The number one reason men and women fail to adjust to operating remotely is they fail to see the need for superior organisation and robust self management.

I have been toiling remotely for over seven years since I first unearthed Quickbooks online an ‘on demand’ small business accounting software service and was struck by the fact that if you can do accounting on the Internet then why shouldn’t you be able to do other key types of of work at a distance?

Whilst working remotely has substantial gains there are numerous pitfalls which convert into problems that cause lower work output and reduced morale. The key reason for low effectiveness in remote professionals is disturbance and it is a proven and well known fact that it can take a person up to 20 mins to return to their original efficiency level after experiencing a distraction.

Studies also show that members of both sexes who are continuously affected by interruptions are more likely to be susceptible to reduced memory capability and are prone to developing mental health trouble in old age. We exist in an over communicated time and it is essential that you are acquainted with the problems this causes before you begin working remotely. When working remotely you must do everything feasible to minimise the probability of being distracted.

Here are my most important tips:

1, Get a routine, make sure that everybody knows it and obsessively maintain it!

Good examples are a fixed time of day when you review or send electronic mail and make or receive telephone calls. Before I began working remotely I used to get nearly 200 electronic mails a day. Now I think I am unfortunate if I receive greater than four. To ‘restart’ my e-mail experience I changed my e-mail address and vigorously took steps to shield the details being made known to anyone. I then educated everyone who I gave my e-mail address to, to use it with special care. I also created an automatic reply that swiftly told anyone sending me mail at what time of day I would be reading mail and if something needed my immediate awareness to mark it as ‘Urgent’.

2. Get rid of alerts.

Turn off every feature that can send you a interruption. This includes portable and
ordinary handsets and forms of alerts from e-mail such as on screen pop ups, warning sounds, display changes to your inbox folder and of course facing a window. Get a door on your office and put up a ‘do not disturb’ sign on it.

In ‘Remote Working Part 3 – Basic Toolkit’ I will reveal my favourite tools and software.