9 Tips To Make The Most Of Remote Work
Consider going hybrid.
My outdoor "office" on my yoga mat outside my apartment in Québec City
According to Jacques Forest, professor of organizational behaviour at UQAM, the Gallup firm suggests that for jobs where remote work is possible, the hybrid formula benefits both the worker and the organization. Two or three days per week at home, and two or three days per week at the office can enable the creation of deeper ties, building trust and meaningful relationships with colleagues and community (especially in the age of AI). Additionally, if you’re like me and you menstruate, not having to commute as much can give you more autonomy and allow you to live in accordance with the four phases of your menstrual cycle, supporting holistic health, environmental health, relational health, family health, and ultimately, a balanced, more nourished society and world now and in the future.
The literature varies, since as little as 20%—or just one day out of five per week—is recommended. Cutting down on commuting allows for flexibility and autonomy, but some time in the office also meets most people’s needs for socialization and belonging. Bottom line? It depends on your role and responsibilities.
2. Tune in to your personal preferences.
The nature of remote work will vary depending on your lifestyle. If you like to ruminate, you might benefit from being surrounded by colleagues to discuss ideas. If you’re more isolated and your social life revolves around work, you might benefit from an increased presence at the office. If you like to be alone (like me), and find you’re more concentrated and productive independently, working remotely most or all of the time is probably more your thing.
As someone who has been extremely lucky to have a full-time remote role that fit with my lifestyle while staying physically active and travelling the world solo for the past three years, I make sure to use online communication channels like Slack, email and Monday consistently throughout the work day according to the time zone the office runs in. I’m a self-proclaimed lone wolf and “introvert” most of the time, and today I get a lot of fulfillment and a global education out of being nomadic and exploring different lifeways and perspectives. Written communication comes easily to me, and I’m used to being constantly plugged in, especially after many years of social media and internet usage. This has even been confirmed by my manager Mariana, who recently declared in a performance review: “remote work suits you!” (and I have to agree!). I also enjoyed dropping by the office a few times a year to connect with my colleagues IRL and build trust for effective teamwork, contributing to an efficient, harmonious, and peaceful work culture.
3. Delineate the space between remote work and play for better energy recovery and life balance.
This is remote work from my personal health and evolutionary perspective as a graphic designer, circa 2022.
According to the work of Sabine Sonnentag, a professor of organizational and work psychology in Germany, expending energy is a part of life! It’s when we don’t have the chance to recover the energy that it becomes a problem. Every day, we have a certain amount of physical, mental and emotional energy. With remote work, online life, multiple hobbies and side projects, it can be easy to be “on” all the time, and for me, this can easily lead to mental burnout if I don’t have solid boundaries in place. Depending on the nature of your work, you may find it helpful to mark off a clear distinction between your remote work, output, creativity, and computer time, and your time for relaxation, personal time, nature time, and rest.
A Swiss researcher demonstrated that a daily commute (with the time spent going to and from work) was actually as damaging to an employee’s mental health as losing their job. I quite enjoyed sitting back and listening to music on a commute, but remote work can otherwise help mitigate the effects of this time-consuming, unpaid component of the work day and help in the recovery of employee energy and well-being—particularly for those living with disabilities or who are unable to drive or afford fuel. However, with remote work, it has also been shown that a buffer zone of 15-20 minutes (instead of a commute) can help restore balance to life.
I like to make sure I enjoy what I do. With life lived as an effortless whole, minding my mitochondrial and metabolic health by sitting barefoot on the grass every morning and eating organic from the health food stores and farmer’s markets, there isn’t really that much of a distinction between work and personal life for me. The energy of the sun provides me with boundless energy and innate happiness while listening to my body and resting when needed.
4. Set buffer zones.
Time is precious. If you don’t have to commute, setting buffer zones can help with the delineation between work and rest/play, allowing for more efficient energy silos. If you have the luxury, try to set up a physical room dedicated to work, with your work computer in a separate room from where you sleep. For many people, having this physical separation between work and personal life can be helpful for efficiency and flourishing in all areas.
Having a psychological buffer zone can also be helpful, like turning off your devices after hours, shutting the lid of your laptop, and not touching them for the rest of the evening. Taking a few minutes to decompress after work with a cup of tea, a traditional paperback book, listening to music, cooking, or taking a walk can also help. On the contrary, I think part of the problem with the modern world is the incessant Cartesian obsession with separation that can deplete our life force energy and inhibit our flow and authenticity. Part of my purpose is to live my life as a whole, and to serve effortlessly. I like living wildly, naturally and connected with nature, I’m often very intuitive, ineffable and unmeasured (feminine energy), and this often means having a more holistic approach to life, work and play with integrity and authenticity.
