Remote work

Within a matter of days, the dialogue on remote work has shifted from it being “The future of work” to “The necessity of present”. But with so many people pushed into working remotely unprepared, many of us are left wondering how to keep the show going on, remotely!? If one of your concerns is how to conduct remote interviews or how to prepare for giving a remote interview, then you are at the right place!

What is remote interview?

Remote interviews are those interviews conducted via a phone call or a virtual interviewer where the interviewer and interviewee are located in different locations. To put in in simple words, the main element of remote interviews is that they do not ensure the direct presence of an interviewer or interviewee. Transmission equipment is a vital part to engage the two persons from distinct geographical locations.

Read: How to work from home successfully?

How to conduct a remote interview?

The three essential factors of conducting a remote interview are the presence of an interviewer, interviewee and most importantly, the transmission equipment. Remote interviews can be conducted in a few ways like telephonic interviews and virtual interviews. In both cases, it is necessary from an interviewer’s side to serve an advance notice about the date, timings, and the mode of the interview to the interviewee.

Things that both the interviewer and interviewee should ensure for a smooth remote interview: 

1. Transmission Equipment: This is the essential one, which is required to conduct a remote interview supported by proper installation of transmission equipment. This one is mainly for the concern of the interviewee as the interviewer would only inform the specific mode if they already have it properly installed.  Meet & UnRemot are two recommended platforms for conducting online interview.
2. Internet Connectivity: Proper connectivity of the internet is as important as the transmission equipment part (if it is a non-telephonic and a virtual interview). Many interviews get disrupted just because of the lack of proper internet connectivity. This should also be noted by the interviewee as she/he might be from a remote location. 
3. Plug-in the Earphones: Earphones make you feel comfortable and make the communication clearer. Even if it is a telephonic interview, using earphones is advisable as it makes you feel less worried and boosts your concentration on the interview. The interview in most of the cases casually extends more than 30 minutes. In that case, you will feel tension free from carrying phones for a long duration.
4. Adhere to the timings (Obviously!): This should also be said as the test of punctuality. It is always better to be seated in the respective place with proper transmission equipment before 5 to 10 minutes. If there is any unavoidable circumstance which causes to cancel/postpone the interview at the moment, do communicate it or leave a message for them. In the end, you are all professionals!
5. Accessories: A notebook, a pen, a water bottle, and other required accessories should be in an accessible place. You would obviously require a notebook and a pen if an interviewer asks you any technical or mathematical questions. 
6. An Isolated place: The only way of being disturbed during an interview is because of external factors like friends, family, guests, etc. Normally, an interview might exceed 30 minutes or even more than that. When you are at home, informing parents about the remote interview and being in an isolated place is advisable to avoid external disturbances.

Must read: Best Practices For Remote Onboarding

What are some common Remote job interview questions?

There isn’t much difference in the questionnaire part, be it a remote interview or be it a direct interview. Remote interview is just for the ease of the interviewees who are located in different geographical locations. Anyhow, it is noteworthy to prepare a few job interview questions which are listed below.

An interview doesn’t end without these basic questions like,

1. Tell me about yourself
2. What are your positives and negatives?
3. Where do you see yourself down the line after 10 years?

While answering these questions, relate your conscience with the organization’s goals. Address how your nature would sync with the organizations’ expectations and also tell about yourself what you have done/achieved in the past.

Read: Managing Remote Teams: 13 tips that will come handy

Other basic questions include:

1. How do you ensure a healthy work-life balance?

Exercise after work hours is always a good option and to feel free to take sufficient breaks. Ensuring a good sleep, maintaining a good diet plan, and taking a few off for vacations should be a part of the cycle to stay mentally fit.

2. How do you react when you encounter a problem?

Dividing the problem into small pieces and to put things into perspective helps us to understand the problem clearly. To stay in a positive way and work relentlessly is the most important factor which would help us to overcome the problem.  

3. How do you avoid miscommunication during work?

Paying attention to minute details and listening until the end when someone is instructing is important to avoid miscommunication during work. To assume something also leads to miscommunication. So it is better to ask again if we are not clear about something instead of making wrong assumptions. 

These are the basic questions that could be expected during an interview. Other than this, it is necessary to do the homework about the technical questionaries’ in what so ever the field you are master at.

Suggested read: 8 Remote Work Habits Of Every Productive Employee

How to ace a remote interview?

Remote interviews are the most common type of interviews in the modern world, says U.S. Census Bureau. Remote interview is a bit different from a direct interview as it does not involve a direct presence. Before attending a remote interview, it is important to be aware of a few guidelines. 

•  Prepare about the company: It is important and kind of a responsibility to learn what the company’s work is all about. The company website should be thoroughly researched, including each and every column and every information. It is also advisable to go through the LinkedIn profile of the company and a small gaze about the qualification of the employees is not a waste of time. If the company has been recognized by any news journals, won any awards, these are the few pieces of information that could be highlighted during the interview.  
• Previous work experience: If you are not a fresher, no interview is complete without answering this question. The information about the previous work experience should mainly be narrated as to how the skills learned in the previous organization would be beneficial for them. This begins with an advantage because the need for time to devote to the training sessions for you is less compared to others. 
• Be Polite: Usually, during a remote interview, some technical glitch occurs in a virtual interview. As it does not involve a direct presence, the interviewer might ask you to repeat the answer as he might not have understood your point. Being polite and genuine while answering the same question is important. Don’t lose your temper, because this will spoil your entire interview. 
• Dress well: Dressing is not a problem if the interview is telephonic. Formal dressing is advisable for a virtual interview. Many don’t care to dress formally for a virtual interview. But it is always better to be in the safe zone with proper dressing.
• Show some enthusiasm: A company is hiring you for its team, to work peacefully as a family. Being enthusiastic and positive throughout the interview makes them feel how vibrant and energetic you are and how suitable you would be for their team. Being enthusiastic throughout the interview leaves a lasting impression.
• Eye communication: Again, this is not a case for a telephonic interview. During the virtual interview, look at the eye of the interviewer and talk. Failing to give eye contact might give an impression like you are nervous, don’t care much, lacks self-confidence, etc. In a virtual interview, eye contact means looking at the lens of your phone or a webcam.  
• Emphasize your reliability: One of the main concerns of the employers when hiring anyone is if the candidate is reliable. As a prospective candidate, present yourself in a way to show them that you understand the importance and the necessity of being reliable.  
• Background check: Talk to a few people and ask them if they have attended or know anyone of their friends have attended the interview with this company. Try to gain some insights about what kind of questions the company’s interviewer asks for. The main idea is to know what the company expects from its candidate. Knowing the expectation of the company helps us in preparing for the interview in the best possible way.

Read: Best Home Office Set Up For Remote Work

Tips to ace a remote interview

Showing some enthusiasm is an important thing as the work is going to be with a team. Eye communication is another important aspect. During a virtual interview, looking at the eyes means looking at the lens of the camera. Keep this in mind while attending an interview!

Interview questions for remote workers

Work from home interview questions are the few add-on questions one should be aware of before attending an interview. The questions are to check the capability of working independently. Some of them are as follows.

1. Communication: How effective are you in communicating as you are away from the office? Effective communication is required as in following the assigned tasks, updating the completion of assigned tasks, about the meetings, etc. You should make it clear that you are not going to rely on phone calls solely. Emailing is the better platform as it is recorded as proof and can be addressed clearly.

2. Working without supervision: How efficient are you in working without any supervision? This is a very important question from the eyes of an interviewer. This question should be addressed saying how strictly we adhere to the deadlines. The only way to prove that one works efficiently without supervision is by completing the tasks in the said deadline.  

3. Workplace at home: What kind of workplace have you fixed at your place? The interviewers would be concerned if we have the proper facilities and requirements to work from home. This question can be addressed by mentioning the availability of our computer or laptop, proper WiFi connectivity, a room to work without disturbance, etc. 

