Working remotely comes with tons of freedom, such as being able to wear almost whatever you want while working. As a result, it’s easy to get all too comfortable and start slacking off.
This applies especially if you’re working from home (WFH), and distractions are practically everywhere. Netflix, the tasty snacks in your fridge and your oh-so-comfy bed: they’re all calling your name.
Before you know it, half the day will have flown by without you doing a single productive thing!
Great freedom calls for the need for great discipline, so check out these 3 tips for being a more efficient remote worker—no matter which part of the planet (or your house) you may be in.
1. Decide on a work schedule
As a remote worker, you may not be required to follow the typical 9-to-5 office hours. Instead, you’re free to work at any time of the day as long as you get your job done.
This sounds fantastic, until you find yourself telling yourself “just one more episode of The Good Place”, which stretches into a full TV binge session—and you being late for a virtual meeting as a result.
To avoid this, plan a schedule for your workdays and commit to sticking to it. For example, you could decide to structure your workday in the following manner:
- 8am to 11am: Work
- 11am to 1pm: Have lunch and walk the dog
- 1pm to 3pm: Work
- 3pm to 4pm: Take a coffee break
- 4pm to 6pm: Work
- 6pm: Knock off for the day!
2. Create a planner
Once you’ve decided on your work schedule, write it down in a planner so you can refer to it anytime. After all, you can’t stick to a schedule that you can’t remember!
Don’t have a planner? No problem. We’ve got a wide range of planner templates that you can use to create a completely personalized planner. You can design your planner to keep track of your full work schedule, or the dates and times of your video calls, or even your urgent responsibilities—the choice is completely yours.
When you’ve designed your planner, you can download it to the device of your choice. You can also go one step further and print out your planner for sticking near your desk. This way, you’ll see your schedule and be reminded of what you should be doing at a particular time of the day.
3. Set aside time to exercise daily
As you get caught up with work, it’s easy to end up sitting at your desk for hours. Needless to say, this is an unhealthy practice that is also a recipe for developing body aches over time.
So you’ll need to get up and move every now and then! Even just getting out of your chair and walking a few rounds around the house every hour can do wonders in relieving stress and tense muscles.
Apart from this, make it a point to exercise daily. You can exercise before or after work, or even in between work, whatever suits you best. Just be sure to stick to your exercise routine. Add it to your planner if you need to!
Keep your productivity up even as you work remotely
With no one looking over your shoulder all the time, it’s easy for your productivity to go down the drain when you work remotely. But don’t forget that you aren’t accountable to just your colleagues and bosses who rely on you to get your work done. You’re also accountable to yourself.
Use these 3 strategies to help yourself stay diligent at work, and resist temptations that can affect your work performance. After all, you don’t want to sabotage your prospects for a promotion—or for even just holding on to your job!
So get organized and create your planner with PosterMyWall’s intuitive design tools. We have plenty of incredible templates for you to work with.
Senior editor at PosterMyWall.
