Remote workers have the freedom of working at the comfort of their homes, without feeling tied to the geographical location of the office. Yet, for a long time now, remote workers have been stereotyped as anti-social and disconnected from the rest of the team. But in today’s world, there are numerous tools available for remote workers and freelancers to connect and stay in touch with their work colleagues. Depending on the type of employee tracking app, workers can share their progress, challenges, and achievements via the software to keep the team productive.
Unfortunately, there are still stereotypes surrounding remote work and it’s preventing highly qualified remote workers from finding good jobs. Managers always picture remote workers in pajamas binging on Netflix the whole day. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth. If numbers are to be believed, a recent study on around 25,324 remote workers found that the stigma of isolation and laziness was just a myth. Remote workers were actually found to be more productive despite not being under direct supervision.
The fact that managers can use a job tracker app to monitor what their employees are up to ensures that productivity isn’t negatively affected. In fact, remote work gives employers wide access to global talent, not to mention saving a great amount of money in the process. Speaking of stereotypes, following below are some bad habits that are thought to derail productivity, but as it turns out, they actually increase your productivity.
1. Procrastination
Remember we mentioned that employers always picture remote employees binging on Netflix the whole day? This might not be a bad thing. It may be that the worker is unsure of how to start a particular project and is procrastinating to allow time for new ideas to develop.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, agrees with the guilt-free procrastination concept that was practiced in Ancient Egypt that rather than being a negative thing to do, procrastinating is putting off tasks in order to perform them when you’re ready with the right ideas.
Throughout history, the great and creative minds of renowned people used procrastination as a channel for creativity. Famous procrastinators like Margaret Atwood, Douglas Adams, and Samuel Johnson supported the idea that procrastination can be used to improve productivity. So, as long as the remote worker submits projects in time, putting off tasks allows the mind to wander and encourages divergent thinking rather than forcing the mind to come up with ideas on the spot.
2. Being Messy
A tidy workspace doesn’t necessarily mean a tidy mind. Neither does an untidy desk. This bad habit may seem like a deterrent to being productive, but this is not true for everyone. Despite tidiness at the workplace being promoted, again and again, you don’t need to force yourself to be orderly when it doesn’t bring out the best in you. One great philosopher said that messiness is not the enemy of productivity. Busy minds spend most of the time working rather than organizing the workspace.
If you spend too much time tidying up your desk, it means you’ve wasted time you could’ve used to come up with ideas. Studies even prove that being in a messy environment encourages your mind to think out of the box, boosting productivity. If you’re the kind of person who finds it difficult to keep things organized at your workspace, don’t let it stress you. Keep doing what you do – creativity increases productivity.
3. Lose Your Temper
We are always advised to never lose our temper and instead to manage emotions regardless of the situation. That said, sometimes it’s okay to let go and vent. Luckily, as a remote worker, your employer or colleagues won’t be around to notice your temper since you’re working miles away from the office.
It’s better to let go instead of keeping things inside until one day you explode and cause some real damage.
4. Focus Deeply on One Task
Our minds are set to give in to the little distractions that happen every time around us. The number one culprit is our phones. People always want to know how their teams scored, how bitcoin is performing, and what’s trending on social media. This gadget that we use for communication can easily come in the way of being productive.
5. Take on Less and Say No
It’s a common perception that doing more gets a lot of work done. However, pending sleepless nights and multitasking are counterproductive. Saying no is not an act of selfishness but a way to self-preserve. Saying yes to everything stretches you thin and leads to overworking, which, in turn, affects productivity.
Learn how to politely say no and do less. This might not seem like good advice in today’s work culture where more is always demanded of workers. But, as a manager or employer, giving your employees time to rejuvenate and re-energize will translate into more productivity since the workers wake up with refreshed minds and bodies. So, be flexible, do less, and say no to projects that threaten to wear you down.
6. Doodling
When your mind retracts to its default mode, concentration usually flies out of the window. That’s when daydreaming sets in and you start replaying memories over and over in your mind. To keep your mind occupied, doodling whatever comes to mind can be useful. Rather than take it as an embarrassment, science shows evidence that doodlers’ minds are smarter and sharper.
Research shows a correlation between doodling and the arousal of the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that manages and controls your ability to solve problems, use logic and reason.
It’s a sign that you’re more focused on the task at hand as opposed to being distracted. This can be helpful if the current task is boring and your mind is trying to drift away. Feel free to draw anything that crosses your mind without feeling guilty as it’s a way of improving concentration and remembering some useful information.
How to Hold Remote Workers Accountable, the Hassle-Free Way
Employers assume that since they can’t see you, you’re not getting any work done. This sad truth can be demoralizing to remote workers. But it doesn’t have to be. Accountability can now be made simple with an employee tracking system, which creates a platform where both the manager and remote workers get to share updates about their projects.
Micromanaging your employees won’t do you any good, but using an employee time tracking app gives you all the data that you need about each employee and their level of productivity. The app works in the background so as not to make the employees feel like they are being watched.
Distractions are a big challenge when working at home, but as a remote worker, knowing that your hours are being tracked and that you need to update your manager every few hours motivates you to be more accountable.
With the number of remote workers in the U.S. rising 159 percent since 2000 there’s no better time to use job tracking software than right now. Sorry to say that the stereotypes aren’t going away any time soon, but so are remote workers. Employers should embrace the fact that remote work will soon be the new normal, and the sooner you get acquainted with, reliable employee monitoring software, the better the chance your business stands at succeeding.
