Cracking Remote: The Ongoing Trials #1
After 4 years of working remote, I thought – Things will become a lot more manageable.
But it's not quite rosy as I thought the other side of the bridge would be.
In my day-to-day struggle to become a remote working powerhouse, there are a few lessons that I could share with you, so you have a better start that I have.
#1 - Find time for focus!
I am night owl!
And I always thought that the day I would start working remote, I'd be able to finally fix my routine.
And here I am, writing this blog at 1am at night. Because I can't sleep and I feel feverently creative right now.
That's right!
See, I took it all wrong after reading all these yada yada articles on how waking up early will get you the life you wanted.
The truth is, nothing else matter apart from finding the right window for focus.
For you, I say amazing, if you wake up at 4am and have 4 hours of the day to yourself where you can focus before the other half of the city wakes up.
But me, I have noticed that I am most creative after the clock strikes midnight.
The premise is, whatever works for you utilize that window. But find time to focus, at least 3-4 hours a day where you can meaningful work done. And define your meaningful work, which brings me to the next bit.
#2 - Identify what's meaningful in your work!
Around 95% of the people who are working would tell you that there jobs okay so long so it pays the bill. And I am that lot.
Don't get me wrong, I love B2B marketing and I love content and product marketing aspect of it. But if you ask me what I truly love in my job. Well I'd say just writing something.
I know I am not the best storyteller, hell if you've made it this far you'd have already come across 10-20 grammatical or spelling errors.
But this is meaningful work to me. Tending to my writing is what keeps me going.
And why did I say identify what's meaningful to your work. Well, the answer is simple – It keeps you motivated and keeps you going!
#3 - Use Focus Mode, Do Not Disturb and turn off Slack notifications everyday
Not the entire day itself. But for short burst of productive sessions.
Here's how to get started -
- Start with 15 minutes of work where you can turn on DND and turn notifications off in your work IM. For me that's Slack and the Apple ecosystem's do-not-disturb mode (which I love because if I turn it on on my mac, my phone and iPad also goes into DND).
- In these 15 minutes just pick one task and keep at it.
- After the 15 minutes are over, take a 5-8 minute break. Do whatever you want – Go get a light, play a deathmatch in Counter-Strike or Valorant, eat some snacks, or watch a MKBHD video on Youtube.
- Then after your small break, do the routine again, and follow this for 3-4 sessions in the first week.
After the first week, increase the focus sessions to 20 minutes, then 25, then 30, you get the program. And before you know it you'll be able to focus an hour on a stretch without being anxious that there is a lot work to do.
And this program really works if you just start small, and utilize tech in the right way. Use focus mode on Windows, or DND in Macs, and always turn off Slack, WhatsApp, Messages and email when you are doing your 15 minutes.
Trust me, this makes remote a lot easier.
#4 - Make a Workspace in your home
For me that's my bedroom. More like my desk and chair. As soon as I sit in the chair between 1pm to 10pm, I know I am there to get work done.
I take a medium-ish break at 4pm to go workout and get some family time but I am back by 7pm and I don't get up until 10pm, which is when I'll have some dinner.
The idea of building yourself a home workspace is to program youmaur brain. See even though as a species we have explored space, understood quite a bit of the expanse of the universe, we're still a creature of habit and identification.
When you have designated area at home where you do one thing everyday, you'll associate yourself with that task. And you workspace is that one space. And it will only take a few days to get into the groove.
Once there, working remotely becomes easier.
#5 - Take advantages of remote work
The best part about remote work is the advantage it has.
Flexibility.
- I want to workout mid-day when the gym is quiet – Well, I just open my calendar, add that I am at the gym between 2pm to 4.30pm.
- I just felt like exploring a new city – I booked my flights that's at a time I usually am not working and I travel to that city, rent a budget home or hotel and start work there. In my breaks or after work I explore the city.
- I need to renew my passport - Well I know weekends will be hectic, and I don't want to waste half my day to renew my passport. I use one of my breaks on the weekday to get my passport renewed on weekday in just 2 hours and get back to work. I avoid long queues and the pain of doing it on weekends like the rest of the world.
You get the point, to make remote work, work – you've gotta take advantage of the things it's famous for – FLEXIBILITY.
Still looking for an outro
I still don't know how to end my blogs, but if you have suggestion, hit me up?