6 Habits to Boost your Productivity as a Remote Worker
Business
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6 Habits to Boost your Productivity as a Remote Worker

  • The Hexaa
  • Author
    The Hexaa
  • Published
    December 10, 2021
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6 Habits to Boost your Productivity as a Remote Worker

an image of a man working remotely on his laptop with work icons above his laptop to signify an increase in productivity as a remote worker

Let’s face it: we are all guilty of procrastination. Nobody truly possesses the power of rising up from the bed and making their way through the day without wasting some time. It doesn’t matter if you make up your mind to study, learn a new skill, employ yourself in a business or take up a new hobby, there are moments of low productivity in everyone’s life. To make matters worse, such a state of mind not only reduces the amount of work done but also increases the energy spent to perform a task that seems ordinary otherwise.

Remote work may become the new normal in the near future, therefore you have to optimize yourself to adapt accordingly and remain productive. A boost in productivity means that each task is done in a lesser amount of time with less consumption of mental energy, all the while making the job easier in general. Doing so has no pet rules: there isn’t one small step that can ensure an immense boost in productivity. However, one can learn to manage his tasks and take a few measures that incrementally increase productivity over time, all the while being very convenient.

1) Plan Ahead

an image of a man standing in front of a huge calendar to signify planning ahead

The first step of a productive remote work life begins from this basic task. Planning ahead has a great impact on your thought process when undertaking some task: it provides an insight in the time and energy that would be required for doing something, thus subconsciously preparing you for the activity to come.

Reports find that every successful entrepreneur and businessman maintains an extensive to-do list that enables them to waste no part of the day in deciding what to do and when to do. More so, this eliminates the lag between different tasks that you feel on the completion of doing something before starting another task.

2) Divide and Conquer

an image of people performing their tasks in a divided cubicle to signify divide and conquer

As a remote worker you may have more than one task on your hand at the same time. Meeting all these tasks with a heads-on approach is usually counter-productive as it may lead to mental crowding and inability to decide the course of action that must be taken.

Therefore, it is optimal to divide the tasks according to their priority and even further divide each task into small goals. Doing so enables your mind to feel the satisfaction of being able to complete even small amounts of work, thus motivating you to carry on with the job.

3) Cut the Distractions

an image of a man in a cloud with social media icons , donuts and a cigarette surrounding the cloud to signify avoiding distractions

A large part of our productivity vanishes away in thin air because of the distractions that we have around us. Cutting on the usage of mobile phone, television or any other source of distraction is a good idea for paying maximum attention to a certain task and spending less time fighting your urges to do something else such as scroll through social media or check emails.

This can be done by physically distancing yourself from these distractions and removing them from your sight, thus pushing them out of focus. In addition, choosing to turn off mobile phone or the television for a fixed period of time can also be helpful for focusing on one task.

4) Give Yourself A Break

an image of a woman enjoying netflix on her desktop while eating popcorn and drinking coffee to signify taking a break

No one is capable of grinding continuously without devoting some time to rest. In fact, trying to push yourself too hard by working continuously can also be counter-productive, as this might lead to a build-up of mental stress and therefore, reduce productivity drastically.

You can use the 45-15 approach or the 60-10 approach, i.e. to work for a fixed amount of time (say 45 minutes or an hour) with complete devotion and take a small break (10 to 15 minutes) and rest your mind by taking a walk or doing anything soothing for the mind. This technique has actually been proven to improve the ability of people to work for longer periods without losing motivation.

5) Incentivize Results

an image of a man in front of a computer screen displaying a light bulb and money behind the computer to signify incentivizing results

This step is really important for building a routine of working at an efficient rate in the long run: you must actually be proud of the results, no matter how small, that you achieve from working on some task. This incentive does not have to be anything expensive; eating a small candy bar or rewarding yourself with your favorite movie can do the job.

This will, in turn, rewire your dopamine reward pathways to crave for more work and as a result, feel the gratification upon completion of a task, thus increasing the urge to work.

6) Hold Yourself Accountable

an image of a word cloud with the word, "accountability" highlighted to signify self accountability

Keeping track of your daily routine has multiple benefits and is a particularly good way of subconsciously increasing productivity in a remote workspace. Doing so is quite simple: make a small note about the activities that you performed during the day, the time spent idly and the time that could have been utilized in a better way. Even by implementing no interventions, merely keeping track of your day-time activities instills productivity in you by making you strive to be more efficient in your tasks and waste less of your time.

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