Transitioning to Remote Work

Digital Nomad

It is no secret that both size and scope of remote work has faced a significant increase within the past decade. The age of digital nomads has embarked. Individuals have gravitated toward jobs that allow themselves to be location-independent with usage of technology to perform their job. I myself have fallen into this discourse of the digital nomad and have converged a few findings from time spent working remotely.

Remote Working Is Not Vacation

One of the biggest misconceptions others have when they hear about remote working is the perception that us digital nomads are on constant vacation. Sure, we can work from any location with a pin on a map from coffee shops, co-working spaces, public libraries, to the big comfortable couch found in our living room, but we are indeed working. Setting alarms and adding events to device calendars are still priority tasks needed to stay organized just like any other job would require that is location dependent. Despite the misconception that remote working equates to vacation, digital nomads still must adhere to deadlines, punctuality when attending virtual meetings, to practicing time appropriation when conversing with coworkers. Doesn’t sound so much like vacation now after all.

Benefits

Ever heard of the saying, “Never mix pleasure with business”? You’re basically subscribing to the anecdote when choosing to work remotely. With all the distractions found in a nonconventional work setting, it can be hard to stay on task. From dogs barking, to mailmen delivering packages, and oh no… the robot vacuum is stuck underneath the bed moments. While it might be easy to falter under demands of work due to environmental factors, breathe! Make it your pleasure to do great business. There are so many positives surrounding remote working such as setting your own hours, flexibility and knowledge expansion.

Setting your own hours

Some people including myself, no matter how hard they try, cannot get used to a 7 am workday start. When you work from home don’t have to worry about leaving the house an hour before work starts, just to beat traffic. You can set your own hours, even working from 12pm to 8pm if that suits you better. You can get the hours in and attend scheduled Zoom meetings easily without leaving your home.

Flexibility

As with setting your own hours, you have a lot more freedom to take breaks when needed to recharge your mental batteries. I found taking walks and changing my environmental setting from time to time, increases productivity levels when I am ready to refocus in on job tasks. Because of the flexibility, you must learn to use your break times wisely and effectively.

Expansion of Knowledge

Part of being a digital nomad means you are often left to your own devices to figure some things out. As someone who is working for a company specializing in software and cloud, some of the terminology and context may sound like dialect stemming from an alternate universe. I find placing myself in meetings where I am actively listening and take those opportunities as a source of learning. Not only am I expanding my understanding on what the company stands for, I have greater awareness around how my role can be implemented to reach their goals and vision in a more productive manner. Expanding the mind beyond your adaptive ways of learning and thinking is almost a requirement.

As mentioned before, it is easy to falter under environmental settings when trying to maintain productivity as someone who works remotely. Some tools I found beneficial during the transition of working remotely range from technological usage to personal implementations that help me stay on task:

Wi-Fi

Ah Wi-Fi… The holy grail of all things technologically driven. Making sure I check my Wi-Fi connection before important meetings ahead of time is crucial. Computers often tend to forget their home-based network. Making sure my devices aren’t trying to slip into using my neighbors “New England Clam Router” network, ensures my punctuality when joining online meetings. Considering all job tasks are done using different online programs, communicating with other team members via Google hangouts or TeamWorks, Wi-Fi is your best friend. Internet access will be your best friend and the most important aspect of working remotely.

Alarms & Notifications

I have never been one to allow notifications pop-ups as they always made me feel constricted and confined. However, setting alarms and enabling notifications for calendar dates, Google hangouts, and emails have been life savers. Setting an alarm one hour prior to a meeting allows me the time to clear any lingering mental fog, while ensuring I have time to prepare the list of tasks being worked on to share with the team. Alarms and notifications have proven to be advantageous to showing up as a productive team member.

Peace & Quiet

Ensuring peace and quiet has been a benefactor when staying alert and on task working remotely. Carving out a safe space to do work within the home has turned out to be favorable. A place where televisions are absent, human and pet foot traffic is minimal, and clutter is nonexistent. Work demands a clear mind, free of distraction to complete tasks in a timely manner.

It is easy to become overwhelmed and consumed with work stressors when working remotely. As new age digital nomads we all have the freedom to take moments to breathe when it all may seem irrefutable. It helps to remember we are all in this together.

How can CloudADDIE help you with implementing a remote work environment?

Originally published at https://www.cloudaddie.com