How to be Successful While Working Remote

As you all have experienced in the past two weeks or so, COVID-19 has truly changed the way we live our lives. Whether it’s forgoing our weekly game nights with friends, ordering delivery instead of eating out with family, or praying in our homes instead of our weekly prayer service, we have all seen a dramatic change. However, one thing I believe most of us have in common right now is the challenge of working remotely.

While this may come easier to some, working remotely may come as a challenge to many others. Some of us might have trouble focusing due to their children who no longer go to class. Others might focus too much, but then experience back pain. Nonetheless, we all have our fair share of challenges. Let’s tackle those now.

Working Remotely With Kids

As a software developer, I understand that a good part of my job requires me to focus, for sometimes long periods, to solve some challenging problems. Software developers and many other careers also require this level of focus; however, when you work from home and have kids of whom you must attend to, things can get challenging.

I do not have kids, but many of my coworkers and family members do. I understand and hear their concerns and complaints now more than ever. Through talking with them through this tough time, I have also heard some great advice on what to do to boost productivity. Here are some of the best pieces of advice.

Find your workspace

This piece of advice is not only for people with kids but also for all remote workers. Finding a workspace or an “office” in your home is critical to succeeding at remote working. It is crucial because it not only helps create a quiet place where you can focus, but it also helps create a boundary for your family members as well.

This, ideally, should be a place where you can close a door and be removed from the rest of the house. If that isn’t possible, at the very least it should be a place where you do not make eye contact with people regularly (maybe set up a table in front of a window?).

The reason for this is due to that fact that people are social animals. If people see you, they are more likely to say something to you. On the contrary, people are also less likely to talk to a person if they cannot see them. As the saying goes “out of sight, out of mind.”

Finding your workspace is so critical that I, and many other people, find it to be the differentiating factor between a productive and unproductive remote worker.

Be flexible with your hours

Working from home usually now means that, aside from being on time to meetings and available to your coworkers, you can determine your work hours.

The great thing I have heard people do in the case they have kids is either get some work done early in the morning or later in the evening. Additionally, you and your spouse can work in “shifts” to evenly distribute the time you need to help your children.

If you don’t have the flexibility to do what I mentioned above, ask your manager for more flexibility. The chances are that they are going through the same thing you are, and they will be receptive to your needs during this tough time.

Working Remotely With No Kids And A Whole Bunch Of Focus

Let’s face it, while some people struggle to focus when they work from home, others thrive. As I mentioned in one of my previous articles on our attention spans, we can stay focused for an astonishingly long time. But wouldn’t this be a good thing? Not completely.

While focus and productivity is a great thing, it can also do a number on your physical condition. This is why we must move around while we work. So how can we do this while maintaining our focus on our work?

Be that standing desk gal/guy

Many of us are aware that some people joke around about standing desks; however, they are perfect for keeping our bodies moving while maintaining our focus.

Traditionally, chairs have been created in such a way that can put a lot of stress on our lower backs, but a standing desk can help alleviate that pain. Switching between a standing and sitting desk periodically is ideal as it prevents your muscles from tightening in either position.

If you are interested in purchasing one, you can find it on amazon. Here is the simple, adjustable standing desk that I use:

Stretch while you sit and stand

While you alternate between standing and sitting with your brand new standing desk, incorporate some stretches into your routine. This can be something as easy as 30-second quad stretches every time you stand, and external hip stretches every time you sit down.

No matter which stretches you choose, there is research that demonstrates you must hold the stretch for at least 15-30 seconds to see any benefits. It’s also worth noting that the older you are, the longer you should hold it.

Improving Our Morale In Remote Working

Though remote work is a desired privilege, it certainly has its pros and cons. Surprisingly, one of the biggest challenges people face is staying engaged and being excited about the work they are doing. A great deal of this has to do with the human interaction an office job provides as well as the environment we create when we work from home.

Make a video call instead of instant messaging

When we think of remote communication, we often think that we have it down. We have our conference calls, instant messaging, and email, but there is something still missing: social interaction. Sure, we hear people’s voices, see their emails, and check out their pull requests, but without real social interaction, work can sometimes feel cold and dehumanized. That’s why we should strive for a virtual face to face communication.

This is a small but powerful way to improve your moral as well as increase productivity. Instead of shooting a quick message to your coworker regarding a specific code change or design clarification, try sending them a link for a video call.

This will not only help us in our need for social interaction, but it will also better help us understand what our coworkers are explaining. Our languages are only a part of the equation. Humans also communicate with our faces and our body language. If we don’t want to half-bake our work, let’s not half-bake the communication that is so tightly coupled with our work.

Work outdoors

Another rather large difference between working from home and going to the office is the commute. This is also a double-edged sword as though we get rid of our annoying, rage-inducing commute, we also do not need to leave our house for the entire day. This can mess up our melatonin levels, decrease our mood, and much more. How do we fix this? Take your work outside!

Research completed by M. Nathaniel Mead shows the effect sun can have on our health. Do you ever wonder why you have a hard time sleeping after a hard day of work indoors? Or why you aren’t in the best mood during the day? Mead’s research suggests that this can be due to our limited sun exposure. If we don’t get out into the sun during the day, our serotonin (the good mood chemical in our brains) levels never rise much, and our melatonin (the sleepy chemical in our brains) levels just about stay the same.

If we want to be truly productive, excited about our work, and well-rested when we work from home, we need to either work outside or take time to walk around outdoors to get our serotonin levels up.

Final Thoughts

As remote work seems to last longer as each piece of breaking news about COVID-19 comes out, I truly hope that you all will make use of the advice I have provided above. Especially as software developers, I know how long we can code hunched over in a dimly lit room for hours on end, but I encourage all of us to take care of ourselves and our coworkers.

We are computer athletes. Get ready for a marathon.

Sources:

Research on stretching: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273886/

Research on the effect of the sun on human health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290997/