5 Tips for Successful Remote Work

This post was originally published at codepulse.blog on June 18, 2020.

As a web developer I am able to work remotely quite a lot. Most of the time I'm working from home, but if I'm not at the office, I try to change the environment I work in as much as I can.

Week ago we me and couple of my friends decided to take a remote work day together and head up to my friend's cottage. The plan was to work during the day and then enjoy the finnish summer at the evening and next day.

I created a video about the trip and on the video I share my top 5 tips for remote work. Tips that have helped me to be more efficient and productive when working remotely. You can watch the video in Youtube or below.

If you rather like to read than watch the video, here are the five tips that I share on the video.

1. Take advantage of your job

Take advantage of the fact that if you got a chance to work remotely, do so! And don’t settle to just working from home. If you have chance to go some "exotic" place, go! Or just to the nearest coffee shop, go! The main thing is to change the environment you work in, since it is possible.

2. Wake up early

When working remotely, it is so easy to sleep in and wake up quite late. But there are less distractions in the morning and thus you can concentrate better to your work since you are not interrupted by friends / family / phone calls / messages.

I have also noticed that, at least for me, the mornings are the most productive time and it is the best time to work and tackle especially the most difficult task of the day.

3. Plan your day

I find it important to plan my day when working remotely or from home. When you go to the office, it is clear when you are working and when you are on your free time. But when you work remotely, the line between work and free time can be quite vague. That's why I like to write a list of tasks, in the previous evening, that I want to complete the next day. This way when I have finished all of the tasks, I can with good conscious quit working for the day.

4. Invest in noise cancelling headphones

Yes, it is an investment! If you don't know what noise cancelling headphones are, they use this technique that cancels noises coming around you making it so that you just hear what is coming out of your headphones. This is so important when you work in a noisy place and want to concentrate only on your work.

I got my first noise cancelling headphones about four years ago and I have never looked back! I won't be buying any other headphones than noise cancelling headphones in the future.

5. Take breaks

Even though you are not in the office and you don't have your colleagues to hand out and chat with, you should remember to take breaks. Get away from your computer and go e.g. for a walk for 15 minutes.

Working 8 hours straight is not good for you and you will most definately be more productive and get more done when you take regular breaks rather than sit and work 8 hours straight.

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Thanks for reading! Hopefully you enjoyed these tips and if you did, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. I would appreciate it!

Comments

[James Schleigher]

Thanks for the wonderful article!
this is my first time working from home and I love the flexibility of it
Here are a few tips that I followed：

1. Do not work in your bedroom. Often I find myself sleeping instead of working when I'm in the bedroom. I recommend you move somewhere that has a desk, good lighting, and no bed.
2. Set a schedule. This is very important. You should keep a clear schedule to track your progress. My colleagues and I use Quire to collaborate on our projects. This helps us assign individual tasks to different people and also check if the progress is going well. It also has reminders so that we can know clearly when the deadline is. Having a todo list app is easier than writing things down on pen and paper.
3. Start work the same time you would normally enter the office. This helps you maintain your original routine, and also stop you from slacking off.

[Tuomo Kankaanpää]

Thanks James!

Great tips! I also think it is important to try to keep the same routines as you would when working from the office.