What years of teleworking have taught me: 10 Tips, “Special Covid-19 edition

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Virginie Mesana, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

I get it. If you’ve rarely had to telework (or work remotely) on a more frequent basis, this can be scary. More than that. It can prove extremely challenging when you have children – and especially young children – at home. Maybe total confinement is already getting you down, you’re not feeling motivated, you are worried about the future, or you’re already experiencing the “cabin fever” syndrome. Whatever mental block you are facing, lucky for you, I know very well this reality and I’ve got a few tips to share. I have been a teleworker for the most part of the last 10 years, and I even practiced some pretty extreme self isolation/ distancing with very limited wifi and phone to get work done for several days/weeks! So I know a thing or two about the need to be productive and stay motivated when you really don’t want to or when things get a little chaotic! Here are 10 tips that have worked for me and/or for my clients in the past. Hopefully these will make this transition into your new work routine a little easier…

TIP #1: A ROUTINE/ HAVING STRUCTURE IS KEY.

This may sound obvious but trust me, it’s hard to stay motivated when no one is here to boss you around. You are now your own boss so to speak and I imagine this situation may be new to you. So you’ll be tempted to do other things (house chores, eating/ baking, sleeping, watching cable or the Internet, possibly with growing anxiety as covid-19 news continue to unfold). You need to come up with a daily plan where you will write as specifically as possible what needs to be done.

What this routine should include: a realistic to-do list (including daily 2-3 top recurrent tasks that you have to do first thing in the morning), breaks including meal prepping and exercise, time for checking in with family/friends/neighbors/team workers (it’s important to keep this connection during isolation!), time for checking in about your work progress with your supervisor, and time with family if applicable (a routine for kids who are out of school at the moment will help them too!). Routines sometimes get a bad rep, but the need for rituals is a basic human instinct. We like to stick to some familiar references and key points that will structure our day… especially in this time of uncertainty! Obviously adaptability and flexibility are key, but it does not hurt to have at least a loose structure of how your work day at home should be for the next week(s).

TIP #2: PLAN AROUND YOUR MOST PRODUCTIVE HOURS.

Best practice is to first identify what are your most productive hours in the day (depending on other responsibilities at home and knowing your own energy levels); then allotting certain tasks to definite blocks of time. You need this to be able to keep track of how you use your time. If you’ve got kids at home, planning your most productive hour(s) will prove to be key. Select times when your kids can do an activity on their own (whatever it is, and no matter how short). Believe me, working one full productive hour is better than scattered small chunks of times while being interrupted at your peak hours. If you’re lucky to have a partner or another adult in the house, think of doing rotations for supervision and time with kids, so that you can each have a quiet and productive time.

TIP #3: REVIEW AND REVISE YOUR GOALS FREQUENTLY.

You need to review your tasks each evening to track how you did with time management, as well as make notes of progress and wins. Writing down (or even journaling) about what worked and what did not will be very helpful to support you on the short and on the long term. Questions to ask yourself each time: Did you reach your daily targets? What worked and should be used as a more systematic helpful resource in the coming days? What do you need to change to structure your day or your to-do lists differently? When you take this valuable time to reflect, you can better adjust for the following day to make remote work even more productive and efficient. And honestly, you should keep this habit beyond the weeks of confinement. It is valuable for all professionals, telework or not.

TIP #4: DON’T WORK IN YOUR SWEATPANTS.

You have to feel like you woke up to go to the office. Sure, no one will see you in your glorious relaxed self, but it will condition you to be at your best in terms of focus and commitment during your most productive hours. It’s all about mindset, people.

TIP #5: TIME TO JOIN THE 5AM CLUB!

I know that this will not necessarily be a pleasant tip (maybe you’re even cringing at that one!) because you may already be tired and do not feel like shortening your nights. Maybe you’re not intuitively an early riser and this will certainly take time to adjust (like going to bed much earlier!). But, especially if you’ve got kids at home, maybe it’s time to try joining the “5am club” – see Robin Sharma for some extra guidance on the specifics of this new challenge (however you can certainly tailor it to your needs)!! Wake up early and get some work done before chaos (i.e: family) awakes. Again, I recommend setting some priorities/ goals in the evening before so that you can manage your time and use it efficiently as soon as you wake up in the morning. Go to bed as early as you can to get a good night sleep (however I’m aware that everyone’s reality will be different with children!), then wake up before the sun rises to have 1-2 hours of work done. Then enjoy breakfast with your family and some fun, relaxing activities with them. I promise, the effort is worth it.

