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9 Tips on How To Be the Best at Remote Working

Published by SuperDataScience Team

Tuesday May 26, 2020

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Hello and welcome to this post about how to be a pro at working remotely! 

Here at SuperDataScience (SDS) we are advocates for teleworking and are excited to be able to share with you our tips on how we make it work. 

Our team has given their insights on what it’s like to work for SDS and their advice on dealing with the very common pitfalls and challenges of working as a remote team. 

(If you haven’t already, check out SDS’s article on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Working Remotely

Loneliness while Teleworking:

One of the most common challenges teleworkers face is feeling lonely. Loneliness can affect not only your work progress but also your morale. It’s a very overlooked issue in today’s society where, ironically, with the advancement in social networking, we are actually neglecting human interaction more than ever. 

What do we recommend?

1. Find a Buddy

Whether working for a company or freelancing solo, having someone (who isn’t your manager) to discuss work with in a professional manner has been shown to boost motivation. This then helps you gain that sense of “team” which is missing from non-physical office settings.  

At SDS we operate the buddy program where every month we randomly match you with a new colleague. Buddies meet once a week to chat about work, life and build connections within the company. You can replicate the same at your workplace by simply reaching out to someone and asking to have a “virtual coffee” to get to know what they work on. Hardly anyone would say “no” to that.

Additionally, for any solo freelancers out there, it has been reported that finding other freelancers and chatting about work helps build a sense of community and belonging while working remotely.



2. Water Cooler Chats

We know that humans are social creatures, so let’s embrace that. Don’t let some 100,000s of kilometers stop you from exercising your need to tell your colleagues about that new 8D song that you just can’t stop listening to (here, check it out, you’ll love it!)

Whether you’re shy or not, introverted or extroverted, you will need social interaction, and remote working just doesn’t offer you that physical human closeness. 

So, what can you do about it?

Make it virtual.

Set up social groups with colleagues; arrange events in the group calendar, such a quiz night, or share baking recipes as company “bake-off” challenges.



It’s a bit cliché, but the water cooler somehow gets us chatting (granted sometimes it’s cringe-worthy), so why not start creating your own watering holes online?

3. Discover Your Communities

Networking is a key part of life. Whether you heard about a new series via a friend or you were recommended a certain online yoga course, you’ll no doubt be influenced by the people you’re spending time with. 
 
But, have you ever thought about increasing your social circle to include more like-minded people who share your interests? 

There are innumerable communities out there for whomever you may be: a lover of biotechnology; an avid 3D illustrator; a master chess player; a terrible chess player... 

Whatever your passion (and there is probably more than one), join the people talking about it, get yourself out there, and turn the tables. 

Coworking spaces are also a wonderful option for remote workers, many even host events about innovation and business for anyone and everyone to join, network, and make friends.

Productivity and Working Remotely:

You’re at home, it’s 10am and you’re sitting in the living room in your pajamas, googling cake recipes. Your work tab is open but it’s barely visible, squished in among 15 others. 

It’s not that working from home inevitably means you’ll be binging tv shows and suddenly an expert in home DIY, but it does mean that you need to set boundaries and practice some self-discipline.

4. Make Your Environment Free From Distraction

If staying at home is your setting of choice, do it properly. Our remote workers tell us they find it best to separate their work from any home comforts and distractions, usually meaning: don’t work on the sofa or in bed.



Find a separate room as your work haven, or be creative: if your place doesn’t have a spare room, corner off a section for yourself.

Be clear about your office hours to any other people in your house and the fact that you won’t be available to take part in household distractions until you’ve clocked out.

Listening to some background music can help mask sounds of the house which may be grabbing your attention, such as the TV or people chatting. We recommend brain.fm as “functional music” to get focused quickly and effectively.

You might find some noise-cancelling headphones to be your best bet if you’re not a fan of constant music and/or find background noise distracting.

5. Find a Schedule to Suit You

Morning lark or night owl, and all those in between. The joy of working remotely with a flexible schedule means you can fine-tune the balance between those productive flares and restful moments. 

