Author: Alyssa Rebolledo
Imagine, you have just been hired for your first remote job and your team leader has given you a mountain of work which you’re not sure you will ever be able to complete. The tasks seem daunting and although you feel you’ve been at it all day, it doesn’t appear that you’ve even made a dent. Of course, if you’re taking or making personal calls, texting, surfing the Internet, or allowing yourself to be distracted by other external stimuli, you will never finish the tasks. There are several reasons why remote jobs can seem overwhelming to many people, from new college graduates to CEOs, who sometimes struggle to work from home. A major issue can be not tuning everything else out while navigating in a virtual work environment.
However, if you practice the good study and work habits you learned in school, you may find that you are not only able to plow through your tasks, but following these routines will also greatly help you in your quest for success.
Here are some useful tips to make you more efficient and set you on a course for becoming a stellar virtual employee.
- First, do your work the same day you receive it. Start by knocking out the hardest task and then move on to the easier ones. This will help you with time management and you will be able to relax once you have the harder work out of the way. For instance, if you have to create a chart or graph and this is not one of your stronger points, try doing it first and as soon as you receive the request. This will allow you the time to get it right, or search for aids or resources to assist you. Then you can easily move on to other duties which you already know how to do.
- Avoid procrastination all together. This can lead you to working overtime, sloppiness, and excess stress. The theory of doing your work now can be used when it comes to remote tasks. This concept will save you time, energy, and you will be less inclined to develop burn out.
- Next, stay organized. This will consist of getting a calendar, a clean workspace, and a notebook to keep track of all your task-related duties, responsibilities, and even ideas. You can use these tools, like you did in college, as a means of keeping track of your work. Students know how difficult course workloads can be. The practice of staying organized will help you monitor what is completed, how much work is left, and what and when assignments are due. For example, an online Google Calendar can be used for everything such as setting work related deadlines, to virtual or in person business events you have to attend, to even when you will be buying yourself a new desk. Whether you prefer keeping yourself organized online or on paper, the possibilities are endless. You just need to find a system that works best for you.
- Finally, communicate with your team frequently and always check your email. Working remotely is like working on a group project. You have your own individual tasks and you have the teams’ work. This means you should always be checking your email for the latest information from your work colleagues or supervisor. We used to all roll our eyes when the professor said to always check your email for any course updates. Now working remotely, it turns out that the professor was right, when it comes to work changes. As it was when you were a college student, checking your email frequently is a must in real life as well. This will ensure that you are skillfully communicating with others, staying engaged and up to date with the rest of your team, and doing your remote work correctly.
While working from home can have its challenges, using these learned skills from your academic days will help you knock out all those virtual tasks and help you to perform successfully, even if it is in your PJ’s!
Picture by Kevin Phillips Brought to you from Pixabay.