17 Constructive Ways to Enhance Your Remote Work Productivity

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For most people, including myself, getting the go-ahead to work from home can be a dream come true. After all, there’s nothing quite like operating out of your comfort zone. You don’t have to rush off at the crack of dawn or get stuck in awful traffic on your way home. Remote jobs are a bliss for introverts like me!

However, sooner or later, you will have to deal with one critical issue: learning how to maintain remote work productivity.

The one thing most work-from-home professionals only realize once it’s much too late is that cultivating the right remote work habits from the get-go can make all the difference. Just because you’re now working out of your home doesn’t mean you have to put professionalism in the bin.

From ensuring you get your job done effectively to retaining your remote work rights, you must understand how to increase productivity when working solo from home.

Below is all you need to know to get started on that front!

Remote Work Productivity – What Employers Believe

While remote work routines are a fairly common concept now, the fact remains that it’s still a major shift in mentality for most employers. Nowadays, many employers aren’t exactly big on the work-from-home idea.

As Rogers, the head of a U.K.-based content agency, says, “We as a business are very much office first, and I believe we can be a stronger workforce when based in the office full time.” Rogers isn’t alone, either.

A recent poll showed that most managers in the United Kingdom were reluctant to extend their employees work-from-home privileges. And those who did only allowed their employees a few days of offsite work.

Suppose you’re wondering why most employers are reluctant to give employees a longer leash. This isn’t surprising because most employers still believe working outside the conventional office workspace negatively affects employee productivity.

The funny thing is, they can be right, too!

Working from home indeed increases productivity. However, that increase is not automatic. Rather, remote work productivity is contingent on a couple of factors.

Ensuring that you get the very best out of working from home means employing the best productivity tools and just the right remote work habits. Using these tools will not only help you achieve optimal task management but also effective time management as well.

3 Real-Life Benefits That Show Remote Work Enhances Employee Productivity

Granted, the likes of Elon Musk have a lot of not-so-good things to say about working remotely today. However, this does little to change the fact that there’s more good than bad to be had from working remotely.

And the proof is in the pudding.

Below are a few testimonials that prove that the right remote work habits and the best productivity tools make you a better worker from home!

Working Remotely Saves Time

The flexibility of working remotely made it easier for me to pursue my Master’s degree. Although working and studying at the same time was a huge challenge.

But working remotely allows me to complete various tasks on time and, sometimes, on the go. I was not bound to a work desk when I became a remote worker. So I no longer waste time commuting to the office and can even save money on transportation. Managing my schedule has improved tremendously. I recommend especially if you have kids.

My way of working has been transformed–my coworkers and I don’t always meet face-to-face in the same room. We often collaborate with colleagues who are far apart and even in different time zones. But we still need the skills and accountability to work together for optimal work results.

Work-from-Home increases Work Focus

Like the majority, 2020 was filled with all kinds of uncertainty. But for me, one thing I was sure of is my remote job. My efficient and skilled remote worker capabilities have proven useful and have become high in demand over the years.

A few years after the pandemic, the world embraced remote workers as a more resilient workforce. Tech companies and startups have mostly declared that their workforce will remain remote. 

And why shouldn’t they not be? If businesses wish to stay in the game and remain competitive, they must have a plan to tackle global challenges.

I can speak for this as I have done it and will proudly do it again. Launching a remote marketing agency is one of my best decisions. Managing an entire remote team gives me satisfaction like no other. No pandemic, political and civil unrest, or natural disaster can disrupt my lifestyle.

I write this overlooking a beautiful beach view in Thailand, and often, I think how lucky I am to have dodged hitting rock bottom otherwise. I don’t want to know where I would be now if I had. 

Remote Work Offers More Flexibility

My experience of working remotely for the last year has been amazing! Before moving to the UK, I didn’t know much about working from home as I’ve only been in positions that require me to be in an office, so it made me think, “Wow, is this a thing?”.

However, the flexibility that comes with remote working is the most loved benefit and brings a sense of independence and freedom, which is very important to me. It allows me to design my schedule according to what works best for me. A normal morning schedule wouldn’t work for me since I am a nocturnal being based on my wolf chronotype.

Now, I have more time to do things I usually didn’t have time for in my previous positions, making me a much better worker and person. I also have time to care for myself, which is almost impossible in today’s busy society. I often share this as a speaker at events advocating remote work and its benefits because life is not all about work!