4. Distractions: What kind of distraction have you faced previously working as a remote worker? Be honest while answering this question and try to explain to them how you are dealing with overcoming the difficulties or distractions you faced.

Read: 14 Best Remote Job Sites: Start your job hunt at the right place!

5. Previous experience: Do you have any previous experience working remotely? This question is asked to see how comfortable and reliable you are working from home and ensuring the work setup at your place. So you can use this is as a chance to address all the questions mentioned before. Like how you used to communicate effectively, how you worked without any supervision, the workplace setup you made at your home, and how you completed the assigned tasks in the specified deadlines. Explain to them briefly about the previous job and make them realize that you are more comfortable in your own way. 

FAQs

1. What is a remote interview?

In a remote interview, the interviewer and the interviewee are located in a distinct geographical location and does not involve face-to-face interaction. 

2. How is a remote interview different from a normal interview?

As we all know, a normal interview is a face-to-face interview. A remote interview, in simple words, does not involve a face-to-face interview.

3. What platform of communication is familiar with remote interview?

Telephonic interview is one of the means of communication. In a virtual interview, applications like Skype, WhatsApp video call, hangouts are used to communicate visually. 

4. What are the frequently asked work from home interview questions?

‘How good are you working independently’, ‘do you effectively produce output without any supervision’, ‘how good are you in communication working away’ are the few frequently asked questions for a work from home interview. 

5. How to conduct a remote interview?

Transmission equipment is necessary to conduct a remote interview. The interviewer should inform the interviewee about the mode of communication of the interview.

6. How to ace a remote interview?

Good dressing, good research about the work of the company, clear communication during the interview, and being polite throughout are few things to keep in mind in order to ace a remote interview.

7. How to engage in a good rapport with an interviewer?

Being enthusiastic, a good eye communication and a friendly smile in the first few minutes make the interviewer feel that you are confident, reliable and good in communication. This indeed helps in maintaining a good rapport with the interviewer. 

8. What are the common interview questions I should prepare for?

Well, most of the interviews does not ends with few basic questions like ‘tell me about yourself’, ‘what are your positives and negatives’, tell me about your previous work experience’, ‘how do you maintain a healthy work-life balance’, etc. 

Technical questions in the respective field of study would also be asked by the interviewer during an interview. 

Remote working, a trending concept in the modern professional world, is now a familiar term with many individuals and companies. Both the parties have understood the benefits of working remotely and are eager to squeeze out the advantages as much as possible. It demands trust and confidence from both sides. Individuals adopting remote working are on the lookout for the best remote job sites that would be reliable and provide them the top remote job listings.

In this article, we will discuss the best remote job sites and the remote job opportunities provided by them. Individuals can scan through the mentioned remote job websites to seek the options that best suit their skills and preferences.

Best remote work websites

1. FlexJobs
2. We Work Remotely
3. Hubstaff Talent
4. Virtual Vocations
5. Remote.Co
6. Upwork
7. Freelancer.com
8. Fiverr
9. Jobspresso
10. Working Nomads
11. RemoteOK
12. Angellist
13. Outsourcely
14. Dribble

1. FlexJobs

FlexJobs is one of the prominent and best remote job sites for seeking both part-time and full-time work. It offers remote job listings across more than 50 categories, being rated as one of the biggest remote job sites. It has a well-trained group of job researchers who extensively analyze and screen the best remote jobs of various skills.

You will be charged a fee for availing their services but they offer attractive discounts to support your job search. It has an extensive track record of more than 10 years assisting individuals in seeking the best remote jobs in various parts of the world. Approximately 40,000 organizations have been listed in FlexJobs and all of them hire both remote part-time and full-time employees. Therefore you have a splendid provision to scan through multiple remote job opportunities.

Website: Flexjobs

Fun Fact: FlexJobs specifically investigate the background of the organizations opting to list their jobs. They also thoroughly screen and verify the jobs and their descriptions before approving them to be offered to their customers.

2. We Work Remotely

We Work Remotely is one of the significant and best remote job sites in the world. It is phenomenal in offering a super user friendly option of searching the jobs based on categories. As you navigate to its URL, you could see remote jobs listed under Programming, Design, Sales, and Marketing, Customer Support, Finance, and Legal, Business and Management, Copywriting, Administrative, Product, DevOps and Sysadmin, and others. You can click only on the category you are interested in rather scanning through all the jobs.

Within its website, you can look into the list of companies offering remote jobs and visit their respective URLs at the click of a button. So while you are seeking a job, you can verify the details and authenticity of the company that has posted the job. Additionally, We Work Remotely provides individuals with various supporting resources to seek the best remote jobs matching their competency.

Website: We Work Remotely

Tips: If you are hesitant in applying for a remote job, you can read through the various guides, books, and blogs provided on their website and seek guidance.

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3. Hubstaff Talent

The Home Page of Hubstaff Talent is real interesting, by which it can be termed as one of the best remote job sites. Individuals can find remote work easily from the home screen by various methods. They can search by skillsets, by countries or from their featured jobs section. You can create your profile detailing out your skill sets, expertise, experience, and other professional details. You need to provide either your hourly rate or weekly rate for both part time and full time work.

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Started in 2012, Hubstaff Talent is proudly connected with 34,000 companies with jobs spread across 18 countries in the world. It encourages individuals to create an attractive profile mentioning all the relevant skills which the companies are seeking. The companies scan through the file and contact the individuals directly. There are no fees charged for creating your profile, it’s free.

Website: Hubstaff Talent

4. Virtual Vocations

Virtual Vocations is one of the largest and best remote job sites with ample opportunities for various job categories. Its home page lists down the jobs under various heads like Telecommute, Software Development, Graphic Design, Marketing, Accounting, Consulting, Education, Help Desk, Business Analyst, Legal, Data Entry and many more. Individuals of the relevant skill set and expertise need to click on the related category to search for their jobs.

If you want to apply for a fully remote job then you must click on the Telecommute option. The staff of Virtual Vocations engage across the best remote job boards and lists them to ease your search after extensive analysis and research. They even list down the company profiles for you to check and validate before applying for a job. You can either register free on their website and enjoy the standard benefits or opt for a premium account with monthly charges. Premium accounts provide added benefits and you are even offered a discount for registering for more than 1 month.

Website: Virtual Vocations

Note: Virtual Vocations refund your payment if you are not satisfied with their service. But it is recommended to avail of the free account first. Once you are happy with the services offered you can upgrade to the Premium account.

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5. Remote.Co

Remote.Co has gained substantial popularity as one of the most reliable and best remote job sites. Their home page is designed smartly with the provisions of searching jobs through various options. You can scan for jobs through their 141 remote job boards or from the remote job listings. The jobs are categorized based on Customer service, IT, Healthcare, Project Manager, Design, Sales, Writing, Accounting and Finance, Developer, QA, Marketing, Virtual Assistant, Editing, Teaching, HR, Legal and other remote job categories. 

Remote.Co also guides individuals on tips and strategies to be adopted while working remotely. They offer guidance on overcoming distractions, measures to be adopted to stay ahead in the competition and various other challenges faced by remote professionals. They have enlisted many FAQs under each of their menu items, thus assisting the job seekers in their attempt to find the best remote job boards for work.

Website: Remote.co

Tip: Remote professionals must carefully scan through the listings mentioned in the majority of the remote job sites before arriving at a final decision on which jobs to apply for. Needless to say, when they venture to find a remote job, they need to perform a background check of the companies.

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6. Upwork

Upwork is one of the well known and best remote job sites providing a brilliant opportunity to connect business organizations with highly skilled remote professionals. It is a widely popular collaboration platform for scanning through the wide listing of remote jobs published by various remote job boards.

Note: Upwork offers free registration on its website for availing the basic features of searching jobs. If you want to opt for advanced features then you need to select from 3 of its plans – Plus, Business, and Enterprise.

