You don’t have to spend money and time traveling, but there are disadvantages too, from the lack of communication to the lack of boundaries between personal and work time.
Let’s highlight five signs that indicate the transition to telecommuting will be painless and comfortable for you.
1. Your job can be done remotely
First, some duties cannot physically be performed remotely. For instance, if you are a corporate sales manager, you are likely to close a sale after seeing the client in person.
When working with equipment, leaving the office would also be very difficult. Any position involving personal contact or special technical equipment cannot be a remote position a priori.
Secondly, employers are only sometimes willing to accept an employee remotely. The main reasons: are a need for more competence in human resources management remotely, distrust, or a high level of responsibility for critical positions. There are two solutions. The first is to look for an employer who initially offers to work remotely. The second option assumes that you have been with the company for at least a year and are well-established. If you have a good relationship with your manager, tell him why you would be more effective off-site.
2. See the line between work and home
Being able to organize yourself is an essential quality for working remotely. You can be productive if you plan your tasks and schedule in advance.
But following your plan is sometimes more complicated than it seems.
If you do not live alone, it is worth alerting loved ones to your daily routine. It’s important to explain that you can’t run to the shop or take the dog for a walk just because you’re “home anyway”.
Try not to be distracted by small things. To avoid the temptation to check your Facebook feed* every hour, turn off audible messenger notifications or wear earphones with unobtrusive music.
Your goal is to prioritize all tasks and complete the most important ones. Therefore, a task manager would be helpful in addition to a calendar.
Try to accomplish only some things at a time. Do the tasks one by one.
If a job is big and you need to learn how to approach it, divide it into several smaller ones.
Many writers from the paperhelp service, where you can buy essay with paper help promo code, have developed the “two-minute rule.” If a task takes 2-5 minutes – do it all at once and only then proceed to the voluminous ones. Record the time spent. This will make it easier for you to establish a comfortable rhythm of work in the future.
Unfortunately, it is not enough to eliminate distractions and concentrate.
There is the opposite problem – it is difficult to stop in time. This is particularly difficult for perfectionists. Imagine you have three urgent tasks.
It’s better to complete the first one at 80% and move on than to kill time searching for perfection and be nervous about not even getting started on the others yet.
Don’t forget Cyril Parkinson’s law: “Work fills the time allotted to it”. And also, try to reply to colleagues who write at a convenient time. If the task is manageable, it can be postponed until tomorrow.
3. Know how to manage your time
Telecommuting is a work format. In some cases, it saves time; in others, it’s the opposite. The determining factor is your role in a project or company and how involved you are.
How you organize your time and how you complete tasks depends on you.
If you have a salary and a bonus or percentage, the rule of direct proportionality applies: the more you work, the more money you get. On the one hand, the company gives you security and confidence in the future.
On the other hand, there is the possibility that you will be let down by your colleagues or the strategy of the entire department will change.
But you will only find out after working away from the office. Poor communication is more acutely felt when you are working remotely. Waiting for an answer from a colleague wastes your time. And money.
Working from home can be different from freelancing. A freelancer is independent and works for himself. And being a full-time employee means compromising with colleagues, a conditional 40 hours a week, and regular Skype conferencing.
A flexible schedule has two sides to it: you can get up later in the morning, but you also have to reply to messages on messenger late at night because there is no such thing as “I’m already out of the office” in a remote job. If your job involves consulting or sales, your working hours are timetabled to the minute. Your schedule depends not only on management but also on your clients.
On the other hand, no one will stand behind your back and control what you do. Companies with remote staffing often allow you to move the start of your working day within two hours. With good self-management, you can travel without taking time off work.
4. You can do without socializing with your colleagues
If you have never tried telecommuting, you may not realize it will be psychologically challenging.
At first, everyone is enticed by the prospect of working from home, with your slippers on and a purring, warm cat at your side. After a few weeks, you might miss the lively company of your colleagues and won’t mind switching from a jumper to a suit.
But many people are okay working in this mode and do not need daily offline communication. It depends on the person’s psycho-type and personality traits.
Introverts find it easier to concentrate on tasks in solitude, while extroverts need interaction with others. Know in advance how you will feel comfortable working without colleagues. It isn’t easy. But knowing your type of temperament, you can already guess your reaction.
5. You are used to generating your tasks
When working remotely, you often have to take the initiative. Sometimes this happens because of blurred areas of responsibility and a need for a quick reaction from your colleagues or supervisor.
It doesn’t matter whether you are working for yourself, in a start-up, or a large company – you are expected to produce results.
Responsibility and initiative are essential qualities in a remote job. The trick is that no one will glare at you, reminding you of deadlines. And there is also no chance of crossing paths in the office to discuss project details in person. So you need to motivate yourself daily, fight procrastination and think about optimizing your work.
Medium and large companies that hire employees for remote positions have their control tools: management systems, task managers, and time counters.
Hiring remote staff is always a risk for the company. After all, a person can close his or her laptop at any time and not get in touch.
On the other hand, it is psychologically more accessible for the company’s management to make decisions about employee termination because they can only form professional relationships with the employee without any emotional bonds. In such cases, the employer is guided by numbers rather than sentiments.