How To Increase Productivity When You Work From Home

For those who understand how vital the right remote work routines can be, here are a few of the best remote work habits to pick up including:

One – Make Communication A Priority

Effective communication is usually one of the first things to go when remote work isn’t managed as it should be. Unsurprisingly, employee productivity will drop when you leave the conventional office setting and don’t find an efficient means of collaboration to replace it.

Naturally, this will harm both your time management and task management. So, you need to make sure that you find your ideal communication channel(s) for the different types of tasks that you’ll have to handle.

Two – Clearly Define Expectations

Remote work habits yield the best results when you put clear intent behind their execution. Now, how do you achieve this?

Mindfully avoiding all elements of misalignment and confusion in your day-to-day operation–It sounds simple, but it can be challenging if the whole team is not on the same wavelength as you.

Set clear communication habits by clearly stating your daily goals and objectives during your huddles. Start by evaluating your performance stats and properly scheduling your activities for the day.

Doing so will help give your work direction and ensure that your efforts to work from home increase productivity.

Three – Develop A Set Routine

You’re working from home now, so you might think you don’t need a clear routine or dedicated working hours.

Well, that’s not true at all. Sure, remote work gives you a lot more flexibility. But it’s also important to take care of your daily routine. Instead of just going with the flow, you should have more freedom to manage your work tasks.

For example, if you’re most active in the morning, you can plan to tackle the demanding tasks early on. I’m a typical night owl, that means my day only starts mid-day. Use your strength and don’t go against nature. Make remote work work for you!

Four – Finding Your Work-Life Sweet Spot

While working remotely certainly has its perks, separating work from your personal life can be tricky. Since you’re the boss of your schedule, it’s easy to blur the lines between work and play. You might skip meals or not take enough breaks. Staying hydrated or active could also take a backseat, which could improve your health and productivity.

I’m still a work in progress. Honestly, if you fail in setting up a routine, don’t be afraid to start all over.

What’s more important than work is keeping your work-life balance in check.

Five – Picking the Right Tools for Remote Work

You might be doing everything else perfectly, but having the right tools can take things up a notch. The right tools can boost your productivity and help you get extraordinary results.

If you’re curious about the top-notch tools I’ve found helpful, you can check out the article I’ve shared below. Cheers to working smart!

Six – Maintain Your Remote Work Hardware

Effective time management, task management, and overall employee productivity are easier to achieve when the equipment you use is in optimal condition.

So, while investing in the right technology is of the utmost importance, making sure that these gadgets are well-maintained is what ensures that your work doesn’t break pace and you can always deliver with consistency.

Another reason that proper maintenance is key is because it makes sure that you work safer, too.

Seven – Let Those Around You In On The Deal

You should gloss over this tip if you work remotely and live alone. However, if you’re going to be constantly surrounded by friends, family, and pets while you work remotely, you need to pay close attention.

Even though it mightn’t seem like it, it’s nearly impossible to enhance or increase productivity when you work from home if those around you don’t help with the household.

You must explain to your family so they’ll understand how important your work time is and can leave you to your devices during this period. In some cases, though, even that mightn’t be enough.

If you are in such conditions, consider joining a coworking space.

Eight – Keep Things Formal

Working from home has this rather interesting way of blurring the line between supervisor and employee. Due to the absence of physical presence involved, it just seems easier for remote workers to become less formal with their employer.

Don’t let that happen to you.

Like it or not, employee productivity may slip if the relationship between you and your supervisor becomes too casual. You can avoid this by ensuring that any virtual engagement between you and your boss or coworkers is kept on mainly formal terms.

Nine – Know Where You Fit In

In many ways, there is little difference between working onsite and remotely. Most employees don’t realize that their responsibilities can flexibly shift when working remotely compared to when they used to report to the office.

As expected, remote work productivity can only be optimized if you know what to do.

Thankfully, this issue is easily rectified/avoided by engaging your supervisor and confirming your responsibilities now that you’re working remotely.

Ten – Plan Your Activities Carefully

Remote work habits yield the best results when specificity is applied to all your work activities.

This means having a laid-out plan of what you’ll be doing, when you plan to do it, how you plan to do it, and the resources to complete the task.

The biggest merit of planning your steps like this is that it gives you a birds-eye view of your operation so you can make adequate preparations.

Eleven – Master Virtual Meeting Etiquette

Again, like many other things, virtual meetings differ from physical ones. You shouldn’t wait until a critical online meeting is derailed before you realize this fact.

