COVID realities have brought some difficulties but have also offered a few silver linings. For one, work has enabled me to relocate closer to family.
Through the course of the pandemic, I’ve gone from working remotely, to hybrid, full-time back in the office and now back to full-time remote, only in a different city and state. I’m trying to find my groove. I’m sure many of you may be faced with the same.
Some days I’m on it — super productive, moving meeting-to-meeting and putting out fires in between and feeling super accomplished. Other days, I struggle to write a simple blog post. Wink, wink!
I’m sure I had the same productivity ebbs and flows when I was in the office, but I feel like I have a greater responsibility to adhere to my personal work standard when working remotely.
Here are a few tips for what I’ve done to stay productive and connected:
- Set up coffee chats with all my work compadres. We talk shop and personal, but we did that when we worked at the office, too. Video conferences have really helped with maintaining that personal connection.
- Create a space for work. I still want to feel like I go to work and leave work, so I have a dedicated room just for working. I realize everyone may not have that luxury, but I would still recommend some type of separation.
- Get up and get ready for work. Yes, the commute is shorter, but I get up, take a shower, put on my make-up and dress for success.
- Block time on my calendar to work on certain projects/initiatives. For some reason, dedicating time on my calendar gets me in the mindset to accomplish that specific task.
- Get up occasionally. It’s even more difficult to succumb to sitting too long when you work remotely. It was bad at the office, but definitely worse at home. 5 minutes every hour not only keeps me from getting stiff, it sometimes ignites a little extra productivity push.
I’m thankful to work for a company that supports remote working and trusts its employees to get the job done regardless if that’s at the office or elsewhere. I think it’s all about finding a routine and being disciplined enough to adhere to it. I definitely don’t have it all figured out, but I’ll keep working at it until I get it right.
Would love to hear what you’ve done to find success. Please let me know so I can continue to tweak my routine.
Article contributed by Kathy Freyman, Chief Innovation Officer.