Make the Most of Your Workday With These 5 Time Management Tips for Remote Workers

If your office is new to using employees as remote workers or has been allowing employees to work from home for a while, you know productivity can dip high and low from day-to-day. 

Working from home can cause additional stress emotionally and professionally. Share these tips with your remote workers and help them increase productivity and take advantage of the day. 

Here are 5 time management tips every remote worker should know.

1. Stay organized.

Being organized will keep remote workers on track and help form a schedule that can be followed daily. 

Speaking of schedules, keep one! Keep a schedule by creating a daily task list that improves routine. Having a routine is one of the most important aspects of staying organized.

Don’t forget about staying physically organized! A remote worker’s workstation needs to stay organized too. Clutter around a home office or workstation can influence bad habits when working from home.

2. Create an ergonomic workstation.

An ergonomic workstation helps employees work faster and in comfort. An ergonomic workstation becomes especially important when working from home, due to the challenges it can present for productivity and comfort.

Some remote workers may think it isn’t possible to set up an ergonomic home office or just don’t know where to start. For help designing a home office, consider investing in a virtual ergonomics home office assessment. A virtual ergonomics assessment can be done through the phone, e-mail, or webcam and does not require anyone to visit the home. These virtual ergonomics assessments tend to be affordable due to the lack of travel, and very convenient.

A virtual ergonomics assessment will help you decide what home office furniture to buy, which ergonomic mouse and keyboard to use, and more.

Read our blog “The Importance of Setting Up an Ergonomic Workstation at Home” for more details on why this is so important for remote workers.

3. Set the phone aside.

Working from home is full of distractions, especially your mobile device. Putting your phone somewhere out of arms reach is a good idea and a great time management tip for professionals. 

Our phones, although full of helpful technology, are a big distraction when working at home. Social media can turn a five-minute stroll into an hour of nonsense and less work.

If you need your phone for work, log out of your social media profiles. Limit your exposure to these apps by turning off notifications or setting it so only work-related notifications show up on your phone.

4. Every remote worker should download a time management application.

If you do have to use your phone, download a time management application. 

There are free applications that can keep you on track while you work from home and even set your schedule for you. They’re designed to help you meet deadlines, alert you of important breaks or the end of the workday, and even recommend a good stretch. 

Our phones, although a huge distraction, can provide some helpful tips for working remotely. There are even options on your desktop so you don’t have to operate off mobile devices if you want to keep the phone put away. 
You can also look for one of several pomodoro apps to use the pomodoro technique to stay on track. The pomodoro technique involves alternating between 25-minute hyper-focused work periods followed by 5-minute rest periods. Read our blog “Working From Home Strategies: How a Pomodoro Tomato Can Keep You on Schedule” to learn more about the pomodoro technique.

5. Encourage others to help you stay on track as you work from home.

Sometimes staying on track is a lot like other things in life, you need someone to keep you accountable.

Whether that’s someone on your remote worker team, a roommate, or family member – have a conversation with them about your time management struggles as you work from home. Encourage them to help you stay on track. 

Accomplishing your work may feel more important when someone else is counting on you. 

Make the most of your workday!

These time management tips for remote workers will help make the most of the workday. Following step by step will allow remote workers to jumpstart productivity and feel comfortable while doing it.

Make sure you’re informed on everything that can help you along the way. Keep reading our blog for more helpful information.

If need more assistance as a remote worker, particularly in setting up your home office – consider an affordable virtual ergonomics assessment  from the ergonomics experts at Solutions Northwest Inc. The Virtual Ergonomics Assessments from Solutions Northwest Inc. are specifically designed for remote workers (all you need is access to e-mail or a smart phone).

At SolutionsNW.com we value the importance of a positive workplace culture. Part of a positive workplace is a safe workplace, Contact Us to schedule an ergonomics consultation or ergonomics assessment for your office today.

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