The site offers job listings across various wide categories like web development, mobile software development, design, writing, sales and marketing, administrative support, customer services, data, accounting, engineering services and much more. About more than 5 million business partners are associated with Upwork.

Website: Upwork

Tip: Read more about the features of Upwork and other free job-posting sites by Chamber of commerce to compare features and understand the pros & cons of these sites.

7. Freelancer.com

Freelancer.com is one of the popular remote job sites offering jobs across 1350 different categories. The key ones among them are website design, graphic design, mobile applications, writing, data entry, marketing, SEO, accounting, finance, legal and many others.

You can search for jobs based on your skill or language or you can scan through their list of latest and featured jobs for faster search facilities. Sign up for free and then upgrade if you are satisfied and want to avail of advanced options. Freelancer.com credits you with a certain amount of money for signing up which you can utilize for upgrading your plan.

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In Freelancer.com, remote professionals can bid for their work which the recruiters decide and finalize before offering the jobs. They have a special facility for milestone payment where remote workers can get paid after achieving certain goals set by the business platforms. It provides a desktop application for monitoring progress, hours of work as well as collaborating with the companies. It also has a mobile application for instant messaging between remote professionals and business organizations.

Website: Freelancer.com

8. Fiverr

Fiverr has been recently considered as one of the best job sites for remote work. You need to first sign in to their website for free and add your profile. You have to create a Gig mentioning the skills and service you can offer to your customers. The Gig allows you to enter the charges of your services in dollars.

It stores profiles of innumerable remote professionals and freelancers across multiple job categories like graphics design, digital marketing, content writing, videos and animation, music, programming, data entry, SEO, logo design, social media and so on. If you are hired by any entrepreneur or business organization and earn a good rating from your customer, then you will be lucky to receive more job offers in the future.

Website: Fiverr

Tip: The trick to success in Fiverr is to earn proper ratings to climb up the rankings. Customers and clients check your ratings before hiring you for the job. To ensure your profile is attractive, you can even upload video recordings to showcase your talent and expertise.

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9. Jobspresso

Jobspresso provides remote professionals with verified and validated job listings to work from anywhere in the world. From its home page, you can easily quick search for the latest remote jobs and the special featured jobs. Almost the majority of the world’s renowned remote companies and organizations are connected with Jobspresso for hiring the best talents for their work.

The staff of Jobspresso constantly research and analyze the job listings posted by the companies, ensuring the authenticity and legitimacy of the jobs. It is being listed as one of the best job sites for remote work, ensuring a strong collaboration between the companies and individual professionals.

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Jobspresso offers jobs across different categories like software development, marketing, customer service, design, sales and business development, DevOps, project management and many more remote jobs. You need to sign up and post your resume on their website mentioning your skill sets and experience. You can even opt to receive emails on job alerts based on the frequency selected – daily, weekly or bi-weekly.

Website: Jobspresso

10. Working Nomads

Working Nomads is one of the trusted and reliable remote job websites, supporting professionals working remotely in various countries of the world. Its home page displays the featured remote companies and the listing of the remote jobs along with the companies hiring the roles. They have some interesting blogs recorded on their website, highlighting the differences between a remote job and a digital nomad.

It offers jobs across multiple categories as displayed on the front page of the website. The prominent job categories are Development, Marketing, Management, System Administration, Design, Sales, Writing, Finance, Consulting, Administration, Human Resources, Education, Healthcare, Legal and so on. The jobs posted on their website offer full-time as well as part-time work opportunities. You can subscribe to receive job alerts on selected categories in your email address based on the frequency selected weekly or monthly.

Website: Working Nomads

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11. RemoteOK

RemoteOK is a remote job website that displays the list of top companies and all the jobs on its front page or home page. You do not have to navigate much to search for jobs. In a single area, you can navigate to the website of the companies, understand their rankings and scan across the jobs posted based on your skills and experience.

You can subscribe to their daily or weekly job alerts by mentioning your name and email address. RemoteOK offers in various categories like WordPress, social media, sales, and marketing, legal, blockchain, cryptocurrency, writing, copywriting, graphics, cloud functions, and many more niche skills. The job listings are split across days for a better understanding of the trending jobs. The website even marks the featured jobs for you to focus on.

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Note: The website has a special section for Digital Nomads where you can search for your preferable place of work. The places are scored based on several parameters for your benefit. You can even book a co-working space, hotel or apartment directly from the website.

Website: RemoteOK

12. Angellist

Angellist mainly focuses on both tech and non-tech start-up companies. They assist remote job seekers to connect with various start-up companies. You can select jobs as per your skillset and preference from their websites and simply click on Apply to opt for it. Once you apply the start-up company is notified of your interest. They view your profile and once it matches their needs, Angellist sends an email to both the company and candidate for further processing.

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You need to enter the details of your profile on the website mentioning your skills and professional experience to be noticed by the companies. The jobs are listed across various job categories and you can search based on the job types. There is a special feature offered on the website wherein the A-list candidates and A-list companies are displayed for the benefit of both parties. The candidates who rank high based on their previous work experiences, skills, and educational qualifications are placed in their A-list. The start-ups which are well funded are mentioned in the A-list companies enabling you to decide judiciously.

Website: Angellist

Note: Angellist partners with 100,000 start-up companies to list the jobs on their website.

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13. Outsourcely

Outsourcely strives not only to enable remote professionals to seek jobs according to their skillset and experience but also offers special features for the freelancers and the companies to interact with each other. Video conferencing and instant messaging services are offered by them benefitting both parties.

It is especially renowned for listing jobs from start-up companies, guaranteeing a smooth flow of jobs to the interested remote professionals. You can select from the jobs across various categories like multimedia, sales and marketing, writing, design, software development and many more.

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You need to at first create a profile on their website providing all your relevant professional information. Companies will search the profiles based on the data entered and approach you. They will engage with you directly and hire once both parties are in sync.

Website: Outsourcely

14. Dribbble

Dribbble is yet another best remote job site that offer jobs for creative people especially focusing on web designing, graphic designing, and others. You can showcase and demonstrate your previous projects on this platform. Companies looking for designers and developers look for the profiles matching their requirements and select the candidates accordingly.

Dribbble has been a very trusted and reliable job site in connecting remote professionals with various companies offering creative jobs. You need to mention your work details and the projects you have worked on in detail so that the companies are attracted and interested in your profile.

Read: Remote web developer jobs | Beginners guide

Before we wrap up your discussion on the best remote job sites, please remember to scan through each of the jobs mentioned on the websites in detail before applying for them. Visit the website of the companies offering remote jobs, and understand how they operate, their mission and objectives and their job criteria. Your profile must be in sync with the jobs you are looking for. Built your profile to make it attractive and interesting.

Want to use time blocking to improvise your productivity? Here is a comprehensive guide on it. Read on!

Time Blocking

Everyone has the same 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 52 weeks a year. Our average day comprises 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep, and around 8 hours to relax. This is where the concept of time blocking emerges.

But if we truly analyze what we do in a day, many end up with a lot of pending work or not coping up with time in a day for the dedicated tasks, additionally there are unforeseeable tasks that could take up the time we don’t plan for. Therefore it is always essential to block a particular time in a day for particular tasks.

Also Read: Problem solving activities | Everything you must know

What is time blocking?

Time blocking is a method of managing or blocking a particular time in a day for a specific task. Time blocking can be considered as an advancement of the to-do list. It helps us in scheduling a particular time for a particular work.

In this busy world, it is difficult to accomplish all the work we plan to do in a day. But time blocking keeps us aware of what we do and where we are lacking. Thus, analyzing the daily activity by time blocking helps us to rectify the lags and increase the productive time.

The productive time in a day multiples if we keep track of the time we use for a specific task. It will be harder to steal your time if we prepare a proper time blocking calendar which keeps you occupied all the time increasing productivity.

