Remote Working Part 2 – Self discipline essentials
The top reason members of both sexes fail to succeed at working remotely is they fail to realise the need for good organisation and robust self management.
I have been working remotely for more than six years 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 net then why shouldn’t it be practical to perform other key types of of work at a distance?
Whilst working remotely has numerous upsides there are numerous traps that people easily fall into which lead to issues that result in lower productivity and lower motivation. The top reason for low work output from remote professionals is distraction and it is a verified and well publicised fact that it can take a person up to twenty minutes to establish their original output level after experiencing a disturbance.
Studies also show that members of both sexes who are regularly experience distractions are more likely to suffer from lower memory capability and are prone to developing mental health problems in later life. We exist in an over communicated society and it is critical that you are acquainted with the problems this causes before you begin working remotely. When operating remotely you must do everything feasible to eradicate the risk of being disturbed.
Here are things that really do work:
1, Get a routine, make sure that everybody knows it and rigidly adhere to it!
Good examples are a consistent time of day when you review or send mail and make or be available for phone calls. Before I began working remotely I used to get up to 200 electronic mails over a period of twenty four hours. Now I think I am unfortunate if I receive over four. To ’reset’ my electronic mail experience I altered my e-mail address and tenaciously took steps to guard the details being made available to anyone. I then ‘trained’ every person who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it with special care. I also set up an automatic reply that swiftly told anyone sending me mail my schedule for reading mail and if an e-mail must have my immediate awareness to mark it as ‘Urgent’.
2. Get rid of alerts.
Turn off every possible mechanism that can send you a interruption. This includes portable and
ordinary telephones and types of alerts from e-mail such as display events, warning sounds, screen changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your work place and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.
In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – ‘Tools of the trade’’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.
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