One of the best things about working from home is the freedom to work wherever and whenever you want. Being outside an office means you’re away from things that drain your productivity or distract you from your tasks. Then again, remote work has its own set of challenges.

In most cases, it will feel like you’ve lost all sense of having a work routine. You no longer have to rush through the morning commute, but it’s harder to draw the line between your personal time and professional time too. When you’re not careful, you end up juggling both within the same hour.

Why making a schedule is important

Adhering to a routine enables you to focus on finishing your tasks, organise your days or weeks, reach your milestones, and maintain your mental and physical well-being.

• It helps you determine what you’re capable of finishing during your shift
• It allows you to establish your priorities and arrange enough time for them
• It enables you to set aside time for any unexpected activities without affecting productivity
• It ensures that you have time for relaxing, exercising, or bonding with loved ones
• It supports a lifestyle that accomplishes a good balance between work and personal life

10 considerations for remote work scheduling

To keep yourself productive and in the right direction, it’s crucial to make a work from home schedule that suits your needs and preferences.

Arrange regular tasks first

Chances are, you have duties that you need to perform on a regular basis. It’s best to get these out of the way so they won’t affect other activities. For instance, if you need to send newsletters every Monday then schedule that in the morning to focus on other projects in the afternoon.

Check-in every so often

Two common barriers when remote working is lacking visibility and disconnecting from colleagues. This is why it’s good to have meetings to catch up with each other at least once per week. If possible, grab virtual lunch or coffee once a month to check-in on tasks and maybe personal matters too.

Mark your daily breaks

When you get too busy or have deadlines you need to meet, it’s easy to forget to take care of yourself. Try scheduling an hour per day to do some exercise or go on a short walk outside your house. This will give your creativity a much-needed boost plus prevent you from burning out.

Book all meetings together

This doesn’t mean you must discuss everything in one large meeting. Rather, group all of your meetings within the same one or two days, preferably early in the week. This allows you to open up the rest of the days for tasks that require your full attention and minimise any distractions.

Know when to log-off

Since you’re working from home, you may feel that you need to always be online or available for your boss or team. The truth is that you need to establish boundaries for yourself lest you feel unfulfilled despite finishing so many tasks. Inform your people to avoid contacting you once your shift is over.

Set ‘Do Not Disturb’ times

There are going to be things that you need to do without interruption, especially when deadlines are drawing near. Ask if it’s possible to be offline on communication channels while you focus on completing what you have to do. Request that there be certain times of the week when you not be disturbed too.

Account for your mornings

Many make the mistake of scheduling only the time that they spend working, so they end up skipping breakfast or forgetting to load the laundry. To improve work-life balance, include your morning routine in your schedule, such as the time for you to eat, take a shower, feed the pets, and so on.

Organise your downtime

Regardless if you’re using a calendar tool or a physical planner, make sure to note your personal schedules too. Your work tasks might be arranged but you end up forgetting about your wedding anniversary because you didn’t set reminders for it as well. Also, consider vacation time alone or with loved ones.

Leave some free time

Tempting as it might be to schedule every single minute of your day, try to leave some unscheduled time in your week. There may be unexpected assignments that need to be done ASAP or even an important call that cannot wait until the following week. Rather than go overtime, you may insert these in the unscheduled time you left at the end of the week.

Know your body clock

Some people are what you would call night owls and work well in the evenings. Others prefer working in mornings or sometime in between. If you have flexible working hours, this is something you must consider so you maximise your energy levels without messing up your body clock.

Are you ready to do remote work?

Now that you’re prepared to make your own remote work schedule that caters to your personal preferences and needs, it’s time to look for a role where you may apply it. Jumping into virtual working is going to be a challenge if you’re still new to it, so let us at Remote Workmate help you.

As an offshore talent agency, we’re connected to employers from different industries and locations. You’re sure to find a career opportunity that suits you, but you have to ready yourself first. Read our other blog posts on how to become an appealing remote job candidate then.