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Why it’s essential to have a routine when working remotely
Due to everything that’s going on, the rise of remote work has reached a new pinnacle of adoption. With all the benefits that it brings, however, we can all still struggle with the downsides such as overworking, distractions around the home, even finding it difficult to adopt the new work style.
Some of these issues can be resolved by setting a strict routine in place. Routines are part of our everyday life, whether it’s when we do our food shopping, tidying up where we live or even preparing ourselves for work.
In this article, we’ll be looking at how setting a routine can help you prepare yourself for working remotely and help avoid some of the common pitfalls.
A routine creates discipline
Doing something over and over again it becomes a habit. We can all say that we have habits that aren’t good, as well as good ones, this needs to be one of the good habits we need to get into to help us be ready for work and so more productive.
According to studies, it takes on average 66 days for new behaviour to become automatic. By doing something over and over again, it becomes second nature. In other words, creating a routine helps to build discipline, it becomes a system makes getting up, sitting down and working remotely/from home to be second nature.
So getting into the routine of getting up and being ready for work each day won’t be something that comes automatically or even necessarily easily. If you do struggle with getting into the routine, keep working at it as, after enough time, it will become second nature and you will have created the discipline.
A routine gets you in the right mindset
Having a routine helps you automatically get you into the mindset that when you sit down at your computer at the start of your workday, that you need to concentrate on your work. This helps you avoid distractions.
The way to help along with getting you into the right mindset is to set a time when you start work. If you have a varying schedule that’s also fine, simply make sure you set yourself a time you will be starting work prior to the workday.
Another useful thing to do is set up a designated working space. This can range from a separate office where you work to a specific device that you only use for work. So when you sit down in your office or on your work device, it helps push you into the mindset of being in work mode, as opposed to at-home mode.
A routine means you don’t overwork
Similar to making sure you get into the right mind frame when starting work, a routine can help ensure that you don’t overwork and can ‘disconnect’ at the end of the workday. One of the biggest problems with working is that the line between work and home can become blurred, which can lead to overworking and burnout.
Now, is there an issue with working beyond our scheduled work hours? No.
Sometimes we there are tasks we need to finish, emails we need to send, calls we have to make. The key is to not let this become a habit where you continually work beyond your normal working hours every day.
Having a routine can help reinforce the concept of stepping away from work at the end of the day and taking some time for ourselves to relax. As mentioned previously, setting your working hours beforehand, creating a separate work area can all help you leave work mode at the end of our workdays.