Remote Working Part 2 – Things you should know about managing yourself

The most cited reason individuals fail to adjust to working remotely is they don’t realise the neccesity of high-quality organisation and solid self management.

I have been operating remotely for nearly 8 yrs since I first discovered Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software online system and was energised by the fact that if you can do accounting on the web then why shouldn’t it be possible to perform other key types of of work at a distance?

Whilst working remotely has a lot of positives there are numerous mistakes that people make which evolve into issues that cause cuts in productivity and reduced morale. The key reason for low productivity in remote professionals is distraction and it is a verified and well publicised fact that it can take a professional up to 20 mins to return to their original productivity level after experiencing an interruption.

Research also shows that people who are continuously affected by disturbances are more likely to be susceptible to reduced memory ability and are prone to developing mental health trouble in later life. We live in an over communicated environment and it is important that you recognise the issues this causes before you commence working remotely. When operating remotely you should do everything possible to mitigate the risk of being distracted.

Here are the essentials:

1, Get a routine, make sure that everybody knows it and obsessively maintain it!

Good examples are a regular time of day when you review or write and send electronic mail and make or will accept telephone calls. Before I began working remotely I used to get nearly 200 e-mails over a period of twenty four hours. Now I think I am unfortunate if I get over four. To start over with my e-mail experience I modified my e-mail address and obsessively took steps to look after the details being made available to anyone. I then made sure everyone who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it with special care. I also created an auto-responder that swiftly told anyone sending me mail my routine for processing mail and if an e-mail should have my urgent attention to mark it as ‘Urgent’.

2. Get rid of alerts.

Disable every function that can send you a visual or audible alert. This includes cell and
ordinary handsets and types of alerts from electronic mail such as on screen pop ups, warning sounds, screen changes to your inbox list 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 – Basic Toolkit’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.

Remote Working Part 1 – The Rough Guide – Summary

Obviously not everyone is able to work remotely as many types of employment require us to be at their employers premises or travel to perform their duties in person. But for those of us have the chance to work remotely then I thought it would be useful to share what I have learned and share some practical wisdom by putting it on the Internet in the hope that I could give others helpful timesavers for adapting to remote working or managing remote workers.

I must tell you you that there are a lot of so called ’experts’ online who will try and sell you videos for large sums of money, believe me you don’t need to do this.

I am lucky enough to be allowed to work in whatever location I choose and just about everyone who asks me what work I do wants to get an idea of how I am able to work remotely. Don’t get the wrong idea I am still improving the science of remote working as each day I meet persons on the net who teach me new tricks and I am constantly finding new software and processes that make my life easier and improve my productivity.

In the past seven years I have steadily adapted my working processes to enable me to do all of my work remotely with a mixture of web tools and robust self discipline. One day whilst surfing the Internet I uncovered Quickbooks online and this made me aware of what just might be possible. The encounter with ’hosted’ ‘on demand’ small business accounting software was a special moment for me and the start of my ‘remote working history.

I have to say up front that effectively working remotely is as much about the software as it is about self management. Working remotely also means getting across to your colleagues, superiors and clients as to what they can expect and how they will interact with you.

In ‘Remote Working Part 2 – Staying focused and maintaining concentration’ I discuss how to focus.