Also Read: Voice echoing | A complete guide

Why is time blocking considered efficient & effective?

For us to understand this question, let us consider this quote “

Sometimes people ask why I bother with such a detailed level of planning. My answer is simple: it generates a massive amount of productivity. A 40-hour time-blocked work week, I estimate, produces the same amount of output as a 60+ hour work week pursued without structure

says, Author, Cal Newport in his book ‘Deep Work’. As stated by Cal Newport, the simple answer is higher output and productivity. Let’s dive in further; 

1. To avoid procrastination

Time blocking effectively helps us in overcoming the dreadful habit of procrastination. Even if there is a lot of work left pending, the lethargic mentality of the individuals leads to a delay in completing the work. Thus, an effective time blocking schedule helps us to disown the habit of procrastination.

2. Promotes focused work

Time blocking helps us to focus on work deeply. All the tasks with the required importance are tabulated and scheduled properly. There is no need to worry or think about other important work as already a specific time has been allotted for it. It helps us to deeply concentrate and focus on a particular which is in process. The more we focus on one task, the easier it becomes.

3. Increasing productivity

This is a chain reaction of ‘focused work’. Working without blocking time for tasks, provokes thinking about the remaining important tasks, which in turn ruins the efficiency of the current one ending up with a pile of incomplete work and mounting tasks. Time blocking helps us to concentrate and work deeply which helps us to complete the specified task sooner than before. This helps in increasing productivity. 

4. Analyze the time blocking calendar

Blocking time and working on the task is not sufficient to become efficient and effective. A detailed analysis should be carried out in order to find out where we are lagging and address the same for the next time. A periodical analysis is always essential to overcome the mistakes we have committed, in order to become highly efficient which automatically increases productivity. It is necessary to ensure the analysis is a part of our daily time schedules.

5. An organized way to complete tasks

Time blocking is nothing but completing a task with proper planning. Enabling us to deeply focus on a particular task at a particular time, time blocking helps us to increase productivity. Thus, the result of time blocking is much more effective than working in an unorganized or unplanned manner.

Also Read: Virtual water cooler | A how-to guide for everyone

Where do we apply the concept of time blocking?

Time blocking can be used in the office, at home, during exams, while working remote working and in many other places. From the beginning of the day until we go to bedtime blocking is an efficient tool to use.

With time blocking, we can coordinate our meetings better, finish tasks and even accommodate for leisure or hobbies. Having a calendar that is visible to everyone you interact with, will also ensure they schedule communication-based on common availability, thus leaving time for you, to focus on your tasks. 

1. How to avoid time blocking missteps?

Time blocking is the process of allocating a particular time for a particular task. It is merely a way/style of following up tasks in an organized manner. But shifting to a new style to follow up is quite challenging in the beginning as we are new to it. That moment we fail to cope up in the beginning, it acts as such a demotivating factor to resume it again.

So it is always essential to know the traps to dodge them. We may plan out things properly, but there will always exist external factors that could disrupt our plans. They pop up unexpectedly during the time reserved for certain tasks. At that moment we should understand that the same work could be performed the next day as well and it is completely fine.

Tip: The best and most efficient thing to do is to accomodate for disruptions by time blocking. Ensure you include breaks in your scehdule, that in case of disruptions could be efficiently utilised towards making up for lost time. 

Even an expert Cal Newport (author of Deep work) ensured to reallocate the same task in the next day’s calendar. 

Cal Newport time blocking says,

This type of planning to me is like a chess game, with blocks of work getting spread and sorted in such a way that projects big and small all seem to click into completion with (just enough) time to spare.

2. Time allocation

Analyzing the time required for a particular job is essential. We should be able to project and allocate the right and the required time for a specific task. It might be quite difficult to make the exact projections for the beginners. But after a certain point of time, we eventually develop the habit of making time projections. This helps in optimizing our time properly. 

3. Leisure Time

Many people think staying productive all the time is the key to success. But do you know that Einstein’s most effective life hack wasn’t only about productivity? Spending time with others and also with you is an effective hack to keep you focussed during work time. People tend to think about leisure time as optional. But to keep you mentally fit, it is always necessary to block your calendar for some leisure time, one of the main time blocking tips many fail to ensure!

4. There is no right time

There is no perfect time for any task. Schedule a flexible calendar that suits you. It isn’t necessary to stick to the traditional way of allocating hours. Like 9 am to 5 pm as the time for official work, 6 pm to 7 pm as the leisure time, etc.

It should be in such a flexible way that it would make work feel interesting and not like a burden. If work is bound to any authority, one should always try to customize the timings as per their preference. Even in a 9-5 schedule, you can effectively spread out your tasks based on your own work style.

For example, if you are highly productive in the first half of your day, but start to feel lethargic or see a downward curve of inefficiency in the latter half, schedule your important tasks for the first half and the rest for the second half of your day.

Also Read: Deep work summary | An ultimate read for best results

How to prepare an effective Time Blocking Calendar?

To prepare an effective time blocking calendar, it is essential to have a look over the Eisenhower Matrix. Eisenhower matrix helps us with prioritizing the right way. We all have a lot of work to do in a day whether you are a student or a working professional.

Our to-do lists seem never-ending. Doing the right work at the right time is a must to ensure productivity. This is where the Eisenhower matrix comes into the picture to help us to prioritize our tasks responsibly.

4 quadrants of Eisenhower

Eisenhower’s principle is represented in a 4 quadrant tabulation that helps us in a better understanding. To use Eisenhower’s principle, it is necessary to list down all our tasks and should tabulate them under these 4 quadrants. It is common to witness most of the people spending a hefty time on the 4th column – not important and not urgent. But a rational decision would rank these as,

1. Important and Urgent
2. Important but not urgent
3. Not important but urgent
4. Not important and not urgent

So additional care and time should be devoted to the above-mentioned order. This would help us in preparing daily time schedules. 

Also Read: Depth of knowledge | A priceless list of tips to succeed

Common myths of time blocking

Following are the common myths found in time blocking,

1. Hinders Creativity

This is completely a myth. It enables us to focus on a particular task deeply and each task is given the required importance which at the last helps in increasing productivity. Increasing productivity saves a lot of time that was earlier wasted.

Cal Newport also says. “Sometimes people ask if controlling time will stifle creativity. I understand this concern but it is fundamentally misguided. If you control your schedule: (1) you can ensure that you consistently dedicate time to the deep efforts that matter for creative pursuits, and (2) the stress relief that comes from this sense of organization allows you to go deeper in your creative blocks and produce more value”

2. Applicable only to office? 

Only 1/3rd of our daily schedule belongs to office work. We can block time for the remaining 16 hours in a day as to how we require it. 

3. To complete more tasks from less time

Without knowing the exact time required to perform a task, we often squeeze in more tasks in lesser time which makes it quite difficult for one to succeed. It is always advisable to dedicate adequate time for a particular task for beginners.

Tip: Overestimating time for a task is one of the best time blocking tips for the beginners.

Also Read: Remote work habits | A comprehensive guide

What platform to use to time blocking?

There are 2 means to prepare our days’ plan. It can also be prepared using a pen and paper. But in this technological era, it is also good if we move ahead with time blocking apps. The play store is flooded with a lot of time-blocking apps. Apps like to-do list planner calendar & reminders, Time bloc, Time tune are prevalent in the play store.

But the classic app recommended for everyone to use is Google Calendar. As it is synched with the mails’ meeting appointments, we can also add our schedule for a day, by blocking time for a specific task. Additionally using a platform such as unremot would help, wherein you have your calendar and tasks as well as your team’s tasks.

You can work on your tasks and delegate tasks as well. Thus ensuring you stay on top of your productivity. Other features that are useful on Unremot are the virtual office where you can see your colleague’s availability and also set your own to ensure your time blocking techniques are visible and efficient even remotely.

