Carla Molina Whyte, Marketing Executive, farmerswife
When it comes to remote work, poor scheduling can have an even bigger impact on your life. Despite all the statistics about how remote work can increase productivity, working from home is still a new concept for most people and it can take a lot of time to adapt to this new way of working and also find a remote work schedule that works for you.
Having an effective remote work plan, with your tasks and meetings booked will keep you productive, and consistent throughout the day. Luckily, with all the scheduling technology we have today, making a work schedule isn’t that hard to do. Using tools such as farmerswife and Cirkus can have a great impact on the way you and your team will work!
Why is it important to stick to a remote work schedule?
Working on a schedule while working remotely it is crucial for achieving your goals. It will not only give you a clear structure of how you will break down your day, it will also allow you to focus on what needs to be done, rather that trying to do it all at once. Time is an important resource to a remote worker and you need to schedule all of your work well to make the most out of your working hours.
Scheduling can help you in many ways, including:
- Ensure you have enough time for all the important and due tasks on your list
- Understand what you can achieve realistically during your work hours
- Have your days more organised and be more productive
Using tools such as farmerswife and Cirkus will allow you to have a clear picture on what you have to do. See below how a remote work schedule example can look like:
How to create a remote work schedule
There are many ways to create a work schedule, and it should be tailored according to each individual as not everyone’s way of working is the same. It’s crucial that you start to understand how you work in order to schedule your day accordingly. farmerswife can really help you stay productive and help your project managers manage team workload.
Here are a few steps that will help you create a general remote schedule that can be very useful for you:
- Block your non – work hours
The first step to creating your remote work schedule is to determine when you plan not to work, so you know exactly how much time you have every day to finish your tasks. Blocking non-work hours can also help you unplug more easily at the end of the workday and draw a clear boundary between your work and home life. - Add uninterrupted focus time in your schedule
Focus time is a period during which you set aside to address priority tasks or activities you’ve delayed. Many employees with hybrid remote work schedules, set their focus time to the hour following lunch, when they’re readjusting to the structure required to complete their tasks. The idea is to block x amount of minutes of focus time in your calendar where you only focus on one task at a time with absolutely no other distractions. - Schedule meetings during your most unproductive times
Remote employment allows for greater freedom. So you may plan your time according to your productivity. If you are exhausted soon after lunch, plan all your meetings for the afternoon. Nothing beats virtually meeting and catching up with your team! - Schedule breaks just like you schedule your important meetings
Breaks are as crucial as focused hours if you want to be productive all day. Taking breaks might be challenging while working on something essential or facing a deadline; we all know that sometimes you just have to keep going throughout the day and taking breaks can help employees to retain their focus and energy. Working without breaks all day will lead to burnout and damage your productivity . - Create ground rules around your house
Working from home might be challenging when family members constantly interrupt or are around your work area. So that your productivity isn’t affected, you should have a clear conversation with them about what they can and cannot do during your work hours. - Don’t take on more tasks than you can handle
When you are planning your to-do list it is easy to go overboard; you might end up taking on more tasks than you can possibly finish in a day and then you will start feeling guilty as you realise you can’t complete all the tasks you were supposed to do. To prevent this, you should keep more realistic goals for yourself and take on only as much work as you can handle.
Remote work is about flexibility and the right tools
Remote work is all about flexibility and you should be open to changing your schedule from time to time without risking productivity, but It’s important to structure your life to maintain an organized and efficient remote work schedule.
Using the best remote work tools to stay on top of your schedule can also make a lot of difference. It can be tempting to use all the new productivity and calendar tools you find online. However, the more tools you use, the more difficult it will become for you to manage all of your work data.
The last thing you want is to use so many apps that you end up wasting half of your time switching between them to find important data. Instead, you can use a centralized tool like farmerswife, which enables you to organize and track project resources, plan and control the project lifecycle, manage day-to-day tasks, create customized budgets and analyze financial performance in a practical way that drives better decisions. And with the new Cirkus interface, you will be able to collaborate with comments, files and tasks in your projects.
Remote work productivity tips
For remote workers it can be challenging to stay productive when juggling the demands of your daily job alongside home concerns. Here are five tips to help you stay on top of your tasks and meet your deadlines :
- Create a people-first culture
People-first cultures value people over profits; when employees are valued as whole individuals and provided the opportunity for well-being, connection, and fullfillment, companies are generally more innovative, resilient, and even profitable!
Studies show that culture-driven organizations experience 26 percent fewer mistakes, 22 percent higher productivity, 41 percent lower absenteeism, and 30 percent stronger customer satisfaction. - Prioritize your work
Learn how to separate the most urgent priorities from other important tasks. Use a tool like Cirkus, which will help you list out your objectives according to their urgency so you can stay on top of deadlines and remain productive, even if your workload increases. In Cirkus you are able to pick the priority of each project, which will give a great overview of the most important tasks over the less important ones.
- Reduce meetings to the barest minimum
It’s crucial to understand how these meetings impact the team’s motivation and morale. With this knowledge, we’ll be able to eliminate unnecessary meetings that halt productivity and give back the time that the team needs to perform effectively. - Work- life balance matters
It is important that employees have a good work-life balance. Not only does it improve their mental health, but it benefits the business too. Employees with a good work-life balance are more efficient, productive and motivated. Without a daily routine, there are high chances that tasks will be forgotten, jobs rushed, and working longer and longer hours just to keep up. That’s why daily routines are essential for remote work productivity. - Be firm with distractions
Distractions can seem impossible to avoid. Start by building habits that help you eliminate distractions and stay focused. Focus on creating an environment in which you’re less tempted to get distracted with something other than what you’re working on. Work to create habits that signal to yourself and those around you that you’re in distraction-free mode.
How to choose the best project management tool
It’s challenging to find the best project management tool that meets all of your needs. Organizations need a project management tool that is designed to help project teams to plan, track & manage the projects and help achieve the defined goals within the time settled. It should also help the team members to collaborate effectively.
Using a tool like farmerswife is the best way to be productive and track progress within teams. With the best project management software in place, your team will have a higher quality of workflow and will work more efficiently.
Conclusion
Following all the tips above to create a remote work schedule should be your main goal before starting to work. A remote work plan will help you be more productive, consistent, and meet your daily goals. farmerswife can really help your team organize and keep their schedule clear and easy to follow and also project managers will be able to track all the movements easily.
Interested in learning more?
Book your free demo here – https://blog.farmerswife.com/how-to-create-a-remote-work-schedule
