How to make the best of your time? Time management tips for remote work.
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Working on your schedule, doing what you love, and getting paid for it is the dream of any person. How to do everything, switch on time, and not be distracted by something unnecessary while working remotely. Knowing that everything is in your hands, every penny earned or shortage is your merit, and failure is a great motivation. So, a successful remote employee, first of all, is familiar with the laws of time management.
About managing your time
Distributing prerogatives correctly and defining a to-do list is a whole science taught in business schools. This is the main task in all affairs, whether it be an office administrator or the general director of a multinational corporation. In remote work, this principle helps in self-organization and self-discipline.
In simple words, time management is the science of managing time, work time, rest time – any time, so that all actions to which efforts are made bring a positive result. To learn how to manage your time, you need to feel a strict need for it, which means understanding that the quality of activity (work, rest) and the result (increase in income, enjoyment of adequate rest) depend on it.
Time management in remote work
To succeed in remote work, you need to make every effort not to give up first. Working as a remote worker is relaxing because there is a feeling of freedom; no one sees you and does not stand over your soul with a request to do something immediately. This is a variant of your business – it depends only on you what and how you will do it. Beginning freelancers underestimate their activities, thinking that they will have a lot of free time and as much money. Everything is the same here as in a regular business. To get more, you need to work harder and better.
Remote time management rules
- Clearly distinguish between work and leisure time. It is not necessary to work from morning to evening if you know that you are more efficient in a different period. But it is crucial to understand when the working day begins and ends. Otherwise, you will worry that you are not working during the rest, and unplanned breaks will disrupt productive immersion in business. For example, the work schedule of coworking spaces is convenient primarily for its residents and not for the owners, in which no one will look askance at you if you come to work at night or even on a day off.
- Make a complete list of tasks. It seems like more time has passed. But often, this is a false impression. It is essential to clearly understand how much work is to be done and what time frame. It would be best to have a task plan for at least a week. This will allow you to distribute tasks more optimally. A plan for the day is also needed.
- Visualize tasks as much as possible. Don’t keep them in your head; it must be for information processing. Don’t fill your brain with rubbish. Kanban boards work well for this. It can be hung over the desktop and moved the cards. Or you can use the digital whiteboard. The web is full of them. Suppose it is more convenient to layout tasks on a mind map; you can use any favorite service. The advantage of online resources is that if some of the cases involve teamwork, you can immediately distribute tasks and see completion status. To-do sheets are fine too. Their advantage is that you can set reminders by time.
- Understand how much it takes to complete a task. We think we spent a couple of hours, but it takes much more in reality. Special resources allow you to control the consumption of time, where you can start various tasks and turn on the counter while you are busy completing them. Then look at the statistics. The results are usually surprising.
- Do everything at once in Google Docs. First, save time transferring from device to device. Secondly, there will be no problems sharing information if you have a Mac and a colleague has a Windows device.
As you can see, if you already know what time management is, you develop a habit in yourself by practicing these actions, and there will be no problems with self-discipline. It is better to act together with those people who already have experience and positive results.