Also Read: How to prioritize task | Everything you must know

Time blocking template

Initially, it is good, to begin with, a printout of a time blocking template broken down into 1-hour intervals from the time you wake up till you go to your bed. Keep one for planning and another as to what you did. This helps in analyzing! The time blocking template can be customized later when one gets a hold over it.

What is time blocking?

Time blocking is a method of managing or blocking a particular time in a day for a specific task. It helps us in scheduling a particular time for a particular work.

Does time blocking increases productivity?

Yes, time blocking significantly increases productivity. It makes us efficient, sorting out all the works and allocating the required time for every task. Which in turn helps us in completing the work soon as we focus deeply in one particular job at a time. 

What apps do I use for time blocking?

The play store is flooded with many time blocking apps like to-do list planners calendar & reminders, Time bloc, Time tune, etc. But the classic one for time blocking is Google Calendar. You can also opt for platforms such as unremot that helps your whole team effectively plan their time and productivity on a single platform.

How do I plan a day?

Planning a day should be based on an individual’s prioritization and urgency. The important and urgent tasks should be given preference in our planner list and not important and not urgent tasks should be given lesser importance. 

How long will it take to prepare a time blocking calendar for a day?

The time taken to prepare a time blocking calendar should be between 10 to 20 minutes in a day. 

Is it necessary to include leisure time in our time blocking calendar?

To keep us mentally fit, it is always essential to ensure some leisure time in our calendar.

In today’s modern era, remote work has gained immense popularity due to its several advantages of flexibility and comfort. The remuneration and perks are attractive, and the opportunities are also impressive. But still, there are challenges which remote professionals need to combat to stay steady and productive. According to the remote study by Buffer, One of the most concerning challenges has been loneliness while working physically away from the office premises. The article will provide the key tips on how to combat remote work loneliness efficiently and effectively for an excellent future.

Before we proceed towards discussing the tips on how to avoid loneliness as a remote worker, let us understand why do we at all need to be so attentive on combating remote work loneliness. Loneliness is not a technical jargon; it is an emotion that needs to be controlled and overcome. It needs tuning of your self and sync your mind to the changing work atmosphere opted by you. The feeling of working from home lonely generates mind block hampering your mental and physical health, social connects and at the end your productivity and work quality. It is hence advisable to combat loneliness and remain active and productive.

How to combat remote work loneliness?

 

1. Communicate online with your manager, team, and peer
2. Join a group or a community
3. Leverage remote work schedule flexibility
4. Design your workspace smartly
5. Analyse your day
6. Opt for break sessions with co-workers
7. Fix your working hours
8. How can employers contribute to combating remote work loneliness?

Important Tips

Never neglect the feeling of remote work loneliness. Consider it critical and adopt appropriate measures to combat is as soon as possible. It is a serious deterrent to your future career.

1. Communicate online with your manager, team, and peers

Technology advancements are a real boon for professionals to combat remote work loneliness. Video conferencing and web meetings are two very efficient methods to feel the essence of face to face conversations while working remotely. You feel connected with the team since you can observe and visualize the facial expressions. Facial expressions play a major role in effective communication between the team members.

Must read: Best Remote Working Tools That Make Life Easy

Though chats and internal messaging services create a difference in communication, they do not capture the emotional aspects and sometimes may mislead the entire communication. To avoid such kind of a scenario, it is advisable to leverage the best video conferencing tools and software to resolve the problems of working from home lonely.

Tips

Miscommunication and lack of communication both seriously affect the productivity of remote professionals. So whenever you anticipate such issues, jump into a video call or in the worst case in an audio conversation for a smooth resolution. It not only helps to improve your interpersonal relationships, but it also serves as an efficient weapon to combat loneliness. 

2. Join a group or a community

Remote working in an isolated corner inside your home generates a feeling of negligence and loneliness. A good option is to join a coworking space to overcome remote work loneliness. Some companies provide membership benefits of shared office space. Once or twice a week you can work from a coworking space, engaging with people of similar professions and skills. Sharing your knowledge and discussing different topics help to combat loneliness as well as enhance your experience.

You can even join communities involved in voluntary work or any sports activities in groups. These provide opportunities to mingle with various types of people and interact with them constantly. Your mind is relieved of the boredom and loneliness. When you get back to your regular work schedule, you feel much refreshed and energized. Your productivity increases, impacting your future growth positively.

Important Fact

Staying aloof from social activities or lazing at home without any physical activities majorly affects our mind and body. Even if you are gifted with options of being engaged in a community, your ignorance and lethargy tend to hover you forcing you to a state of isolation and loneliness. Hence you must strive to remain active and enthusiastic as much as possible to activate your brain, stay positive and increase your productivity.

3. Leverage remote work schedule flexibility

Flexible work schedules are one of the important driving factors encouraging many professionals to work remotely. They need to leverage this advantage to overcome the work from home lonely problems and issues. Fix up a daily work plan and carve out time to engage in breaks and activities to stimulate your brain.

While working remotely you possess the luxury of adjusting your work schedule for your personal and health benefits. Occasional breaks and indulging in sports or social activities are major weapons to combat remote work loneliness. You can opt for a coffee break at a nearby café or coffee parlour or even go for a short drive in your neighbourhood. If you love sports then you can go biking or walk in a park nearby. You can play with your pet or kids too.

Must read: 14 Best Productivity Tips to Achieve More At Work & Life

These activities provide relaxation and relief from the mental stress that you may exhibit while working remotely in a lonely workspace at your home. Your thinking ability enhances, you remain active and energized and you are never encircled into a life of loneliness. 

4. Design your workspace smartly

Working remotely at home does not necessarily mean you need to keep your things cluttered. If you design your workspace efficiently and decorate elegantly, your mind and heart stay rejuvenated and active. It significantly assists you to overcome remote work loneliness.

Display pictures of your interest and choice to relax your eyes, preventing brain saturation. Your travel pictures or pictures of family and friends are a good means to combat loneliness and an efficient stressbuster. If you love flowers and plants, place some small pots near your desk. Greenery is said to influence your mind and body positively. Caring and nurturing them create a bonding that relieves your brain from the negative effects of loneliness.

Ardent lovers of music can even play some light music at their work desk or even use the headphones to listen to the music of their choice. Music is an effective mechanism leveraged by many remote professionals to overcome the difficulties of work from home lonely environment.

Tips

If you have a hobby or a special skill in gardening, music or photography do not neglect it for the sake of your work. If you have opted to work remotely, these hobbies are an efficient means to overcome loneliness.

5. Analyze your day

The best way to understand the moments you feel lonely is to analyze your day at the end of your work schedule. To list down the different situations you have experienced throughout the day which made you feel lonely, ignored, isolated and insecure. This practice is one of the efficient ways to combat remote work loneliness.

For each of the listed situations, you need to craft a resolution to avoid them or reduce them as much as possible. The list will assist you in rectifying and improving your remote work life. Certain situations can be discussed with your team or manager and rectified. Some situations demand ways to relieve mental stress. Think of the various ways of resolution and put it on trial. Monitor yourself for a couple of more days to notice any changes. Once it starts working, you will realize the benefits and inculcate the habits eventually driving you to overcome the loneliness ailment.

Suggested Read: Deep Work Summary: 5 Key takeaways to help you be more productive

Important Tips

If you feel working at certain hours in a day, for example, early mornings or late nights, increase your attentive power and productivity levels then utilize the same for your benefit.

6. Opt for break sessions with co-workers

In many cases, remote professionals either work in a nearby location to the company’s office premises. There also can be situations when remote workers may be co-located in a certain region. It is advisable to leverage these advantages to your benefit and use those as a weapon to combat remote work loneliness. 

For the first case, you can visit the office location maybe once in a week and socialize with your team and manager. Engage with them on business matters or casual conversations. It will relieve you of the feeling of ignorance. Meeting with all helps you to overcome the feeling of loneliness. Socializing with your peers enables knowledge sharing and resolving clarifications. You do not feel left away from the team. The mental stability enables you to increase your productivity levels and ultimately is beneficial for both you and the company.