How do you find what works best for you?

Experiment.

Try waking up earlier; try sleeping later. Make yourself a morning routine, or, if you’re daring enough, cold showers to wake up. Try exercising in the middle of the day (or napping in the middle of the day). 

Point is, there are so many ways you can schedule your day. If you make it a challenge, you’ll start to find out a lot about yourself and become a master of your own bodyclock.

Remember your trends and use these to your advantage when you’re planning your days out. It’ll help you to stop beating yourself up when you’re not feeling productive if you’ve already blocked that time out for a walk or a nap.

6. Log Your Time and Agree on Working Hours

This one is key for many remote workers. It seems on average, people are working more hours from home than their office-based counterparts.

While it sounds like a great way to get on top by clocking in more hours than ever before, overworking takes a toll on your health.



Usually no one is going to tell you to work less, so it’s up to you to discipline yourself and be smart about it. 

Many workers find logging their working day on a spreadsheet (yes, they’re dull, but there are more fun options and time tracking softwares out there - check out this list of the highest ranking according to freelancers to be a useful way of keeping on top of their time.

Agree with your manager which hours you’ll be online and when and where you can be reached. 

And, if you’re being asked to work overtime, log it.

It’s easy to let time go unnoticed when you’re on the other side of the world, “just finishing something up”, but practicing time discipline will show to others that you respect your time, so they should too. It’ll do you many favours in your personal life as well.

Self-Care While Working from Home:

As discussed, working remotely has its challenges. One of the most important things for you to do on a personal level is to take care of yourself.

7. Headspace

The fact is that most of us are neglecting our mental wellbeing.

With disorders such as generalised anxiety and depression rising, it has never been more important to talk about headspace and find ways to combat the challenges mental illness poses, together.

Remote working can definitely take its toll. If you let it, that is.

What we recommend in terms of headspace is the following:

- Find yourself a mentor for personal growth (this doesn’t have to be someone you know, it could be an inspirational figure) and check in with them on how you’re feeling and/or for any advice to keep you on track - side note, here at SDS we recognise that we all need someone to talk to and for this reason we have a team coach on board who helps each one of us navigate our journey of personal growth.

Take time to practice meditation and observation of thoughts

- Get dressed and out of bed

These simple tips, when implemented, can make such a difference to your outlook day to day and keep you focused on your personal journey of self growth and directed towards your goals. 

 8. Exercise

We don’t need to tell you that sitting still at your desk all day is bad for your body. Not only will increased time spent inactive reduce your productivity, but it will also decrease your mood, worsen your ability to make clear decisions, and affect your long-term health.

If you haven’t already, check out our guide to smarter exercising here for an in-depth view on how exercising is vital for a healthy work life.

Key take-aways include: 
- Exercise at least once a day 
- Do a mixture of types of exercise (aerobic, weight training, cardio)
- Don’t be afraid to drop work for a revitalising (and necessary) workout

9. Ergonomics

One of the most overlooked needs remote workers are guilty of is not investing into personal ergonomics.

It’s no surprise that staring at a screen lower than head height will cause neck and back ache after a while.

Nor that lying on a sofa with your arms bent to reach the mousepad on your laptop could maybe start to hurt your wrists...



Our favourite items to quickly and effectively incorporate an ergonomic design into your home office (and some even for you digital nomads) include:

- Laptop stand 
- Wireless mouse/trackpad and keyboard
 - Office chair with back support (not just your dining room chair) 
- (Wild card) Standing desk - there are some cool portable ones to convert any desk to put your laptop at standing height.



These simple changes can do a great deal of good for your physical state and most likely you’ll also feel psychologically more invested in your work and positive about having taken care of yourself. 

Take-Aways from Our Tips for Remote Working

There are so many great and innovative ways to combat the challenges faced when working remotely. We at SuperDataScience are firm believers that it’s the best way to work and are delighted to have this opportunity to share our passion for it.

Thanks for reading, and, if you’re interested in joining our epic, worldwide and 100% remote team, check out our careers page here!


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