In the pre-pandemic days, many of us fantasized about being able to work remotely and being away from the office. Some of us wanted to work from home, but after a while, a bolder thought might have crossed your mind: “if I can work from home, can’t I also work from anywhere?”
Well, yes, you can. You don’t have to get in a car or a bus every morning and spend long hours commuting to work. You can spend this time traveling to an interesting place and arrange a remote workplace there.
And if you are worried about whether you can make remote work a flexible but not lazy way of fulfilling your duties, then we’ll give you some exciting solutions soon. You can accomplish more by managing your time, energy, and attention properly. Check the types of camping by outdoorwithj.com and let yourself have an adventure. Take a deep breath, roll up your sleeves, and get to work with fresh enthusiasm!
Create a Remote Work Schedule
A meticulously created schedule will keep you on track when working remotely. During your travel, you won’t have colleagues or your boss to look over your shoulder and check what you’re doing at the moment. So, it’s very easy to get distracted and forget about responsibilities.
It’s best to create a plan by hours. Then you will be able to track the time periods and whether you are on track with the next tasks. This will create an atmosphere of concentration and force you to keep an eye on the timeline.
If you don’t know how to create such a plan and how to distinguish priorities from regular tasks, you can use “the Rule of 3”. It is a rule developed by Microsoft’s director of business programs, J. D. Meier, and it works miracles.
The Rule of 3
Don’t worry. This rule is dead simple.
At the beginning of every day, ask yourself one question: What three things do I want to accomplish until the end of the day? Write those three things down. And repeat this every morning.
It is very likely that the things you wanted to have accomplished when the day is over are the most important ones. Identifying them will let you concentrate and finalize the high-value tasks.
Be Present and Communicative
To not be forgotten by employees who see each other in the office, try to be present in the company chat whenever you can. Propose your ideas and be creative. Let others see that you are still with them; only your material body is missing.
If you had a friendly relationship with someone while working at the office, don’t give it up now. Don’t hesitate to ask this person how their day is going and if they would like to talk on the phone about private matters.
An office is not only a workplace. In addition to creating new projects, business strategies, and acquiring customers, real friendships are also formed there. Take care of them.
Minimize Distractions
Sometimes work requires struggling with tedious or difficult tasks that make you distracted easily. Although procrastination is human, you need “ready to use” solutions to overcome it. First, you need to understand how it works and why we procrastinate.
High-value tasks require more time, attention, and energy, but lack intrinsic rewards. Because of that, they are usually more boring and frustrating, which triggers procrastination. Unfortunately, the more valuable your work, the more aversive it is for you. But believe us, the satisfaction after completing it will be incomparable to anything.
Did you know that refocusing after an interrupted task can take even 25 minutes? That is why you have to deal with distractions before they happen.
– Turn off your phone alerts and mute it
– Clean your desk
– Let your travel companions know not to disturb you
Keep Your Devices Charged and Connected
Last but not least – take care of the equipment when working remotely. Remember to turn off unnecessary notifications, but also don’t forget to charge the laptop battery in advance.
Remote work is often associated with limited access to the Internet. So, plan your working hours during the day to always have a stable internet connection when you need it. Be sure to have a clean work environment, a clean desk and equipment. If you’re traveling, you could use Natural Travel Wipes to be able to clean your work surface at any time!
Conclusion
Working during traveling is possible, and you can do it even more efficiently than in the office. You just need to follow a few tips that will help you focus on the task at hand.
Remember to stay active in group chats at work and reply to emails to feel that you are part of the team.
To help your performance, write down the tasks for the day. As Seneca used to say, “To be everywhere is to be nowhere,” so focus on one thing at a time, limit attention-hijacking interruptions and take a dive into remote work.
©Paula Sieracka