 

Read: Synchronous & Asynchronous Communication For Remote Work

As for the second option, remote professionals can team up with fellow teammates residing in a common location and work together once or twice a week. That facilitates the exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing, eliminating the feeling of loneliness.

7. Fix your working hours

It is very important to follow a fixed work schedule with few exceptions depending on the work load. Remote working allows flexibility but that does not imply you go on working without resting your mind and body. You need to avoid your brain from being fatigued and burned out. A stressful mind tends to be easily engulfed into a world of loneliness, mainly due to lack of energy and lethargy. 

You can negotiate and sync up your work hours with your manager and remote team. Do not overwork or overshoot your regular schedule out of overconfidence. Plug off your day as you end up with your working time and engage in activities that help in revitalize your brain. Play with your pet or your kid, talk to a friend or a family member and even pursue your hobbies or areas of interest. The other options are to attend a sports event or engage in any sports activities. The fact of reenergizing and rejuvenating yourself at the end of the day will assist in combating remote work loneliness. 

Important Tips

Draw up a work calendar with your To-Do List activities daily, allocating the time for each of the tasks. The tasks must be subdivided into professional as well as personal activities. You need to religiously follow the time allocated and also be prepared to keep some buffer for the complex tasks.

Must read: Managing Remote Teams: 13 tips that will come handy

8. How can employers contribute to combating remote work loneliness?

Employers can play a major role in assisting and supporting remote professionals on combating remote work loneliness. Let us discuss some of the key tips which companies can adopt to help their remote team and motivate them to work

• Provide membership benefits of being associated in a co-working space. Companies can arrange for perks or stipends monthly or yearly depending on the policies and rules. Offering to bear the costs of attending some sports activities is also a great option to assist remote team members in overcoming loneliness.
• Scheduling a team meets regularly through platforms like UnRemot help in collaborating with the remote professionals efficiently. They feel connected, sharing their concerns, talking about their interests and even discussing any roadblocks in completing their assignments. Eventually, the remote workers are not engulfed in a feeling of loneliness.
• Set up company events yearly in a location convenient for the remote professionals to attend and feel being a part of the greater community. The events help in building up acquaintances and professional relations. Remote professionals can collaborate and socialize with the other company members thus increasing their connections within the organization.
• Daily stand up meetings are very important to provide due importance to all the remote team members. They do not feel ignored or left out of important company decisions. Over and above they can share their work progress, speak out their clarifications and seek assistance from their peers and manager. The meetings need to be arranged online at a common time that suits the location time zones of the remote team members.
• Encourage remote team members to share their interests and hobbies other than their regular work assignments. You can even conduct quizzes, debates, and seminars among the teams to generate a feeling of being part of the team. This would certainly help the remote professionals in eliminating the feeling of loneliness.

Next time when you ask the question of how to avoid loneliness as a remote worker, do not forget to scan across the tips provided in this article. You will surely benefit from them if you follow them sincerely and diligently. 

“Deep Work” is a popular concept among entrepreneurs since its inception by Cal Newport.

Cal Newport is a prominent author and professor at the University of Georgetown, phenomenal for his best selling book, “Deep Work: Rules For Focused Success in a Distracted World”. In his book demonstrates the effect of deep work in transforming the work ethics and the adoption of four rules for inculcating the change. In this article we will discuss Deep Work summary, focusing on its concepts, importance and the key strategies of incorporating it in real life.

While working remotely, you tend to be diverted towards emails, online meetings, and chat sessions. You are under the apprehension of being outdated or ignored with the thought of avoiding the real-time or online communication medium. But at the same time, you are completely distracted from your regular thought process flow. Your cognitive thinking abilities are subsequently reduced hampering your productivity skills. In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport harps on these points and educates on how to avoid the distractions and concentrate on your task.

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Content Index

1. What is Deep Work
2. The Importance of Deep Work
3. Deep Work Takeaways

Did you know? After publishing the book on Deep Work, Cal Newport has earned praises and accolades from several leading newspapers and news journals in the world. The prominent among them being The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, New York Times.

What is Deep Work?

“What is Deep Work?” Ever since the idea has been floored in the market by Cal Newport, it has been the curiosity of many remote professionals. Let us understand the definition of Deep Work as explained by the author.

Deep Work is essentially the capability of an individual to focus especially on a cognitive activity or task without being distracted and disrupted. It is in direct contrast with shallow work where an individual performs non-cognitive work in a distracted or disturbing environment. Deep work enhances your productivity, enables you to think logically with supporting facts and figures and instils a sense of self-confidence within you. Due to social media, remote professionals especially tend to defocus from deep-diving into a particular subject. It eventually results in a half baked solution devoid of high quality and innovativeness. In this article’s Deep Work summary, we will touch upon the improvement ideas and rules expressed by Cal Newport in his book.

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Note: The author refers to different interesting and engaging stories while explaining the concepts and importance of Deep Work. He narrates the story of a pioneer in social media, who purchased a round trip air ticket in business class with the sole objective of writing a book free of distractions. He even talks about Carl Jung who constructed a tower made of stone in the forests to increase his concentration power and mental focus.

Importance of Deep Work

In this section of the article’s Deep Work summary, we will elaborate on the key points that drive the importance of Deep Work.

• Deep work for remote workers is essential in imparting significant value to their activities and tasks assigned. They harp on their brains’ intellectual capacity to think big. They nurture their minds to device strategies and solutions that create a phenomenal effect on the company’s future growth and roadmap
• Deep work for remote workers brings about significant improvement in their lives. They feel an immense sense of satisfaction from their accomplishments, prompting them to more and more cultivate the practice of Deep Work. The motivation level enhances that creates a positive impact on their productivity and efficiency.
• Deep work benefits the company and organizations, hiring remote workers for their operations. They can receive high quality and innovative solutions from the remote professionals which eventually brings significant improvement in achieving the company’s goals and objectives.

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In the next sections of our summary of Deep Work by Cal Newport, we will discuss elaborately on the rules, the tips and the strategies that he has suggested for each of them.

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Deep Work Takeaways

As we continue our discussion on the Deep Work summary, let us harp on certain key strategies, rules, and principles as elaborated and explained by Cal Newport.

1. Practice Deep Work

One of the key Deep Work tips is to practice the concept diligently and intensely. Question is, how can we inculcate and embed its essence within our brains? The key points to consider are:

• Focus on highly productive activities and tasks and eliminate non-value added tasks from your daily schedule of jobs. You need to segregate Deep work and Shallow work, concentrating more on Deep work to enrich your mind’s innovative power and strength.
• Devote your extra time in rediscovering and accumulating your thoughts on solutions rather than lazing out the day. Rest your mind in a cool environment and let your brain roll on different facts and figures to create miracles.

Cal Newport has defined 4 philosophies that guide an individual to practice deep work, namely The Monastic Philosophy, The Bimodal Philosophy, The Rhythmic Philosophy, and The Journalistic Philosophy.

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The key deep work takeaways from the 4 philosophies defined by Cal Newport are:

1. Arrange your yearly, monthly and weekly calendar to invest your time and effort on deep work, the activities that add value to your professional life. Remote professionals need to focus on this aspect more since they need to plan their schedules independently and stay focused without any disruptions at home.
2. Predicting the activities and tasks daily is one of the essential deep work tips. It assists you in dividing your day into deep work hours and shallow work hours in a rhythmic fashion just like the beats of music. Smart and experienced remote professionals can adopt this habit with ease and comfort, thereby planning a productive and effective work schedule.
3. People who generally do not have to engage in multi-tasking can dedicate their days to specific activities instead of engaging in multiple non-value-added tasks. They stay focused on a single subject area and keep on improvising them, adding significant value to the assignments along with any critical issues and problems.
4. The toughest philosophy elaborated by Cal Newport is for the remote workers who are constantly on move and find it tough to dedicate scheduled hours between deep work and shallow work. The practice is suggested for experienced professionals only who are intelligent, smart and vigilant to identify hours between their work schedules for deep work. They can even adjust time and utilize the extra time for deep work.

