With so many benefits, it’s hard to argue that teleworking is smart for both the employer and employee. If your daily commute could be reduced to waking up, walking to the coffee maker and then your laptop–just think about the bundle of benefits that would follow…
- Less wear and tear on your vehicle
- Extra hours added to your productivity
- Money saved at the gas pump
- Cuts down commuting time
- Avoids rush hour traffic and idly sitting on roadways
- Decreases amount of emissions
So for those who have already adopted a teleworking policy, navigate over to Share the Ride NC’s Commute Calendar. Register and log your teleworking days between now and April 15 for a chance to win a Macy’s gift card. GoTriangle will be drawing a telecommuter’s name, so stay tuned to see if you are the lucky winner!
TIPS & TOOLS
Here are just a few ways to stay organized and focused in your telecommuting endeavors:
Know Yourself
There isn’t a sure-fire teleworking formula or a routine that works for everyone, but there are ways to find the best fit for YOU. You know yourself better than anyone else, which means your productivity is dependent on your self-discipline. Understanding your work habits and workflow are key to translating your workday from the office, to your home or a remote working location.
Have a Plan
- Know Your Goals – Setting out your work week without a plan can be a sure road to unproductive teleworking. By setting sights on your overarching goals, you’re more likely to meet your deadlines, cross things off your list and keep up the productivity.
- Create a Plan – To-do lists will keep you in check and note your progress along the way.
- Set Priorities – Make sure your top priorities are completed first. By completing the higher ranking items, you’ll find more time to get feedback, strategize and implement. Next, address the low hanging fruit and plan for other obstacles or goals for the week.
Incorporate Helpful Tools
- Wunderlist – Keep your to-do list in a place where you can access it from anywhere, on any device. With Wunderlist, you can invite others to share the load or keep your list private for personal check points.
- Google Drive – Everything you need on the fly. Your co-workers can see updates in real time, be invited to collaborate and have a nice place to store lots of documents.
- Evernote – It’s more than just a place for lists and notes, it’s a hub for all kinds of media that is easily shared and accessed, plus it’s searchable with customizable tags.
- Momentum – Add this extension to your Chrome browser to keep you inspired, on task and organized by customizing the links section with work related sites and reminding yourself of your tasks for the day.
- Slack – Think chat meets email, meets file sharing… but better! It creates the ideal environment for collaboration and interaction between co-workers or clients.
Sync-Up
Sync your schedule with coworkers. Having a sharable calendar can be important for conference calls, video chats, screen shares and more. We use Outlook – Office 365 for our organization. Google Calendar is another popular option for its ease of sharing, plus it syncs with several other services.
Reward Yourself with Breaks
Schedule breaks or allow for a few minutes of scheduled distractions so you won’t be tempted to load the washer or find yourself on a web tangent while trying to accomplish a task.
For more tips, look out for Lisa and Abby’s tweets on our Twitter feed – @theRTP! Happy teleworking!