Remote Work Best Practices

ZEN-it Team

05 Jan 2024

A young woman looking at her phone with a smile, as she works on her laptop.

It was 2020. The pandemic hit and offices were forced to close. People scrambled to set up home offices and companies rushed to set up adequate tech infrastructure to enable remote work. Thus, remote work as we know it began.

Fast forward to 2024, some companies reduced remote work or fully stopped this flexibility, while others went permanently remote. This decision largely depended on the employees’ ability to be productive when they were not in office and the nature of their job, cost of maintaining a physical office space and so on. Employees from metros around the world, prefer to work from the office for only 3.2 days a week on a average, as published in a report by Mckinsey on ‘How hybrid work has changed the way people work, live and shop’ . These numbers show that hybrid work is here to stay.

Pros And Cons

Imagine waking up in the morning without having to worry about getting ready on time, thinking about what to wear, fixing lunch, waiting in line to get coffee on the go, and commuting to work. All the stress that is normally associated with work is immediately out of the window. Instead, the same time can be spent waking up naturally, having a relaxing breakfast and starting work with a positive mindset. There are so many other benefits to working from home. Primary caregivers will be able to take care of family commitments and yet ensure that their work gets done, other constraints such as travelling to meet family or addressing health issues etc. can be handled more effectively through work from anywhere options.

But do these same advantages make us less productive in performing our work tasks? It is very easy to get distracted doing personal work in office hours, and convince ourselves that we can catch up at a later time. As work deadlines pile up, stress to complete tasks builds up, cancelling all the positive effects of starting a workday from home. Other than this, not having professional interactions with colleagues may result in a loss of timely feedback, opportunities to brainstorm and collaborate and make us feel isolated. And for some of us, not having clear work timings and/or workspaces may mean that we are constantly struggling to manage both home and work at the same time.

So, is remote or hybrid working doomed to fail? Definitely not! All we need to do is follow a set of best practices to be an effective employee and manage a good work-life balance.

Remote Work Best Practices For 2024

An image showing a well-organised and equipped home office.

1. Designated Workspace

Set up a designated workspace area in your home, only use this space for your work. This will help you compartmentalize the physical space and help you be prepared to tackle the day’s work.

2. Routine Work Hours

Set routine work hours. This need not look like a 9 am to 5 pm workday, however, ensure that on a daily basis you have fixed hours when you focus on work tasks alone.

Clock on a wall, representing the need for routine.

Headset and Keyboard, representing tech preparedness for a meeting.

3. Technology Aids

Ensure that you have the right technology aids. These could be applications for connecting with your team members, monitoring your tasks and progress or enabling clear communication between you and the rest of the office.

4. Reduce Distractions

Reduce distractions during work hours by using productivity hacks such as the Pomodoro technique to focus on tasks, by physically removing distractions such as your phone, television and family and friends.

A person is writing, with a coffee mug in the background, indicating focussed work time.

5. Dress Code

Follow the office dress code, even if no one is watching. Instead of scrambling to find a decent looking jacket just before a video call, being ready would help you get into the work mindset right at the start of the day.

6. Take Breaks

Take timed, mindful breaks through the day, just as you would, were you in the office. Sip a cup of coffee, take a walk or listen to your favourite artist.

A woman sitting on a sofa and practising breathing exercise.

A person in workout gear sitting on the floor, with a banana, orange juice, a smartphone and earphones next to her.

7. Care For Self

Address self-care. More often than not, it is very easy to get caught up with the demands of professional work, without taking time to address mental and physical health.

8. Stay Connected With Peers

Stay updated and connected. Know about the vision and goals of the company you’re working for and stay abreast of company updates and news. If at all you start feeling bored or isolated, take it as a sign to step into the office and connect back with colleagues. If this is not an option, schedule virtual coffee breaks and informal chat sessions with your office colleagues.

An office setting, with two colleagues walking down the stairs.

How Can ZEN-it Help You In Your Hybrid/Remote Work Journey?

ZEN~It App Screens - Home Screen, Productivity Suite Screen and the Self-Care Suite Screen.

ZEN-it has all the productivity and self-care features that you need to become a remote work rockstar! Use the Productivity suite features - Focus Time, Task Management and Integrated Calendar to schedule, track and check off tasks, without distractions. The Priority Wizard will save you tons of time and guide you in completing tasks based on importance level and deadlines.Wondering how to address self-care? Tap on the Self-Care suite and access visualisation exercises for bringing positivity, centering yourself for the day and guided meditations that will help you unwind at the end of the day.

ZEN-it will be available for downloading shortly in the App Store and Play Store. Continue to explore this website to understand how ZEN-it can help you become mindfully productive!

FAQs

How can someone effectively transition from an in-office to a remote work setting, especially if they're accustomed to the structure and social interactions of an office environment?

Transitioning to remote work requires establishing a dedicated workspace, creating a structured schedule similar to an office environment, and seeking out virtual networking opportunities to replace office interactions.

What are some specific strategies for maintaining team cohesion and collaboration in a fully remote or hybrid team, beyond just regular virtual meetings?

Plan a fun virtual costume party and invite your team for an informal get together. Explore tools (Ex: Gather), which allow you to have virtual offices that can be designed similar to a physical office, or create cozy virtual office spaces and invite your team. To ensure that team productivity remains high, use project management tools (Ex: Asana, Jira) for collaboration and maintain transparent communication across the team.

How does ZEN-it support diverse work styles and preferences in a remote work setting?

A remote worker may have completely different work hours as compared to a regular office goer. Here are some ways that ZEN-it provides flexibility for its users, in enabling them to be mindfully productive:

The Create Task feature allows users to be flexible about their task completion times. They can decide to complete it by 2 pm or by 8 pm on the selected day.
The Focus Time feature allows users to fix deep focus time duration, based on their needs.
The Integrated Calendar view, that allows users to manage all their tasks keyed in ZEN-it as well as import events from external Google or Outlook calendars.
The Self-Care Suite has different libraries such as Uplift (to begin the workday with positive thoughts), Centering (to bring our mind back to the present) and Meditation (to unwind and relax). Users can decide which of these exercises they would want to practise during their day, depending on their needs.

Ready to Redefine Productivity? Start your journey with ZEN-it today!