A Remote Worker’s Guide To Better Time Management

More people than ever are now working remotely, whether it is from home, at a local cafe or even from a completely different location. This is a relatively new phenomenon and although the concept of remote working has been around for a while, the COVID-19 pandemic no doubt accelerated the uptake of this new approach to work. In fact, many businesses around the world are now making the shift to working remotely either on a full or a part-time basis meaning employees need to learn to manage their time as best as possible to stay up-to-date with their responsibilities. 

When you are working in an office environment, alongside your colleagues, it is much easier to stay on track with your work tasks and responsibilities. However, when you are working remotely, it is much easier to become distracted and to spend more time on your tasks than you intended. To ensure that you stay on track when you are working from home, it’s vital that you pay attention to your time management. There are countless different techniques and tools that you can use to manage your time more efficiently. As each individual is wired a little differently, you need to ensure that you employ time management strategies that will get you the best results possible.

Let’s take a look at just a few tips and tricks to help you manage your time better when you are working remotely. 

Keep Track Of Your Time 

As the old adage goes, “you can’t improve what you can’t measure”. If you truly want to manage your time more efficiently, the first step is to start keeping a better track of your time. Understanding how much time you have and how you are using it is key to becoming better at managing your time. Try using an easy to use time clock software tool to better understand how much time you are spending on different tasks throughout the day. This one change can have a huge impact on how well you use your time moving forward and should certainly not be overlooked. 

Create A Routine

Sometimes when you are working from home, it can feel like you have all of the time in the world. With no commute to and from work and no real work schedule to adhere to, it’s easy for time to slip away from you.  Creating a routine helps to keep you accountable and on track towards your goals. As everyone’s day-to-day responsibilities both at work and outside of their job are different, it’s crucial to sit down and create a schedule that works for you. With a rough daily routine in place, you will have a better chance of managing your time more efficiently moving forward. 

Employ Time-Blocking

Time-blocking tasks is an excellent strategy that can be very effective in increasing the amount you get done within a certain time frame each day. Simply create blocks of time throughout the day that you dedicate to completing particular tasks. For example, you might allow one hour in the morning to deal with your emails, the next hour may be allocated to organising your finances, the next to dealing with client projects and so on. Organising your time in this way will ensure that you don’t spend too long on a particular task, allowing you to stay on top of your responsibilities with greater ease. 

Block Out Distractions

The thing that wastes the most amount of time for anyone working remotely is distractions. There are countless things that can distract you from your work during the day and it’s important to take steps to minimise these when you are working remotely Being by telling your friends and family that just because you are working from home does not mean that you are available. You should also put systems in place or use software to block social media and other digital distractions that could take you away from your work throughout the day. With the right systems in place, you can ensure that you stay on-task and that you are not distracted from your work when you’re working from home. 

Plan Out Your Breaks

If you’re working remotely, it’s important to take regular breaks throughout the day. When there’s nobody looking over your shoulder throughout the day, you can ultimately take your breaks whenever you like. However, to hold yourself accountable and to ensure that you don’t take more breaks than you intended, it’s essential that you plan your breaks in advance and that you stick to the routine that you’ve put in place. With your breaks planned out in advance, you will have every chance of getting your work done in the time allocated each day when working remotely. 

Manage Your Time With Confidence As A Remote Worker

Time management is something that every remote worker struggles with from time to time. Following the tips outlined above, you can ensure that you manage your time with more confidence moving forward so you stay on top of your responsibilities and thrive when you’re working remotely.