking space, but they also tend to be happier.
2. Identify Your Most Productive Hours
Although working from nine to five may be the norm now, these aren’t necessarily the hours during which you feel the most productive. Instead, the eight-hour workday was introduced in the 1800s and went mainstream after Henry Ford adopted it at his car factory. It was actually a way to prevent employees from working for up to 100 hours a week, as this caused productivity to suffer.
However, times have changed since then. Modern-day working life, as well as people’s habits in general, are very different. Some people find that they’re at their best early in the mornings, others prefer to speed through their daily tasks in the afternoons, and a few notice that their productivity soars when they work after dark.
Working remote means that not only do you have control over where you work, but you can also take charge of when you work. Don’t fall into the nine-to-five trap just because this is what other people are doing. Instead, identify the hours during which you’re most productive and then schedule your workday around these times.
This is where having a coworking space that’s open 24/7, like Circle Hub is, can be useful. You can simply turn up at any time and get to work, enabling you to be as productive as possible.
3. Take Time Out For Breaks
As mentioned, working remote means that you get to decide when you work, as well as how long for. As a result, many remote workers go above and beyond when it comes to the hours that they put in. This is why overworking is a big problem among those who work remotely, with this eventually leading to burnout.
The best way to avoid this and to keep yourself as productive as possible is to make sure that you’re setting aside some time each day for breaks. This may seem counterintuitive as you’ll be using up precious work time on not working but, in reality, regular breaks can actually give your productivity a huge push.
Research shows that the way in which a break enables a person to recharge can quickly boost productivity. It interrupts the negative spiral of exhaustion, refreshing and resetting the brain.
This doesn’t mean that you have to set aside a couple of hours each day for breaks. Instead, even a short break of just a few minutes can produce these same productivity-boosting results. However, since fatigue increases as the day wears on, save your shorter breaks for the morning and give yourself slightly longer break times in the afternoons.
What should you do on your breaks? While remaining at your desk and doing a few stretches while browsing social media can help, you’ll experience even better results if you remove yourself from your working environment for a while. Go and grab some lunch, take a walk outside, or simply relax on a sofa in your coworking space’s common area. Once you’re ready to get back to work, you’ll find that you’re able to get more done in a shorter frame of time.
4. Create a Schedule…and Stick to it
It’s much easier to force yourself to take regular breaks when you’ve actually scheduled them into your daily plan. Schedules can be a great way to keep yourself on track, enabling you to be as productive as possible. This will also help with your work-life balance. You’ll be much more likely to stick to healthy working hours if your day has been pre-planned with a schedule.
If you’ve never created a schedule for yourself before, time blocking is a good method to utilize that makes it easy to get started. This time management technique involves dividing your day into various blocks of time. Each block should be designated to a specific task. This will give you a much more concrete plan to follow than an open-ended to-do list would.
Time blocking also means that you won’t waste any time during the day deciding which task to work on – all of this will already have been decided in advance. Not only will you save several precious minutes each day, but you’ll also be much more organized, making you more productive as a result.
5. Connect With Your Team
One of the biggest issues that people have with working remote is isolation. Without the buzz of an office around you, it’s easy to feel cut off from your team. This is why studies have found that feelings of loneliness increase by 67% once a person starts to work remotely full-time. As you can imagine, this can quickly have a detrimental impact on productivity levels.
One way to get around this is to make an effort to connect with your team on a regular basis. Thanks to all of the technology available to us these days, this is now easier than ever. Set up regular video calls with your team members, organizing virtual get-togethers where you can improve your working relationships.
Don’t want your team members to see the messy corner of your kitchen that you’ve converted into a home office? Again, this is where being a member of a coworking space can be incredibly helpful. You’ll be able to book a private office space or a conference room for an hour, giving you enough privacy to carry out your video call without breaking the bank. The sense of connectivity that this will give you will undoubtedly also have your productivity skyrocketing!
6. Don’t Try to Multitask
It’s easy to understand why people assume that multitasking enables you to be more productive. However, the truth is that multitasking is a big myth. It’s something that humans can’t actually do, even though it may seem as though many people effortlessly pull it off.
The human brain simply isn’t wired to do more than one thing at a time. You may think that you’re multitasking but, in reality, all you’re doing is rapidly switching your brain between different tasks. This can sometimes happen in just 1/10th of a second, making it difficult to identify when the switch occurs. However, each time your brain jumps from one task to another, this affects your productivity.
The solution is single-tasking – the opposite of multitasking. Rather than trying to get lots of different tasks done at the same time, focus on just one. Give that task all of your attention, limiting your access to emails, social media, and other apps if needed. Consider putting a pause on your notifications too as these can be extremely distracting. Not only will single-tasking improve your productivity, but it will also have you feeling more creative and inspired!
7. Develop a Solid Wellness Plan
Most productivity strategies aimed at people who are working remote focus on methods that can be implemented during the workday, like those that we’ve shared above. However, what you do in your spare time can also be hugely influential on your productivity when you’re working.
Exercise is a great example. It produces a number of different changes in the brain. Not only will it calm you down and enable you to release built-up stress, but it will also enhance your mood and send your productivity soaring.
With that said, a single workout every few weeks isn’t going to cut it. In order to reap these rewards, exercising needs to be a regular part of your life. This is where a wellness plan can really help. Research shows that remote workers who have a good wellness plan notice that their productivity increases by 27.88%. This impressive figure confirms just how effective even a quick midday workout can be.
Find yourself a coworking space with an on-site gym, such as Circle Hub, and this becomes even easier. It will make it so much more convenient to squeeze a quick workout into your day, making it more likely that this will soon become a regular habit for you.
Summary
Although working remote comes with some challenges, the way in which this working model can significantly boost a person’s productivity adds great appeal. With that said, this productivity surge doesn’t happen automatically. Remote workers need to put some effort in by utilizing the tips above. It may feel like a hassle at first but follow these strategies for long enough and they’ll soon become second nature, allowing you to enjoy your enhanced productivity for the long term.
Want to boost your productivity even more? Click here to book a tour of Circle Hub’s coworking spaces today!