How to stay connected, motivated and energised when remote working

As we hit the halfway point of week two of ‘lockdown’, and week two of full time remote working for many, it’s often the point where reality bites and the isolation of home working really comes in. 

Last week, the small cracks were beginning to show as the novelty wore off and people began to uncover all the little things that make remote working a challenge. The lack of travel for some is very welcome, but with it comes an overload of ‘keeping in touch calls’ that fill the diary, and the reality that most meetings actually take longer!

This week, people face bigger challenges in delivering work and start to become more distracted and bored with the situation - social links with colleagues can start to fragment and the diary becomes the governor for interaction.

The key thing to look out for this week is the drop in energy (your own and your colleagues), as more worries and issues emerge and the social disconnection starts to take its toll.

So what can we do to stay connected, motivated and energised during this extended period of remote working (and help our teams do the same)?

1. Daily goals - set yourself three daily goals that give you energy - could be a chunk of work that will make you feel fulfilled, a friend you want to call or an article to read that gives you a new perspective

2. Positivity - start meetings with a good news story or a shout-out to someone - remember to say why that person deserves a shout out

3. Move - put a post it on your laptop with three different exercises a day and make sure you do them (maybe one at a time, not all three together) throughout the day

4. An act of kindness - a card to a loved one, some flowers from your garden on the doorstep of a vulnerable neighbour or a message of support to a colleague. Find acts of kindness you can give each day - they’ll fuel you, whilst also making someone else’s day more positive

5. Little moments of learning - it’s so easy to turn to the web and browse without learning anything. Make it a goal to go onto a quality site once a day, read a five minute article and grow your knowledge - maybe set a learning theme each week and share the outcomes at one of your team huddles

6. Tick lists - whenever you are on a call, have a list of participants and, everytime one of them talks, give them a tick. Watch out for people not talking or talking too much, and make sure you give yourself some ticks

7. Colour your days - think about the week ahead and give the days colours - red days are high energy and achieving, yellow - contemplative, blue - chill, green - creative etc. Make your own colours and use a mix that makes sense for you

8. Simplify your media - more people are telling us they’ve ‘got back into’ radio, and audio books are hugely popular right now. They are great for focus, as you cannot as easily ‘flick channels’ or end up following random links and have bad news appear

9. Identify your ‘crazy’ buddy - pair up with someone and agree to be each other’s ‘go-to-person’ when things get tough and they/you just need to vent. Agree a format - five min chat, no judgement or advice unless asked and high emotions are allowed

10. Keep perspective - if you are reading this article then you are still a functioning individual that’s connected to the world. We’ve mustered a global response to the pandemic, and you are contributing to the effort by doing what you are doing. Keep it up.

Find loads more tips for high performance remote working in the recently published Bank of Me: The Remote Working Edition. 

Our team is currently with organisations across the globe on high performance remote working cultures in the wake of COVID-19. 

Get in touch at info@theculturebuilders.com.