When the COVID-19 global spread began in earnest, LogMeIn quickly took the situation seriously and required all employees to work from home. We’re a company that has always empowered remote work for our customers through collaboration tools like GoToMeeting and more – so for some of us this wasn’t a huge change. I typically work from home one day a week, and I’ll admit that despite the terrible and scary circumstances, a remote lifestyle sounded like a bit of a break from adulting. I’m saving money on my train pass and my dog walker, my lunch breaks could now include Real Housewives episodes, and facts are facts: PJ pants aren’t visible on webcam (admit it, you know it too!).
But after a week or so, I was feeling really unsettled. I found myself really tired in the afternoons, and my mind was wandering more than normal. I missed having colleagues to take snack breaks with, or to brainstorm with. At the same time, the impact of the pandemic was becoming more serious and widespread, thus extending our mandatory remote work time. I realized I needed to really check in with myself about what I was doing to stay motivated and get through these strange circumstances.
One critical factor to boost my feeling of productivity and happiness was simply being more proactive with communication. Even though a typical day for me is full of meetings with remote or globally disparate colleagues, there was still a level of human interaction I was seriously missing. I learned a lot gets done on my team by sitting near each other – asking a “quick question” over our desks or floating a project idea to the group in the hallway. So I’ve become a lot more proactive with reaching out to my colleagues, especially my team – whether it’s about a work project or just checking in on how they’re feeling that day. I’ve weaved in impromptu phone calls more and more rather that emails, to keep our chit-chat going and break up the monotony a bit.
I also adopted a few simple changes in my behaviors at home that have really helped me to feel more happy, relaxed, and productive every day. I used GoToMeeting recording to share these three easy tactics with you! Check it out:
For more tips and best practices on working remotely, check out LogMeIn’s remote work toolkit – you’ll find everything you need to stay productive.
What are you finding the most challenging about remote work? Do you have your own tips to share? Leave us a comment below, we’d love to hear from you!