The key reason workers fail to succeed at working remotely is they fail to recognise the criticality of having good organisation and rigid self management.

I have been operating remotely for almost a decade since I first uncovered Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software online system and was spellbound by the fact that if you can perform accounting on the net then why shouldn’t it be viable to perform other important types of work at a distance?

Whilst working remotely has a lot of positives there are numerous mistakes that people make which evolve into problems that result in cuts in productivity and reduced morale. The top reason for decreases in productivity in remote workers is disruption and it is a confirmed and well publicised fact that it can take a professional up to twenty minutes to return to their original efficiency level after experiencing a distraction.

Deeper insights reveal that persons who are consistently subjected to disturbances are more likely to suffer from reduced memory capability and are prone to developing mental health issues in old age. We live in an over communicated era and it is critical that you are acquainted with the problems this causes before you decide to work remotely. Whilst working remotely you have to do everything feasible to minimise the jeopardy of being disrupted.

Here are things that really do work:

1, Get a habit, tell everyone about it and obsessively maintain it!

Good examples are a specific time of day when you look at or send mail and make or receive phone conversatiions. Before I began working remotely I used to get well over hundreds of electronic mails a day. Now I think I am unfortunate if I receive more than 5. To ’reset’ my electronic mail experience I changed my e-mail address and tenaciously took steps to guard the details being made known to anyone. I then ‘trained’ everybody who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it with special care. I also configured an automatic reply that swiftly informed anyone sending me mail at what time of day I would be processing mail and if an e-mail needed my immediate awareness to mark it as ‘Urgent’.

2. Get rid of alerts.

Turn off every possible mechanism that can send you a visual or audible alert. This includes cell and
conventional telephones and forms of alerts from e-mail such as display events, warning sounds, screen changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your work room and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.

In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – Top tools and tricks’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.

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