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Tip: As a beginner, it is advisable to devise a plan dividing the hours for deep work and shallow work. Once you inherit the habits of deep work, you can elevate yourself further in identifying hours easily in your daily work schedule for deep work. As you gain more experience, you can even switch smartly between deep work and shallow work and reap the benefits of this wonderful concept.

2. Collaboration with the Team

In this section of the Deep work summary, we will discuss how collaboration is extremely beneficial for remote professionals. Working in a remote environment tends to instigate individuals to think solo which may sometimes turn out to be a roadblock in the thought process as well as in crafting interesting solutions. Collaborating with peers, supervisors and experts within the organization enhances the thinking power, clears confusion and clarifications and often leads to qualitative and thought provoking discussions.

Tip: Collaborative deep work between two individuals where you deliberate and harp on each other’s brains to extract the best is a powerful mechanism for increasing productivity and efficiency. It helps in achieving the deadlines of assignments faster and with good quality.

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Deep work takeaways from working in a collaborative environment are:

• Your mind starts discovering new ideas and techniques for tackling a solution since you are exposed to varied suggestions from the team
• You gain knowledge on additional topics which turn out to influence your thought process positively
• Your solutions will attain high quality due to enhancement in deep work thinking abilities
• You can finish your assignments before time, innovatively handling the solutions and issues

3. Utilize Digital Tools and Avoid Social Media

While discussing on Deep Work summary, let us understand Newport’s recommendations for mastering the technique utilizing the digital tools wisely and distancing from the social media during the work hours.

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Note: Newport defines two approaches, The Any-Benefit Approach and The Craftsman Approach, in his book Deep work on selecting the best digital tools. He stresses on identifying the benefits of the tools and understand the difference between positive and negative impacts on both personal and professional life.

The essence of the two approaches can be detailed as under:

• Identify the goals aligned with the company’s mission and objectives coupled with the project’s goals. Study and enlist the activities and tasks to be executed to achieve the goals and objectives
• The next important and big act is to select the online and digital tools which would help in achieving the value added activities. Strike out tools which would bring in negative impacts on achieving the goals
• Judge the impact of digital tools on your efficiency factor and productivity quotient. Does it bring in substantial changes in your regular day to day functioning and increase your credentials? If yes, then install and implement them fast in your laptops and computers or your mobile devices. Leverage their features in ensuring positivity in your activities. Remote professionals need to analyze the tools significantly since it’s critical for them to maintain and enhance their potential else they will fall behind in the competitive world.
• Newport emphasizes the elimination of digital clutter. It essentially implies the deletion of social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc from your mobile devices, laptops, and computers. These apps are the major distraction elements which prevent you from practicing or engaging in deep work.
• Spend your leisure time in cultivating your hobbies, interests and inherent skills instead of surfing through Youtube, Netflix or similar entertainment media. You can play some kinds of sports, go hiking or trekking, learn some musical instruments or some vocal music, read books or socialize with family and friends.

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4. Reduce or eliminate shallow work

One of the precious points you need to remember while discussing deep work summary is to minimize shallow work as much as possible. Some amount of shallow work will always remain in our day to day life, for example, planning for a trip, claiming expenses, attend a child at home, etc. Certain shallow work is essential especially when you are working from home remotely. But the essence of the discussion is to identify the shallow work which curbs the thinking power or which are unnecessary and can be avoided easily. Eliminate those out of your professional life to invest time in deep work.

Key strategies to be adopted from Deep Work by Cal Newport:

• Divide the time between deep work and shallow work, estimating and assigning hours to each of the activities. You can realize the percentage of time and effort being spent on shallow work and try to curb them to gain additional hours for deep work.
• Provision for buffers for certain activities which tend to overshoot in the normal daily course and as per historical trends. This practice grows with experience and can vary depending on the work complexity. Remote professionals need to focus on this aspect more since they create and are responsible for their work schedules.
• Cal Newport suggests a brilliant method to prioritize activities through the grading system. You need to assign grades to the different tasks categorized under a deep and shallow worklist. To determine the grades, you need to analyze which tasks require focused attention and dedication, which tasks will add value to your work, which tasks are beneficial for your future growth and which tasks cannot be replicated once missed out. These questions will assist you in deciding the grades.

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• Managers and leaders many times are unable to judge or are wrong in deciding the time required by their remote team members on different activities or tasks. If you face such kind of situations, then it is advisable to educate them on the activities under each of the categories and mutually decide and finalize the time that needs to be spent on the tasks.

Tip: Real-time communication can be the reason for continual distraction and deviation from the regular work schedule. The advisable solution is to shift to an asynchronous communication mode thus reducing the time spent on instant meetings or chats. To achieve this practice, it is very important to distinguish between the activities that need communication via real-time instant online tools and the activities that do not require an immediate response.

Synchronous & Asynchronous Communication For Remote Work

5. Focus on a fixed work schedule

In the book Deep Work, Newport mentions, “providing your conscious brain time to rest enables your unconscious mind to take a shift sorting through your most complex professional challenges”. Working aggressively and constantly for hours without adequate rest is not advisable. In due course, your brain will be fatigued preventing you to think logically and most importantly curb your out of the box thinking capabilities.

In this section of the deep work summary, we will discuss the strategies that can be adopted by remote professionals to follow a fixed work schedule diligently throughout the year.

• Limit your work-time to 8 hours fixing the start time and end time daily. Communicate the same to your supervisor and team for buy-in. Inform your customers too of the same. Remote professionals have an additional task to keep their families and friends aware of their work hours. Fixing the work hours relieves the mental stress and stigma of a human mind.
• During the work hours, invest your time and effort in deep work mainly and eliminate shallow work. This will assist in achieving the to-do activities within the specified and planned work schedule. You are assured of proper rest allowing your brain to re-energize for working on complex solutions.

• Do not respond to all emails, chats and instant messages. Learn and practice the habit of analyzing the importance of each conversation and respond accordingly. Critical messages and emails must be answered immediately not the others who can wait for the response. The trick is to determine which message or mail demands high priority or low priority. Our activities and response will entirely be dependent on how we rank the conversations.

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By now, you must have understood the essence and concepts behind deep work. In this modern area, technology is changing at a rapid pace. The market demands and customer demands are changing day by day and sometimes we witness a drastic change in both the domain and technical spaces. If we start practicing deep work, we can overcome the hurdles and increase our competency levels. The result is success in your work area of excellence.

Remote working is an accepted norm by the majority of the organizations eager to enrich the benefits of niche skills and operation in different time zones. But the question arises, how can remote workers perform successfully without any hiccups? What are the best remote work habits that need to be inculcated? This article will share the best remote habits which once adopted will enable the remote professionals to boost their productivity and efficiency.

Working from home is a practice and culture that needs dedication and sincerity to attain the desired success. Let us discuss some of the important and healthy habits for remote employees to handle office and home simultaneously without any disruptions. These remote habits will guide you in overcoming the challenges faced, while being away from the office environment and your colleagues. 

Content:

1. Be Professional
2. Plan your day
3. Work-life balance
4. An interesting workspace
5. Right communication tools
6. Resist distractions and good focus
7. Be your own supervisor
8. Healthy and active social life

1. Be Professional

Imagine yourself in office, working face to face with your team, peers, supervisors and even customers. Would you strive to be in your best professional attire? Would you not constantly motivate yourself to perform as per the goals and objectives of the company? Would you focus on completing your work as per the scheduled deadlines? Well, if you think logically, the answers to all these questions are Yes.