For me, non-negotiable morning and evening walks (to get the red/IR sunlight spectrum in my eyes and on my skin for happy hormones and a good start for my mitochondria) have acted as the buffer zone especially as I’ve been travelling and living in a tiny, yet affordable and pretty one room shoebox in Québec.
5. Disconnect to reconnect.
Remote work allows for so much flexibility, which is excellent for our mental and physical (whole-body) health, but when we’re ‘on’ 24/7, it can also be equally as damaging. If you’re not conscious with remote work, it can be easy to become sedentary with an increased risk of health issues like cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders, as certain studies report. Fortunately, it’s rather trendy among many digital nomads to stay active and holistically health-conscious while exploring the world and different societies, like myself. Living life mindfully like this, there isn’t a whole lot of time or impetus to be addicted to social media, politics, negativity, or distracting fear-based narratives in an anti-life world. I consider myself fortunate to be able to set boundaries, be embodied, and disconnect unapologetically, with time to just be.
6. Establish structure.
Employers tend to either allow employees total freedom or put in place very strict rules when it comes to disconnecting after work hours. According to Jacques Forest, professor of organizational behaviour at UQAM, there should neither be control nor total freedom, but structure instead. For example, an employee can be free to send an email after work hours, but specify or understand that they don’t expect an immediate response. This will ensure that the employee’s freedom is not compromised as they can send emails whenever they want throughout their unique working process, and the recipients will also be able to respond when they see fit.
7. Use communication tools wisely and sparingly.
We’re fortunate to have many brilliant online communication tools at our disposal which ensure that both remote and non-remote employees are connected, and all aspects of each project are accounted for. As a manager, it is important to ensure that communication on your team is efficient but not overwhelming. Keep the channels open and be available for everyone to ask for help when they need it, but don’t inundate the week with excessive videoconferences which can be overwhelming and inefficient. Keep meetings short, productive, and to the point!
8. Cultivate the three pillars of motivation.
Some employees are fortunate to be going into their roles with a sense of intrinsic motivation, and others may benefit from the cultivation of three psychological ‘vitamins’: competence, autonomy, and affiliation. More than 600 researchers on the planet have used this model, and it can be a great starting point for a healthy environment where people are inspired, cooperative, and reaching both their personal and professional goals.
Pillar 1 - Competence consists of setting goals, achieving them while overcoming obstacles, and observing results.
Pillar 2 - Autonomy is achieved when an employee enjoys flexibility and growth while having certain limits and boundaries set by the organization, but still feels free to act authentically and in line with their values.
Pillar 3 - Affiliation is met when an employee feels like they belong with satisfying interpersonal relationships, are free to be themselves, and have their perspectives heard and valued while not clashing with the core values of the company/organization.
In my experience, having meaningful work aligned with a sense of purpose is so important to overall well-being and life satisfaction. The more these three needs are met, the more an employee will be motivated both at work and with their personal life goals. People who actually enjoy their work and feel it has meaning are generally the most motivated and likely to spread happiness.
9. Enjoy the contrast between engagement and disengagement.
With remote work, don’t be afraid to engage fully during the work day, then disengage fully after work. It can be easy to get sucked in and be on screens all day, but this is not stimulating enough and it is difficult to expend enough energy to devote yourself to real recovery (and ultimately, a better sense of well-being and renewed inspiration). During the work day, expend all you’ve got in terms of physical, emotional, and mental energy, and you’ll have a chance to recover. Chances are, you’ll feel much more motivated with a more interesting life, and not only in terms of the work day! We humans have our limits, and it’s unnatural to be in the same state and engaged all day long.
After hours, avoid checking your emails. Try planning for the times you’re disengaged, and schedule time after work to unwind completely. Being confident in turning this switch off and having this psychological detachment is a powerful aspect of proper recovery, according to the work of Sabine Sonnentag.
With many brick and mortar offices becoming obsolete and people embracing natural, fluid and active, healthy living, I hope this helps give you further insight into how to create a productive, comfortable, and more structured work day. What are some tips that you believe have worked for you? Let me know in the comment section below!
