7 Rules to Massively Improve How You Work Remotely

With more people working remotely than ever before, many are making bad mistakes that hurt their performance and cause more stress, anxiety, and burnout. Yet with workaholism growing, it’s getting more important to learn the right way to work from home. 

In November 2013, I started working remotely and had to quickly learn the do’s and don’t’s of self-discipline, structuring my day, and doing great work (mainly, so I wouldn’t get fired from all of my projects). 

Since then, I’ve been able to work remotely in dozens of countries and complete many successful projects for several clients at once while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. 

The secret is a simple system that helps me do my best work consistently and without relying on motivation. Here are my 7 rules to improve how you work remotely so you can enjoy an actual life outside of work and feel happier, healthier, and more satisfied overall. 

1. Start Your Workday Correctly

Don’t just wake up, stumble to your computer, check your email, and start working. You’ll struggle to do your best work, harm your work-life balance, and potentially create more stress and burnout.

Instead, create a morning routine that mimics going to work. Get ready, change out of your pajamas and put on some actual clothes, have breakfast, and prepare yourself—that way, you mentally switch from “home mode” to “work mode” and officially start your workday. You’ll be far more productive and set healthier boundaries for your non-work life.

2. Create Your Environment

In B.C. times (“before coronavirus”), I worked at local coffee shops. I really wanted my home to be an oasis and didn’t want to contaminate it with work. But after COVID-19, I had to learn how to work from home without getting cabin fever, and the best thing I did was to create specific environments. 

First, create a dedicated workspace—avoid working on your dinner table, bed, etc. (Even though I was stuck in an Airbnb, I had a desk I used for work and only work.)

Next, rotate your environment to prolong your energy. For example, after a few hours (or if I felt fatigued), I moved to a different table or worked on the balcony. Even moving your chair around or standing up can help create novelty and keep your mind fresh and sharp.

Doing the same thing for extended hours in the same environment can become mentally stale. You need novelty to keep the brain active… If you notice yourself zoning out or purposefully distracting yourself, you need to step into a new environment. Often, the very act of walking into a different room will facilitate a flood of ideas related to the work you were just doing. Even better is if you take a short mental break and then continue your work in a different environment, whether that means going to a different room, changing your chair, or going somewhere entirely different for a few hours.

—Benjamin Hardy, Ph.D.

Also, try to separate your work apps and devices from your personal ones. That way, you have stronger boundaries between work and regular life so you won’t feel like you’re always connected to the office.

3. End Your Workday

The problem with working from home is you now live at your job. The two settings blur together and, if you’re not careful, you’ll end up working all the time—answering messages at 8 PM, checking your phone after dinner, doing a little work before bed, etc.

Workaholism is no joke. It currently affects about 30% of people and can hurt your mental wellbeing, physical health, and even relationships. That’s why it’s so critical to create boundaries and stop working when it’s time to stop. 

Just like you should signal that work is starting, you should also signal that work is finished. For example, turn off your computer, put your phone on Airplane Mode, or hide them from sight. Then, go for a walk (one of my favorites), ride your bike, hit the gym, or listen to music—whatever you choose, find an activity to help you switch off from “work mode.”

Also, don’t let your boss or coworkers message you or make requests long after working hours. Train the world how to treat you.

4. Move Around

At an office, you might move around a lot—from room to room, person to person, etc.—but at home, you don’t have as many reasons to get up. Yet your body and mind are connected: If your body is stiff, your mind will be too. 

Make an effort to get up and get the blood flowing so your mind can do great work and be in a great mood. Walk around your room, stretch, or do some bodyweight exercises to avoid feeling stiff.

If possible, take a walk outside or even find ways to work outdoors. Being stuck inside all day is unhealthy so regularly get fresh air and vitamin D throughout the day—your body and mind will thank you.

5. Boost Your Productivity

It’s amazing how much more productive you can be working remotely.

When I was at an office, there was no reward for productivity. I was paid based on how many hours I took, not how many hours I saved. Yet working remotely allowed me the freedom to be more clever and finish tasks faster. 

For this, follow a simple rule: Pick one to three high-priority, high-leverage tasks—no more than three—and do them first thing in the day before anything else. (i.e. Don’t check email, social media, or anything else until those things are finished.)

If I finish those tasks and nothing else, I’ll still be content — that’s how important they are. And once I finish, I can move onto other tasks knowing that most of my work for the day is done.

6. Avoid Meetings

Most meetings are utterly useless and can often be replaced by a simple email thread. Why are meetings so damaging? It lies in the difference between what Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, calls a “maker’s schedule” and a “manager’s schedule:” One allows for flow and creativity while the other follows an appointment book and chops the day into hourly intervals.

When you’re operating on the maker’s schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in… It doesn’t merely cause you to switch from one task to another; it changes the mode in which you work.

A 30-minute meeting doesn’t take only 30 minutes: It forces you to stop work short—even if you’re in the middle of something. (Also, if you know you have to stop working soon, you can’t fully immerse yourself in your work.) Then, you switch your attention, go to the meeting, and waste time refocusing back on what you were doing before the meeting.

As a consultant, I could not do as good (or as much) work for numerous clients if I had to meet all of them several times a week. If you’re an employee, try to skip as many meetings as you can or at least suggest emails in lieu of them. 

7. Set Timers

I never work without a timer. 

First, when used in the Pomodoro Technique, it gives you breaks to recover and maintain your energy and performance. I usually work 50 minutes and take 10-minute breaks (which you can use to go outside), but see what durations work for you.

Second, it keeps track of time. Without a timer, you have no idea how long you’ve worked on a task—you could’ve spent 70 minutes (and exhausted yourself), but you wouldn’t know until you check a clock. Yet with a timer, it forces you to look at the elapsed time, not time of day, which is far more important in productivity and maintaining your performance.