Getting a handle on time management isn’t that complicated once you make up your mind to just do it! There are 24 hours in every day, no more and no less which adds up to 168 hours in every week. Every person has the same amount of time, no more and no less. Every day you wake up and decide how to use your time.
Tip 1 Establish goals
Establish both short term and long term goals and objectives for your personal and professional life. You can keep personal goals separate from professional goals or combine them, whatever works best for you. When you are working remotely, you might want to set, daily and weekly goals.
Tip 2 Maintain a routine
Just because you are home and working remotely from your kitchen table doesn’t mean that you should wake up at 11:00am. Create a routine that works and stick to it. For example: up at 6:00am, exercise for 45 minutes, shower, dress, eat breakfast and turn on computer by 8:30am. Check in with boss every day at 10:00am, lunch at 12:30pm, call ten clients every day, write for one hour every day, no email past 4:00pm.
Tip 3 Hold others accountable
Just because you are working remotely doesn’t mean that you are on vacation. If you manage remote employees, make sure that you hold them accountable for reaching their performance targets.
Tip 4 Create effective processes
Remote work teams are effective when everyone understands the best way to work remotely. There will be bumps in the road when you start working remotely. It can be very lonely! Share best practices with your co-workers and agree on some to implement. Try scheduling daily ZOOM calls or having monthly staff development webinars or having “office hours”.
Tip 5 Chunk big tasks
When a task is enormous, break it down into manageable chunks. When we believe tasks are manageable, we tend to tackle them.For example, if I write Update address book on my to do list, it sounds enormous to me. If I write Update address book (A_C), it becomes more manageable. The next day, I write Update address book (D-G) and so on until the task is complete. It’s like going to night school. Taking one class at night is manageable.Thinking about getting a Master’s Degree is overwhelming.When you break big tasks down into smaller pieces, eventually the big task gets done.
Tip 6 Minimize distractions
Arrange your physical space to work remotely without distractions. Turn the television off, tell your children that you are working, and organize your work materials so that you have what you need when you need it. If you will be on a video camera, make sure the room is well lit and your appearance is professional. You might want to invest in a green screen if the background is distracting.
Do the best you can and take care of yourself. Working remotely probably gives you more time to spend with your family. Take advantage of having more time to do something fun!