With a remote work model, employees can set their end and start times as long as they complete a certain number of hours or a certain amount of work per day. A well-defined schedule can help remote workers stay focused on their goals and keep up with their tasks. If you’re considering a career change or are already transitioning into a new remote work arrangement, it’s important to understand how this setup can benefit you.
This article will talk about the importance of having a well-defined work schedule and the various factors you should consider when creating one. It will also provide a template to help you create a schedule.
Having a well-defined work schedule can help keep you productive and prevent burnout. One of the most common factors affecting a person’s output when transitioning into a remote work arrangement is the lack of an external monitoring agent. This can lead to poor planning and overwork, resulting in reduced output.
A remote work schedule replaces an external monitoring agent, which helps ensure that the employee is meeting the standards and output expectations of the company. Before creating a schedule, you must consider the various factors that will affect its effectiveness.
Define Your Off Hours
One of the most important factors you should consider when creating a schedule is when you plan on not working. This will allow you to determine how many hours you have available for your job. You can also block off any obligations you have by automatically setting them aside.
Build in Time for Your Morning Ritual
Most employees have a pre-work ritual of preparing for the upcoming day. This could be a short period where they engage in a pleasurable activity before addressing their tasks.
It’s important to start your schedule with time off, as it can help motivate you and keep you focused on your tasks. You can let yourself skip or cut short this period, but it’s important to remember that it can be a mental comfort.
This period can also be used to set aside time for various check-in activities that you and your company conduct. For instance, it’s common for teams to have a short morning meeting to discuss their various assignments for the day. These meetings don’t last long and can be incorporated into your morning ritual.
Use Time Blocking
The concept of power hour refers to a period where you set aside time to address your most important tasks or activities that have been delayed. It’s important to note that this period should be set aside when your concentration is at its peak. Before you start planning your schedule, you must consider the various hours ideal for your productivity. For instance, if you’re usually at work late in the morning, you might allocate your focus time from 10-12.
Another time that you can use to set aside time for focus is when you need to step back into your work mode. For most employees, this period can be set aside during the day when they’re getting back into the structure of their tasks. You might also want to set specific focus times during times when you transition from non-work to working hours.
Schedule Breaks
Having a well-defined work schedule can help keep employees focused and motivated, as well as provide remote workers with more structure. It can also help prevent them from getting distracted by other activities. For instance, if you have a well-defined schedule, you should regularly include at least 30 minutes of break time every four hours.
Expect the Unexpected
It’s also important to keep in mind that it’s impossible to predict what will happen during a workweek, so it’s important that you have a well-defined schedule that allows you to address both the planned and the unexpected.
For instance, by leaving a period of 30 minutes at the end of the day that’s dedicated to wrapping up an already scheduled task, you can give yourself enough space to start an unexpected project or move an already scheduled one into that slot.