People are slowly but surely realizing the benefits of working remotely.
You can get the same benefits as a 100% remote team, without having to shell out 100k a year for rent and bills.
Here’s how you can make the most out of working remotely.
Set The Right Ambiance
To ensure that you feel right at home wherever your location may be, set up your workstation the same way you would at a desktop shop – with things like a blank wall for the desktop and plenty of screens. Don’t worry, you don’t need to go overboard – keeping a couple of essentials will do.
When you sit down at your desk, you want to get into the right mindset. Treat it like an office and make yourself comfortable. Set the right tone from the start and you’ll be able to work more easily.
Use The Right Tools
There are several tools available for remote workers that can make your job much easier – and let’s face facts: no matter where you are, life can be pretty frustrating without proper tools.
Some of the tools that you may find useful include:
- Flexibility
- Productivity
- Time Management
- File Sharing
- Calendars
- Tasks
- Backups
- Secure Access
- And More!
Each of these tools can be accessed remotely, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on any of them should you be out of the office.
Scrum And Other Agile Methods
The agile methodology was developed for precisely this type of scenario – remote employees collaborating on projects.
The idea behind agile is to keep things moving at a steady pace while ensuring that each stage is completed on time. This ensures that you can keep the customers happy, and the project moving forward.
The scrum methodology was specifically designed to work with teams that are spread out across the globe and work remotely. It was developed by Scrum Masters at the Scrum company, and it promotes collaboration and communication between team members while ensuring that each part of the project is completed on time.
Scrum works well with virtual teams composed of people that live and breathe remote work. It makes moving offices a temporary situation, rather than a permanent one. This is because you can carry on working even if some team members are missing due to travel or other distractions.
Take Advantage Of Everything The Cloud Has To Offer
One of the significant advantages of working remotely is the ability to take advantage of everything the cloud has to offer. You don’t want to be restricted to working on one project at a time, so the cloud allows you to spin up additional instances as and when you need them. This means that you can use the same instance to work on several projects, or to handle increasing loads as your business grows.
For example, if you’re a design agency and you’re struggling with deadlines for a number of projects, you can spin up a few more instances of the same server and work on the projects in parallel. This is something that would be difficult to do if you were restricted to a single workstation.
The cloud also makes it much easier to access vital files and backup data. Instead of storing all of your valuable work on physical media – such as hard drives or CDs – you can simply store them online. This means that your data is always available should anything happen to your workstation or network.
If you’ve ever worked remotely, you will know that getting connected to the Internet can be a challenge. Having a fast and stable Internet connection is particularly important if you’re going to be conducting any online research or making use of software that requires a steady stream of data. A good VPN service will ensure that your personal data is always protected and no matter where you are in the world, you always have access to the resources that you need to do your job.
Avoid Anything That Might Detract From Your Productivity
Just like any other location, you don’t want to bring your workstation to the beach. This would undoubtedly be the most scenic workspace in the world, but it would also be the most difficult to concentrate in. There’s always something beautiful to look at, but it might take your mind a while to get back on track should you be interrupted by a fire alarm or urgent phone call.
Similarly, you don’t want to bring your workstation to a restaurant either. It might be great for the vibe, but getting work done in a noisy environment can be quite distracting. Distractions like this are some of the reasons why people choose to work remotely. The noisiness of a restaurant or the bustle of a bus ride might not seem like a big deal, but when you’re trying to get something done, even the smallest distractions can feel like a huge obstacle.
A coffee shop has been known to be the best place for a remote team to get things done. They might not have the most sophisticated workstations, but there’s no denying that a coffee shop has the perfect atmosphere for getting work done.
Make Sure You Have Everything You Need
As a remote worker, you don’t want to be scrambling for Wi-Fi every time you need to get online. It would be great if there was always Internet access available, but the truth is not all locations provide a great connection. For example, if you’re in a train station, you might have to settle for slow 3G – which is probably why most people there choose to work remotely.
You don’t want to be missing out on any of the tools that you need for your job. This could easily lead you to frustration, especially as a designer who’s reliant on software that might not be available where you are. You might end up using a workaround that requires a lot of trial and error, or worse, glitches that could leave you with unusable files. The last thing you want to do is go back home only to find that you forgot something – like your computer!
A good way to avoid this is to make sure that your workstation is fully equipped for remote work. This means investing in things like:
- A fast and stable Internet connection
- A microphone
- A speaker
- A headset
- A chair
- A desk
- A laptop
- A projector
- A modem
- A phone line
- A fast and reliable WiFi connection (at least 2.4 GHz, supports encryption)
- A good quality router
- A large hard drive
If you have your own dedicated server, you can also get a little tool called [Title]: the cloud vmware hosting appliance which not only provides you with a dedicated working environment but also with all of the tools and applications that you might need for your job. With this appliance, setting up a dedicated server is as simple as pie
Of course, you don’t want to skimp out on any of the essentials – you need a decent keyboard, a comfortable chair, and a suitable desk. You might also want to invest in some good speakers so that you can listen to music while you work. This will help you get into the right mindset for coding or design work and can even improve your overall productivity. For example, it’s been shown that people who listen to music while working get better performance in areas such as memory and attention – both of which you need if you’re going to be doing anything complex.
Make Sure Your Working Environment Is Safe
A coffee shop is a great example of a public space where you might want to exercise caution – not only does it have the potential to be extremely distracting, but you’re also working in a potentially unsafe environment. Even though the coffee shop might be near downtown, there might still be bad guys about.
You don’t always need to be worried about physical safety in your workspace, but you should always be mindful of your personal safety – especially when you’re working remotely. In an age where cybercrime is becoming more prevalent, it’s well worth protecting your identity online. This means setting up a separate device for personal use and making sure that your passwords are never shared with anyone. It might feel extreme to keep your workstation password-free, but in this day and age, it’s an option that you might want to consider.