This is especially important because it’s much more challenging to maintain the best standards with virtual meetings. As such, you need to learn proper online meeting manners.

Some things that come to mind here include dressing appropriately and (for presentations) sending all parties a copy of the document beforehand so they know what to expect.

Twelve – Make Socializing A Thing

The feeling of isolation is one of the biggest challenges remote workers face. It was the same for me when I first started, and I’m sure many other work-from-home employees would’ve had similar experiences.

Isolation and physical separation can wreak havoc on remote work productivity, so you must be extra careful of these challenges.

One thing that’s proven to be a lifesaver in this department is ensuring that I carve out the time for socializing frequently. Outside work, I’d usually link up with my colleagues once a week to catch up. When we couldn’t find the time to meet like that, we switched things up and started hosting virtual game nights.

We all felt closer to each other, and the downsides of working solo became easier to bear.

Thirteen – Hold Yourself Accountable At All Times

Why does working from home increase productivity for some employees but not for others?

Sometimes, it’s because the former quickly realize they are their own bosses and must be accountable for their actions.

Because remote work can often remove that sense of urgency and responsibility that comes with the traditional workplace, some employees may need to catch up and forgo the need for accountability. When this happens, important work is left undone, and blame-passing ensues.

However, when you understand that, in a way, you’re your own boss here, you see the need to take charge. Your remote work routines will become more efficient and rewarding as a result.

Fourteen – Meet Coworkers Physically

This point deserves to be stressed independently because of how all-important it is. On average, most employees are happy to put the traditional workspace in their rearview to . However, it does have its perks, one of which is the high level of social interaction that it fosters.

These interactions need to be noticed when you work remotely.

As it can help you increase productivity, it’s a good idea to occasionally interact and socialize with your coworkers. The benefits of working remotely on the mind and body are immeasurable.

Fifteen – Don’t Forget Self-Appreciation

In the conventional workspace paradigm, it’s the job of your supervisor to both see and acknowledge the good work you do. But when you work remotely, there usually needs to be someone to do that for you.

So, even though it isn’t necessary, you must take the time to celebrate every new achievement or milestone you hit. This is one of the clearest ways of showing that you’re making progress and keeping yourself motivated.

Sixteen – Establish Trust With Your Employer

Some of the best productivity tools today focus on tracking employee efforts when they work remotely. So, it differs from most employees who don’t keep tabs on their offsite staff.

However, you’ll agree that it’s always better when your employer has complete faith in you to do your job.

As such, you should prioritize fostering a reasonable level of trust and connection between your supervisor and you.

Seventeen – Dress to Impress

Finally, dressing for the occasion is one of the most underrated remote work habits for success. Sure, you mightn’t even be leaving the house that day. However, dressing like you’re headed for work is still just as important.

Why is any of this even matter?

Studies have shown that how you’re dressed directly affects your mentality, so if you want to increase productivity while working remotely, you must wear the part!

Best Productivity Tools I Can’t Live Without That Helped Me Improve My Work Output

Now that we’ve covered the best practices to enhance remote work productivity, I’d like to touch on a few of the best productivity tools that have aided my journey so far.

Each resource listed below has greatly complemented my remote work habits and significantly increased my time and task management capabilities.

These tools include:

1.   Todoist – For Task Organization and Reminders

Todoist is one of the best task management tools that you can use in 2023. Before finding this tool, I’d used several resources to manage my affairs and had yet to be impressed with what I got. The Appstore recommended Todoist, and I was sold from the beginning.

Even on the basic version, I could manage as many as 300 active tasks and 20 active sessions. It made organization super easy as I could assign descriptions to tasks, add filters, create new projects, and sync all my desktop tasks to my phone. Since I’m on a MacOS laptop and Google Pixel phone, Todoist syncs across all my devices smoothly.

Since I love it so much, I am on the Pro plan. If you appreciate what tools like Todoist can do, it might be worth giving a shot for yourself.

2.   Loom – For Quick Explanation And Showcasing

Loom’s so mainstream now that it doesn’t need an introduction—the perfect resource for recording and sharing videos. I’ve been using this tool to collaborate for more than 3 years now, and I love everything about including its interface and sharing options.

From its simple user interface to seamless integration capabilities, I highly recommend Loom if you join the remote work landscape.

