I don't want to start a discussion about the difference between Smartworking, Remote working and stuff like that. This post is useful for everyone who work remotely.
I have tried to collect some tips and suggestions from my last 4 years as remote worker.
And of course, I did a lot of mistakes and I continue to do mistakes.
Equipment and hardware
- Remeber to have your laptop batteries charged
- Remember to have a backup for your mouse batteries (if you have a wireless mouse)
- A backup line data is a plus (the connection is everything for you)
- Configure at least one communication channel with your coworkers on the phone. You can tell them if your connection or your power is down
- An external webcam is better than the built-in laptop cam. For the quality but people want to see your entire face, not only the nose or your keyboard.
- A microphone with a good quality or at least an headset for the calls
- Sometimes try the company VPN even you don't need it every day
Calls, communication and presentations
- Turn on your video when you are in a call. Non-verbal communication is important like the verbal one.
- During a call or a meeting, wait for a few seconds after the question "do you have any comments about that?". People need time to un-mute themselves.
- Avoid too much calls in a day. If you read the subject of the call request and you think it's not your topic or not interesting for you, ask to the organizer if your presence it's really important.
- Record all the meetings. Sometimes you have to drop a call early for urgent stuffs or just because you have 4 overlapping meetings.
- If you are a the presenter, preload all the links and presentations. It's annoying to see a web page loading screen for your attendees.
- During a presentation, remember to zoom your screen or change your resolution to Full HD. A lot of meeting software are optimized for a full hd streaming.
- Eating during a call is not a bad thing. You can work with people with different timezones.
- Dress your favorite clothes but don't work with your pigiama.
- At the end of a call, summarize the actions items and the responsible for each item.
Lifestyle and habits
- Invest on your home studio and your enviroment. Your productivity is more higher if you have a clean room and you like to stay there.
- Sometimes you feel lonely at home. Music, Podcast, TV (but not in front of you) can help to reproduce the office noises.
- Go our for fresh air time to time. It helps to stay healty and it's good to have new ideas and for solving problems.
- Don't work in the dark. Good light in the room is important. Even the hackers have the lights in the room.
- Create your habits to have a good start in the morning and during the day. Habits increase the productivity and you don't feel like lazy.
Do you have any additional tips or suggestions?
Oldest comments (1)
Thanks for sharing! Small things but matter🤩
Since I work from home, I always make sure of my to0do list daily. This helps me to time block my schedule. And always include short break time every hour or two. I use task management software to manage my tasks and time. A calendar view is everything! I haven't tried many tools, but so far, I l really like Todoist and Quire.