Successful time management - what does it take?
Valerie P. Jackson in her time-management research indicates five steps for successful time management, which are
- set realistic goals,
- get organized,
- delegate,
- relax and recharge
- stop feeling guilty.
Some of these steps are indifferent to whether you work from home or from the office. Setting goals and delegating seem to work, and they shouldn’t be affected by your way of working. The same can’t be said about the remaining steps.
Working remotely - what can go wrong?
Actually, a lot.
Even though nowadays, people who want or have to work remotely usually have a separate space where they work, it is still working from home. This means giving in those little home-related distractions you promise to make up for later. And you do. But it can result in working way longer than you would in the office. And it is wrong considering both your need to relax and your ability to work deeply - Cal Newport insists that you should always finish work by five thirty to avoid mixing your work with your personal life. What’s more, you have all of the necessary business equipment within walking distance, so being strict and not replying to that last email after working hours is even more difficult.
Presence overcorrection happens when you feel the overwhelming need to signal your presence (and the fact that you’re working) to your co-workers. For this purpose, you keep checking your mail, Slack, and other communication tools your company uses so that you can reply to every question without delay and suspicion that you are unavailable. This guilt-driven habit makes it difficult for you to work deeply.
Have you noticed that some meetings while working remotely seem to be a bit pointless after the first few minutes? It’s because you probably wouldn’t have to attend those meetings in the office, and a few words exchanged in the hallway or during coffee break would do. Here, you have to schedule at least a thirty-minute meeting, which you could use way better, making it difficult to organize your work, especially blocks of much-needed focus time.
What can you improve?
It’s vital for effective remote work to set your work time rules and try to obey them. It should allow you to reclaim some you-time, and improve your work-life balance. Feeling the need to definitely end working at a specified time should help you resist distractions.
exec.ninja can help you ensure not only the right amount of focus time, but also time for meditation. You can prioritize some meetings or activities and thus avoid pointless ones.