3.   Focus To-Do: Pomodoro Timer – For Work Batching And Time Structuring

Early on, I learned that time management can make or break your remote work experience. Before I started using Focus To-Do, I struggled to meet deadlines, even though I worked as hard as possible.

This affected my health and even the quality of the work I did.

I stumbled across this tool while searching the ‘Net for proactive ways of optimizing my work time.

With its wide choice of features ranging from Lists and Reminders to Calendar events and even Grocery lists, it didn’t take long to get my life back on track with Focus To-Do: Pomodoro Timer! Though I only use it to batch my work so far but you can use it to run errands with their additional features as mentioned.

4.   Google Suites – For Work and Collaboration

The work industry has had to adjust to the presence and existence of remote workers. Certain tools like Google Suites have shown themselves to be especially more adaptive for remote work.

Google Suites has done a lot to transform my collaboration with my team. Project engagements are faster, and more streamlined interaction between all appropriate quarters is efficiently done.

The best part of the package for me is that it makes backing up essential data smooth and effortless. Not to mention their flawless, sleek interface. How can you say no to a clean and minimalistic interface? I know I couldn’t.

5.   Slack – For Work Collaboration and Updates

Even though we’re not in the conventional workspace, certain engagements will take place regardless. Meetings must still be held, tasks assigned, and documents forwarded and reviewed.

Slack quickly became my go-to platform here since most of my clients love using it–thanks to its unique blend of free and paid features. The resource stands out for me as a collaboration tool because you can use it to integrate with invaluable tools like Google Sheets, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and a wide range of other devices.

The one downside I’ve noticed to using the tool is that you usually need to have a very stable Internet connection. Otherwise, Slack can quickly become rather frustrating to use. Beyond that, you won’t find anything to complain about here.

6.   LastPass – For Password Management

When the bulk of your work has to take place online, you can bet that you will rack up a long list of passwords sooner or later. I had to forget the password to two vital platforms before the importance of having a tool to manage my passwords dawned on me.

While there were many other options I could’ve settled for here, I ultimately went with LastPass because it was more convenient to use and offered considerably stronger security features. Also, I was one of their early adopters so it’s a no-brainer for me.

7.   Sider: ChatGPT Sidebar With GPT-4 – For Quick AI Search

Artificial intelligence is the future, so it only made sense for me to have ready access to this crucial tool. Sider presented me with the best resources to do so with ease.

As an extension that you can easily download and add to your browser, this tool works great for helping you improve your grammar, perform spell checks, and overall increase the quality of your content.

Time To Supercharge Your Remote Productivity

If you’re like me, enhancing your remote work productivity is critical to maintaining your work-from-home status. Several remote work routines are essential for helping you achieve this.

Common remote work habits you must pick up here include:

• Prioritizing communication.
• Clearly define your responsibilities.
• Understanding the importance of socializing.
• Establishing a healthy work-life balance.

Of course, finding the best productivity tools is also essential. Used right, resources like Todoist, Slack, and Loom can see you increase productivity when you work remotely exponentially.

With all this, I hope you’re more prepared to take your remote work adventure by the scruff of the neck!

See more on effective remote work management here.

Popular Questions About Remote Work Productivity

What Is Remote Work Productivity?

Remote work productivity refers to the rate and quality of work output from professionals outside the traditional workspace. Remote work productivity is greatly influenced by using (or misusing) the best productivity tools, time management efficiency, remote work habits, and remote work routines.

Can Remote Work Increase Productivity?

Yes, remote work can increase productivity. However, any increase in employee productivity will heavily depend on how well they can leverage the tools at their disposal and manage remote work distractions.

Is It Possible To Monitor Remote Employee Productivity?

Yes, it is possible to monitor remote employee productivity. However, the method of approach used to determine this variable will be heavily influenced by the nature of the task(s) to be carried out.

In most cases, supervisors allot tasks and then use different tools and resources to monitor the progress of the task and the quality of the result delivered.

What Are The Best Productivity Tools?

The best productivity tools include Todoist, Zoom, Loom, Focus To-Do: Pomodoro Timer, and many others. It’s always best to pick productivity tools according to your specific remote work routines and needs. This will ensure that you always utilize the right tools for the tasks.

What Remote Work Habits Negatively Affect Employee Productivity?

Several remote work habits negatively affect employee productivity. At the top of this list include not getting enough physical exercise, eating too much, using work time to surf the Internet or social media, and getting easily distracted by the television or nearby friends and family.