Photo by Christopher Gower on Unsplash

Taking the Remoteness out of Working Remotely — The Dawn of an Old Era

As the title suggests, working remotely is nothing new. In fact ever since I read the Netflix culture deck discussing freedom and responsibility that was featured on HBR back in 2014, I was sold.

Life during and after the Coronavirus has hit us all quite suddenly. I say suddenly as most of pretty much ignored what was playing out before us. I did.

The impact on our personal and work lives is immediate and real all of a sudden. Facts don’t lie and anyone with even the slightest bit of sensibility is waking up.

Schools are now adopting homeschooling practices, offices are working from home, and even governments are working virtually with the announcement of a virtual gathering of G-7 foreign ministers.

Working from home can be productive if certain habits and practices are followed. Below are some tips and suggestions that I feel help with productivity.

Ranked in order of my importance :)

1. Be clear about your working hours to yourself. Post your hours of operation on your desk or work station (for friends and/or family at home), or in the Haachi #hr Slack channel (for us at work) — Be strict with your timings. Useful Tip — Add in calls and important things you need to do by a certain time into your calendar.
2. Get dressed as if you are going to work. Stick to you shower, breakfast and other morning routines. Get dressed as if you were going to your office — this makes the home office feel real, and tells and reminds everyone, especially you, that you are working. Useful Tip — lavender or peppermint oils infusers help keep you going.
3. Organise your desk/table. Having your work area look like a ‘work area’ helps me get in the work mode. Tea or coffee next to me. Water bottle. Note pad and pen. Phone (on silent). You get the gist. Useful Tip for — Clear your table of any non work clutter.
4. Make a To-Do List. Identify what needs to get done the night before or first thing in the morning. As long as there’s a plan to complete the list of daily tasks on your personal to-do list, it doesn’t matter if or how you may be interrupted, as long as you get things done by the end of the day. Hold yourself to completing your list. Useful Tip for Slack users — Star comments/chats to make them your tasks.
5. Use the cloud and not locally stored files. Documents need to be uploaded to Google Drive (or another cloud-based solution). This way you can log in from anywhere and never need to worry about having your files with you. Useful Tip — Get on to Google Suite. It’s a game-changer.
6. Check-in with co-workers and the boss several times a day. Nothing beats a video conference with your team (see #6). This connection helps take the remoteness out of working remotely ;) It could even be a quick video of an update in Slack or aspect of your to-do list. Useful Tip — Tell others at home not to disturb you, or lock yourself into a room for the call.
7. Use Google Hangouts or WhatsApp Video. Video chatting versus a call is much better. With Google Hangouts being an excellent medium for doing it. You can call up to 10 people for free, so take advantage of that. You can also share your screen with others. Useful Tip — Keep yourself on mute when not talking. The call is smoother with less ambient noise for others.
8. Keep friend visits to a minimum (preferably none). Use your breaks (lunch) to meet with friends. If they show up at your house just tell them you are working and that “it is not a good time”. They will understand. Useful Tip —Change your WhatsApp status to ‘busy at work’ or something relevant to limit disruptions.
9. Don’t go to non-work appointments in the middle of the day. Try to make doctor and dentist appointments just as you would in a company office, first thing in the morning, last thing in the day to minimise disruptions of your work.
10. Pretend you’re not home. Don’t answer your home phone or door during business hours. That way, you are never tempted to chat or take time off or slack off in any way, and you remain focused on your work. Useful Tip— Keep your phone on vibrate during work.
11. Enjoy your flexibility. Find your focus wavering? Take a break. Come back when your energy levels are back. Just remember that to-do list ;) Useful Tip — Decide upfront what activity you will do during these break times.
12. Stay out of the kitchen. Discipline yourself to get done what you need to get done; the discipline to avoid the kitchen; the discipline to kick your drop-in friends out. Useful Tip— Keep a bag of peanuts or whatever healthy snacks take your fancy. Drink lots of water to stave off the hunger pangs :)
13. Use a noise-cancelling headset with a mute button. Avoid outside noises in an online meeting or have the doorbell ring or police sirens blaring in the background — This is especially critical when you are talking to someone at a larger organisation. People can’t visualise your home but they can certainly visualise an office, and that is exactly what you want them to [see and hear]. Useful Tip— find a playlist you can listen to that keeps you working and less distracted.

For Haachi, these are NOT mandatory, just suggestions to our staff so they can have a more productive and fulfilling day working from home :)

We would love to hear about any other tips or habits we should be practising.

Be safe.