How To Organize Your Work Tasks When Working Remotely
Are you working remotely? If the answer is yes, then you know how hard it is to stay organized, productive, efficient, and motivated.
Since your private and professional lives have joined into one, now more than ever, it is important to find the right balance between the two. By setting some rules and following the tips and tricks I’m about to share, staying organized and balancing work and family will no longer be an issue for you when working remotely.
Use a Planner
No matter whether you work remotely or not, keeping track of tasks, projects, meetings, and deadlines is essential. Some employees prefer using planning tools and programs, while others are more traditional, so they prefer the paper ones. The original paper planners give them a sense of satisfaction or achievement when they strike off or tick off every completed task from the list. Meanwhile, digital or online planners are more reliable since they have built-in notifications that make sure users meet deadlines and attend meetings on time. Depending on your preferences and way of working, you can easily find a planner that suits your needs the best.
Do One Assignment at a Time
Because of heavy workloads and tight deadlines, most employees resort to multitasking. While some believe doing two or more tasks simultaneously is good for their productivity, most studies suggest the opposite. During multitasking, no task gets your full attention and focus. As a result, your performance at work is satisfactory, but that isn’t a quality your managers look for in an employee. Rather than multitasking, you should focus and do one assignment at a time. Apart from becoming organized, you will also feel relaxed and stress-free. In no time will you notice how devoting your undivided attention to only one task helps you produce your best work.
Get Access to Information
By now, you have probably realized there aren’t many opportunities for interaction with coworkers in the virtual office as there are in the traditional one. Lack of communication affects team spirit as well as information flow in the workplace. Therefore, managers have to deal with the silo mentality and witness their staff members growing apart from each other. For this reason, you should stay connected to your coworkers and get access to the latest information. One of the more effective communicative solutions is intranet software. Thanks to this program, reaching out for help and ideas to colleagues and managers has never been easier. Similarly, managers can keep you posted on the latest information regarding remote work policies, the pandemic, work schedules, etc.
Remove All Distractions When Working Remotely
Remote employees face many problems while working from home. Distractions are just one of them. Instead of sitting behind a laptop and working, you might feel the need to run errands, clean up the house, do laundry, or binge watch a new TV show on Netflix.
Also, if you live with roommates or family, they might distract you from your tasks with their activities in the common space. To focus solely on work during working hours, you have to remove any distractions from your surroundings. For example, if you complete all planned tasks for the day, you can reward yourself with some Netflix or Amazon Prime time. If removing all distractions isn’t possible, you can at least reduce them as much as possible. This way, you will be able to focus better and go through your tasks faster.
Identify Priorities
Prioritization and planning go hand in hand. Both activities are necessary if you want to nail working remotely once and for all. When you start planning your day in the office, you have to take into account deadlines, levels of difficulty, and time consumption when it comes to work assignments. Don’t forget to keep in mind daily, weekly, and monthly goals while prioritizing and planning. This will help you separate high priority tasks from the less important ones. Also, if you have to work on a large and highly demanding project, try breaking it up into smaller segments. This way, you can squeeze some other easier assignments in between and make the most out of your workday.
Remember to Take Breaks
Prioritizing work and planning assignments is important. Equally important is to take breaks whenever you lose focus or feel tired. When you work from home, you have all flexibility at your disposal. Rarely there are any fixed working hours involved, so it is easier for you and your coworkers to immerse yourself in work and lose track of time. You forget to eat, drink water, or stretch. In the long run, your health will inevitably feel the consequences of such an unhealthy lifestyle. To prevent this from happening to you, you should take breaks as often as you can. Whenever you can spare a few minutes, leave the desk and take a short walk around the room. Stretch your legs, check in on your friends and family, have a snack or a drink. Your body, as well as your mind, will appreciate it.
On the whole, remote employees face many obstacles and challenges when you work from home. Productivity, organization, and efficiency are common aspects that usually take a hit. Still, organizing tasks when working remotely is easy with our golden organizational rules.
Morgan Rose Elliott is an aromatherapist, yoga instructor, animal lover, a happily married mother of three. She enjoys reading biographies and writing poems, sunny days on the beach and any shape and form of vanilla. Crazy about the ’80s, her favorite band is Duran Duran (although kids prefer Franz Ferdinand, and the husband Blink182) and she is obsessed with Netflix original Stranger things. You can find her on Twitter @morganroseelli1.
