The concept of remote work is something that can revolutionize the present-day business world but it's also something that has its downsides. Namely, while supervisors get a bad reputation, the truth is that it's hard to make yourself work when you have deadlines instead of work hours and in scenarios where you have to be your own boss. This is why telecommuters and companies hiring them have to resort to a series of techniques in order to keep the number of distractions to a minimum. Here are six such methods.
The first piece of advice that you should consider is the fact that you have the privilege to work across several devices, most of which are mobile. This means that you aren't restricted to a home-office and can just as easily work from your patio or a public park. This is particularly efficient, productivity-wise, seeing as how some positions require a lot of creativity and you never know where you'll be when you get a great idea. By working in cloud, you can combine all of these devices in a single network.
Another technique that you can use in order to get the efficiency boost that you need is the concept of interval working. You see, the biggest adversary of people working in a digital environment is the fact that there are a lot of distractions that are just a click away. The simplest way to resist the urge is to know that a break is just 20 minutes away. By using the Pomodoro technique, you'll work for 25 minutes and rest for 5, which gives you a simple way to stay focused while working in a virtual environment. There's a difference between work and active work and this method allows you to use this to your benefit.
Companies that are trying to enhance the focus of their remote workers and people working in a digital environment, in general, sometimes use IAM secure web gateway and filtering system. Other than minimizing access to non-business related domains (similar effect to what we've discussed in the first section), there are some other benefits of this method that should be taken into consideration. For instance, it also maximizes bandwidth usage, boosts intranet data security and minimizes regulatory risks.
One of the biggest problems with the idea of using a popular IM app like WhatsApp, Viber, Skype or Facebook Messenger for business communication lies in the fact that the majority of people use them privately as well. This means that all your friends, family members and your partner might start sending messages to you while you're working. Due to the fact that you're using it professionally as well, you won't be able to solve this issue by logging off or even setting your status as offline. Therefore, finding a suitable software communication alternative might be a good idea.
The fact that you're working in a virtual environment doesn't mean that your surroundings won't distract you. Therefore, you need to find a way to do something about it. The simplest solution would be to look for reliable noise-canceling headphones. This way, you can cancel out all the distracting noise and be able to fully commit to the task at hand. If you're looking for something that you can do in order to produce less noise (for your roommates or coworkers), you can invest in a silent mouse and keyboard. This way, you can make the room much quieter, in general.
The very last thing you need to understand is just how easy it is for someone who is working from home to disrupt their day-night cycle or even completely lose the habit of leaving their home. The very concept of remote work is something that can make the notion of leading a sedentary life a lot more dangerous than it already is and even introduces a lot of turmoil into your social life. Needless to say, as a remote worker, this is something that you just can't allow and as an entrepreneur employing the remote workforce, it's your duty to warn your employees of the dangers and consequences.
As you can see, tools and methods range from time-management techniques all the way to the proper selection of apps and work platforms. The approach to the scenario also depends on your point of view (telecommuter or entrepreneur). Fortunately, getting ahead of this is not as hard as it sounds.
Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is a coauthor on several websites and regular contributor to BizzMark Blog. Currently, he is working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies.