想做个自由职业者?你需要学会这5点
Full-time remote workers have their own habits to keep them on track, but you don’t. So what do you do when you have to work from home? Don’t freak out. Here’s a checklist to help you prepare for a seamless day (or week) of remote work. GET YOUR FILES HANDY (THE NIGHT BEFORE) Successfully working away from the office starts before you leave the office. Before you head out the day before your telecommute, make sure you’ve got everything you need to get things done. Check the hard drive of your computer at home or your laptop to make sure you have all the files you need. Check your schedule for the next day before you leave as well. If you have phone meetings, be sure the numbers are in your cell phone as a backup. Also, keep some of your colleagues’ numbers in your cell just in case you need to check on something during the day. PREP YOUR WORKSPACE EARLY Your next step is to get your workspace ready. If you’re going to work at home, try to a spot the evening before. Tidy it up and get your work supplies ready. It’s smart to keep a box or desk drawer someplace at home with the basic supplies you’ll need to get through an ordinary workday. If you’re planning to work from a public space like a coffee shop, pack a quick “go bag” that you can grab on your way out the next morning. STICK TO YOUR MORNING ROUTINE Get up at your regular time and go through your ordinary morning routine just like you would on any other workday. You have lots of habits in the morning, all of which help get you into the mind-set that it’s time to start working. if you treat your morning like a weekend or holiday, you’ll have a much harder time getting into gear. Sitting around in your PJs will make it feel like time off, and that could disrupt your focus. SPEND SOME TIME AROUND PEOPLE The office environment you’re used to keeps you in a work mind-set in a few ways. For one, you’re surrounded by other people working. Your brain is wired to adopt the goals of people around you, in a phenomenon psychologists call “goal contagion.” It’s just harder to slack off when everyone else is working hard. So if you’re having trouble concentrating while working remotely, consider spending at least part of your day in a more public place. One of the reasons that coffee shops are filled with telecommuters is that there’s social pressure to keep working. DON’T CONTAMINATE YOUR REST SPACES One of the nice things about working in an office is that there’s a clear, physical separation between the locations where you’re on the clock and the locations where your time is your own. Once you start working from home more regularly, you can begin to associate aspects of your home environment with work. That means you may get reminded of deadlines, key tasks. Close the door when it’s time to unwind for the evening. If you’re using a more public space in your house, like the living room, then at a minimum, make sure you clean everything up and put away your laptop and office supplies. This way when it’s time to kick back and watch some TV, you aren’t still answering work emails in your head. |