It’s happened: you’ve been given permission to (or told you must) work from home. But a month in and the novelty of wearing your pajama bottoms to meetings and taking care of errands during low traffic hours have left you unsettled. Perhaps even nervous.
With the outbreak of COVID-19, many employees weaned on a traditional office structure are now working remote for the first time. Not all of them successfully. Or at least, happily.
Here are three tips to help you be more productive, confident and satisfied as you transition into an environment where you work apart from your colleagues.
1. Big Rocks First
This principle is from Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Imagine you have a large glass jar, which you are trying to fill with rocks, pebbles, and sand. How do you get everything in the jar?
If you put the sand in first, you leave no room for rocks and just a few pebbles.
If you put the pebbles in first, you have room for the sand, but the rocks won’t fit.
The only way to fit everything in the jar is to put the big rocks in first. The pebbles come next, shaking them around the rocks. Then, you can pour the sand into the bucket and it will fill all the gaps in between.
Consider the jar to be your workday and the big rocks to be the essential things you must complete. The pebbles and sand are nice-to-haves, but not critical. To be confident at the end of your day, you must identify, and start with, your big rocks.
I write my top three objectives each week. These are the elements that move me, and my team, towards our targets. If I accomplish them, my week will have been a success.
I also do a finer-grained process each day. I name the three things I must carry out for me to close the day with confidence and satisfaction. Three will keep you focused and successful. Any more are likely to be pebbles or sand, so start with just a few big rocks.
The best way to ensure you are doing the ideal work is for each member to publish their big three to the team and the leader.
How does this help?
- In remote environment, it’s the work that matters. Not what point you clock in, not what hour you leave.
- Not just some activity, but the right work. You may be tempted to complete 5 pebbles instead of 3 rocks. Resist. Making others aware will encourage you to focus on what is important.
- It stimulates you to think about how your work aligns to, and moves forward, your team goals. You will see others’ objectives and gain natural alignment.
- Progress is contagious. You will be motivated by others successes and your own contributions.
2. Bookend Your Days
I once loved a garage elevator in an office building where I worked. The doors would open just before reaching the lobby. Riders would see the last bit of progress as the lift reached the lobby floor. I always had an impulse to step forward.
Look for momentum to set up your day. At home it is easy to start work only after you finish one more chore. The transition might not even be seamless. Consider how you instead could create some propulsion. Or at least, remove obstacles.
It can be something small. For many years I chose in advance what I would wear the next day. Why? I found that in the morning my mind was productive and brainstorming. Selecting clothes was a distraction and time consuming.
Instead of your previous 30 minute commute, perhaps you take a 30 minute walk to listen to a podcast. Whatever will help you launch into your workday with energy.
It’s also critical you define “done” for your day. It’s important to know when you can consider your workday complete. Too many people neglect this. So they check email at 8 PM. Then send a short one at 9:30. Another brief glance at 11:00.
This gets worse if you used the flexibility in your day to take care of some personal task. Maybe that took longer than expected. How do you make up for that? Is your time over at 6 PM as usual or do you work the same amount of extra hours?
A time debt is a horrible burden with compounding interest. How much is enough? Does it matter what I do (big rocks) or only that I keep going (even sand)? If I take 20 minutes to email at 10:30 PM, is that the same as working an hour from 5 to 6 PM because it was an extra effort?
Knowing your big 3 is one way to answer this. It’s not about the hours, it’s about the work. You can conclude your day after you complete your daily big three.
Take some time to consider how you will define done for your day. Once you do that, you’ll find yourself far more satisfied and confident shutting your laptop.
3. Build a Rhythm
Managing each day as ad hoc will leave you stressed and your colleagues frustrated. You don’t have to be precise (depending on your work), but be consistent and predictable with your time.
When you typically start, when you leave. When you are available and when you are not. Perhaps on Wednesdays you take the kids to school and start one hour later. Your team will quickly understand this.
When you need to adapt your time, make your status clear and specific as possible. Rarely will people require you immediately; they just desire to know when you will be available. At 10 AM, setting your status to “Offline, back at 1 PM” is useful. Letting your status change to “Away” after 15 minutes of inactivity and remaining that way for three hours is not.
Bonus: Bad Days Happen
You had them in the office. They’ll happen at home. They shouldn’t be the norm, and how you deal with them can diminish their chance of occurrence.
With the COVID-19 outbreak my wife and I are limiting our trips to the grocery store. She planned to go early on Tuesday. When the store changed their hours to allow seniors only from 7 to 8 AM, she didn’t adjust her plan but went just after eight o’clock. She felt behind the rest of the workday and later told me she wished she would have gone Monday evening.
That’s the key: the insights you gain from your bad days. What you pick up is as meaningful as the catch up. Recovering will preserve a day, but learning from it can save you many more in the future.
If you choose to catch up, don’t cover up. I’ve seen people report several minor tasks as complete to represent a full period of work. Yet more essential things remained undone. This doesn’t move the team forward. It hurts it, as those reported tasks come at a substantial loss of trust.
You Got This!
Be grateful for the flexibility you have by working remote. If you aren’t comfortable, start with these simple steps:
- Write your big three objectives for tomorrow
- Decide now how you will start your day with momentum
- Commit to ending tomorrow when your big objectives are completed
You can change that unsettled feeling into one of confidence and satisfaction of a job well done.
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