TIP #6: MAKE YOURSELF A WORK STATION AREA.

Space and comfort are important if you’re gonna be working remotely. Make sure you set up your working space on an actual desk or flat surface. In other words, working on your couch or in bed might not be super motivating – similarly to the sweat pants situation. Set up your laptop in a way that is elevated to your eye level (or you will end up with very sore shoulders and neck!), don’t forget to stand and stretch every so often, and have a bottle of water nearby. Again, this advice sounds obvious but it is often overlooked and results in poor productivity over time.

TIP #7: MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS.

I understand that with kids, this might prove challenging – I can hear the screams, fights and overall chaos in your background. But let’s imagine that minimizing some distractions is within your control. What can you eliminate in your surroundings to make your work area more efficient? Can you turn off email or text notifications for a certain time? Or can you set limits and alerts on your phone for online checking/social media? Can you put away your phone entirely for a limited time while you work on your computer? Alternatively, can you leave only the “call” function on for emergencies (and mute texts and other social media notifications)? Can you use paper and pen to alternate with computer usage? Phone and online distractions are usually enemy number 1 when working at home. Set some strict boundaries for yourself and if you notice that this is still too hard for you to do, send me a message and we can discuss how to move you forward. I am a solution focused coach determined to empower your resourcefulness. Together, we can do it :)

TIP #8: FIND AN ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY.

So I often play that role for my clients who ask me to check in on their goals and progress. But it is good to be surrounded by other people in your life (or your work) who will support you during this time as you all face the challenges of working remotely. Who can you share your work priorities and goals with? Who can hold you accountable to your targets? Remember: Others are experiencing this total confinement, you are not alone on this. Why not have an open conversation with your peers (or even your supervisor, if you’re brave enough!) about this? It could be key in improving your productivity, focus and commitment.

TIP #9: USE ONLINE TOOLS FOR REMOTE WORKING

What my years of teleworking have also taught me is that there are a few tools that might be lifesavers when it comes to priority setting and time management, not to mention remote teamworking. Here are a few ideas to assist you:

1) PLANNING/ PRIORITIZING: Trello is free and it is great for planning tasks and to-do lists, sharing them with your team, keeping track of what is to do and what is already done. Great for accountability too.

2) TIME MANAGEMENT: If you’re having difficulties managing your time, use online timers! There are a few good ones online with their own methods: the Pomodoro technique with this tomato timer or an app like the Be Focused timer: It allows time to work for small chunks of time (usually 25mn) followed by 5mn breaks.

Klokki is also a fun online platform to use for time management and tracking! Plus, you can share your progress with your employer to show them what a remote worker boss you are ;-)

Tools to work with teams:

3) FILE SHARING: Google drive and Dropbox will be your best friends right now. If you need to send over single large files (with audiovisuals), consider using wetransfer (free). Do you need a centralized password manager (individually or for your team to access)? If so, now would be a great time to set your 1Password account.

4) TEAM COMMUNICATION: Slack (for professional/ team conversations and other features to enhance productivity) and Zoom for optimal group chats or 1:1 audio/videoconferences.

TIP #10: THIS IS THE TIME TO BE CREATIVE.

If you already have teleworking systems in place because you’re self employed but you are facing a major change in your routine (mostly due to the loss of billable hours), know that I can absolutely empathize. However, as a business owner myself, I see this as an opportunity to be creative, resourceful and most of all resilient in the face of change. I trust than you can do this. YOU. CAN. DO. THIS!

So I’d like to challenge you to re-imagine ways that you can do what you used to be doing. There’s no better time to do that than now when a lot of the “usual” isn’t working anymore. What has been in your backlog for a while due to lack of time to do it? Accounting? Writing? Marketing? Developing new content and products? Take this crisis as a challenge to do even better in your business, like moving your brick and mortar services to online platforms, and most importantly asking your customers and clients what they need and how you can serve them in this time of need.

Finally, don’t forget to breathe and take time to reflect and meditate. These are stressful times. Take a moment to take three deep breaths and give yourself the permission to let go of self expectations, of perfection, and of your fear of failure. These emotions are real, acknowledge them, feel them. But let go of them because they are not you. They do not define you. A feeling is ephemeral, but your creativity and resourcefulness have no limit. But more to come on the matter of managing stress in the face of social distancing, confinement and major change at work… in the next blog post.

In the mean time, I am only a phone or audioconference call away! I am offering 30mn free sessions to those who need some extra support during social distancing and confinement. You can book right through Noomi or through my website at www.ariadnecoaching.com