Professionalism needs to be embedded within your mind to attain a successful career, be it in your dressing habits or work habits. It drives sincerity, dedication, work quality and respect from the individual. Remote professionals must not underestimate the aspect of being professional even while working at home. Maintaining professionalism even while working out of office premises is one of the critical remote work habits. It helps to stay focused and attentive earning trust and confidence from the immediate supervisors and in turn from the company.

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It is recommended to avoid the distractions at home by secluding yourself in a separate workspace at home. Start your day with a proper formal or semi-formal attire. Maintain the time set for meetings, discussions and training programs. Finish your work within the stipulated time. Pick up calls during the designated office hours and never skip or find excuses to avoid conversations with the team.

2. Plan your Day

Planning is an essential and path-breaking remote work habit. You should set your remote work schedule at least 1- day prior, to organize your work effectively. Some remote professionals struggle to finish their work juggling between emails, phone calls, meetings, and their scheduled assignments. It ultimately leads to skipping some important task, which leads to discontent and inefficiency. Your workload starts piling up and you tend to lose your focus since you will be engaged in a fire-fighting mode instead of an organized execution of work.

To avoid the above-mentioned consequences, you must maintain a daily planner and to-do list. Starting your day early in the morning is one of the best habits for remote working. But yes that does not mean you jump out of your bed and start scanning through your emails. Get up in the morning and finish your daily chores. Exercise or go for a walk to refresh and energize yourself. Finish your breakfast adequately and never hurry it up. Dress up well and then proceed towards your workspace.

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First and foremost you must look through the to-do list for the day and then start attending each of them as per the priority set up. Do not panic if your list is long and never try to skip some and jump into another. Stay focused on each of the activities and finish them sequentially. Delegate if needed and do not overburden yourself with the activities that can be performed in parallel with other members of the team. Do not work continuously, take breaks to rest your brain and summarize on the work completed and leftovers. Designating time for each of the activities and diligently following it is one of the recommended tips for improving productivity.

3. Work-Life Balance

You must be wondering why we are discussing work-life balance separately for remote professionals. Balancing work and life is critical for any individual working from an office or home. Well, there is a significant difference between the two. Remote professionals operate from their homes mainly though some operate from a co-working space too. Working from home has its own set of challenges. You can be distracted by your kids, family members, relatives or friends visiting you and even your neighbours.

You need to set expectations properly for your near and dear ones. They must understand the importance of your scheduled work hours. Do not entertain personal phone calls unless it is an emergency. Educating family members and friends of your work style and respecting it, is one of the critical remote work habits. 

Another important part of work-life balance is your children. You need to sit with them and teach them the value of your work. Carefully divide the time of work and leisure while speaking with them. Your success and productivity are heavily dependent on the mentioned best habits for remote working.

A Guide to Setting Personal Development Goals For Life and Work

4. Create an Interesting Work Space

A comfortable, inspiring and appealing workspace influences the performance of any individual. While in office the work desks are arranged and organized by the infrastructure planning and facilities department, but in the home the environment is different. It’s you who has to design your work space for an interesting and professional look. Creating a work space that rejuvenates you and motivates you to work uninterrupted throughout the day is treated as one of the essential aspects of remote work habits.

You can either finalize a separate room or a separate space inside a room for your work space. The chair and desk must be ergonomically designed to avoid discomfort while working throughout the day. Even the position of keyboard, mouse, and speakers are important. You must not land up in backaches and other ortho related ailments while working remotely.

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Decorating your workspace is also considered as one of the healthy habits for remote employees. You must have a whiteboard in front of you to note down important points that need attention and focus. Place some interesting images with motivational words in the form of pictures or desk stands. Your work space contributes a lot in boosting your productivity and efficiency.

5. Leverage Collaboration and Communication Tools

Working remotely necessitates constant collaboration and communication with the team and the customers. To facilitate these, one of the best remote work habits is to utilize online tools for conversations. The tools are effective in hosting meetings and discussions between several people located in different regions of the world. They even support screen sharing and sharing of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

The tools allow recording of meetings which can be referred to in the future by all. It is also beneficial for those unable to attend meetings due to any unavoidable circumstances or emergencies. In many situations, emails supported with videos and screen recordings turn out to be a much effective means of communication.

Remote workers need to collaborate more often since they are not physically present in the office. Be it sharing daily progress or resolving any clarifications, collaboration is very essential for working successfully in a remote environment. Installing online collaboration tools in laptops is one of the best habits for remote work. The collaboration happens smoothly and seamlessly.

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6. Avoid Disruptions and Maintain Continuity

Frequent interruptions and distractions between work tend to reduce productivity and weaken the efficient functioning of remote professionals. Hence it is very much necessary to adopt adequate measures to avoid disruptions as one of the best remote work habits. Your concentration level is maintained, your mind stays focused and your capacity to deliver timely and quality work is enhanced.

One of the tips for improving productivity while working remotely is to select an almost noise-free quiet environment as a workspace at home. Ensure not to be diverted by household chores and follow the remote work schedule planned.

Among the many good habits of productive remote workers, avoiding social media during the scheduled office hours is considered as one of the healthy habits for remote employees. Social media disrupts the attentive power of individuals and the flow of work considerably. It slows down the thinking capacity of the human mind, leading to a delay in completing the work as per the scheduled time. All notifications from social media must be switched off during office hours. It is best to have separate phones for office and work. If that option is not affordable then the social media apps must be kept hidden while at work.

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7. Be Your Own Supervisor

Remote professionals must understand the fact that they will not be under constant supervision and monitoring by their supervisors. They will also not receive constant guidance or support while working remotely. Hence they must adopt self-supervision as one of the healthy remote work habits. 

You need to be aware of the fact that how your managers or supervisors think while interacting with remote professionals. There are several questions whose answers you need to understand to be able to monitor your work.

Managers are concerned to meet the goals and objectives of the company and the projects. They ensure to achieve the results within the deadlines by utilizing the resources effectively. They do not entertain lethargy, indiscipline, and avoidance. Hence to adopt the best habits for remote work, one must be able to supervise or revise their own work by answering all the questions which a manager or a leader may enquire for completeness. 

8. Remain Active and Healthy

Remote professionals tend to remain confined the whole day within their workspace at home. The habit must be vehemently avoided to stay fit and fine. Sitting at a particular space for an elongated time is not considered as one of the best remote work habits. It leads to several pains and aches in different parts of the body. 

Never sit at your work space continuously. Take short breaks, you can even accept phone calls while strolling across in the room or with a cup of coffee outside in your garden or balcony. Breathing fresh air in between work serves as a refreshment and stress relief from constant exposure to laptops. 

Eating healthy and nutritious food is also one of the best habits of productive remote workers. Food supplemented with green veggies and fruits help to remain energized and active. Working remotely often tends to induce laziness and boredom in everyday work. On the top consuming unhealthy food may tone down negatively the energy level of the body. To avoid such a situation, it is essential to keep yourself hydrated by drinking sufficient amount of water and healthy by consuming an adequate amount of vitamins and minerals.

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Conclusion:

The tips mentioned above are some of the important aspects of remote work habits which need to be followed diligently and religiously to operate successfully in a remote work environment. Remote professionals are vulnerable victims of constant diversions and lethargy. They are prone to a mismatch between work and life balance due to their affinity at home.

To attain success, people working remotely must strive to alter the mindset of enjoying too much leisure at home. While walking into the workspace at home, the situation must be like entering into the real office premises where rules need to be strictly adhered to. Set up your own rules at home during office hours and check whether you are following it sincerely.  

Since you do not need to commute to the office, do not overestimate the time available with you at home. Finish your work as per the to-do list and plan created. Identify risks and communicate those immediately to your supervisor to discuss the mitigation plans and any additional support. Seek your clarifications fast to prevent any negative impact on your work. Share feedbacks both positive and negative whenever being asked to. Your supervisor hence is acquainted with your concerns and can address them quickly. In the end, both the remote employees and the companies are placed in a win-win situation.