Remote Working Part 2 – Why self discipline is important
The top reason members of both sexes fail to adapt to operating remotely is they don’t recognise the criticality of having high-quality organisation and enduring self discipline.
I have been operating remotely for more than six years since I first found Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software web application and was mesmerised by the fact that if you can perform accounting on the Internet then why shouldn’t you be able to do other key types of of work at a distance?
Whilst working remotely has numerous upsides there are numerous mistakes that people make which evolve into problems that result in lower work output and reduced morale. The most cited reason for low work output from remote professionals is distraction and it is a established and well publicised fact that it can take a person up to twenty minutes to establish their original productivity level after experiencing an interruption.
Deeper insights reveal that individuals who are consistently subjected to interruptions are more likely to suffer from lower memory capacity and are prone to developing mental health problems in old age. We live in an over communicated environment and it is essential that you are acquainted with the problems this causes before you decide to work remotely. Whilst working remotely you must do everything feasible to eradicate the risk of being distracted.
Here are the essentials:
1, Get a consistent schedule, tell everyone about it and obsessively maintain it!
Good examples are a regular time of day when you read or send mail and make or take telephone calls. Before I began working remotely I used to get well over 200 electronic mails over a period of twenty four hours. Now I think I am unfortunate if I get greater than 5. To ’reset’ my electronic mail experience I changed my e-mail address and obsessively took steps to protect the details being made known to anyone. I then educated every individual who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it with special care. I also created an automatic reply that swiftly informed anyone sending me mail at what time of day I would be reading mail and if an e-mail should have my immediate awareness to mark it as ‘Urgent’.
2. Get rid of alerts.
Turn off every possible mechanism that can send you a interruption. This includes cell and
conventional phones and types of alerts from electronic mail such as visual alerts, warning sounds, screen changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your study and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.
In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – Must have online tools’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.