Quickbooks online edition
The number one reason workers fail to adapt to operating remotely is they don’t realise the neccesity of first class organisation and sustainable self management.
I have been working remotely for over seven years since I first found Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software web application and was struck by the fact that if you can do accounting on the Internet then why shouldn’t you be able to do other important types of work away from the conventional office?
Whilst working remotely has numerous upsides there are numerous mistakes that people make which convert into problems that result in decreased productivity and lower motivation. The top reason for decreases in work output from remote workers is interruption and it is a verified and well publicised fact that it can take a professional up to twenty minutes to return to their original productivity level after experiencing a disturbance.
Deeper insights reveal that men and women who are consistently subjected to interruptions are more likely to be susceptible to lower memory capacity and are prone to developing mental health issues in later life. We live in an over communicated environment and it is imperative that you are aware of the problems this causes before you decide to work remotely. When operating remotely you must do everything feasible to remove the threat of being interrupted.
Here’s how I do it:
1, Get a routine, make sure that everybody knows it and obsessively maintain it!
Good examples are a consistent time of day when you read or send e-mail and make or receive phone conversatiions. Before I began working remotely I used to get nearly hundreds of electronic mails a day. Now I think I am unfortunate if I get in excess of 4. To ’reset’ my electronic mail experience I modified my e-mail address and obsessively took precautions to protect the details being passed on to anyone. I then ‘trained’ every individual who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it with special care. I also created an automatic response that swiftly informed anyone sending me mail at what time of day I would be attending to mail and if an e-mail required my urgent awareness to mark it as ‘Urgent’.
2. Get rid of alerts.
Disable every function that can send you a interruption. This includes mobile and
conventional telephones and forms of alerts from e-mail such as display events, beeps, display changes to your inbox list and of course facing a window. Get a door on your office and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.
In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – Basic Toolkit’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.
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