How to Be Productive Working From Home | 10 Productivity Tips for Remote Workers
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Kay Troy shares valuable tips for enhancing productivity while working remotely. She emphasizes the importance of a well-set workspace, utilizing video in conference calls for accountability, preparing materials for meetings to stimulate discussion, and establishing a consistent note-taking system. Additionally, Kay advises blocking work time on calendars, opting for direct communication over email, thoughtfully selecting meeting attendees, leveraging collaboration tools like Mural, taking breaks, and occasionally changing the work environment to boost productivity.
Takeaways
- 🖥️ Set up a productive workspace: Invest in a wireless mouse, monitor, keyboard, and laptop stand to enhance efficiency.
- 📹 Use video in meetings: Turning on your camera during calls can improve collaboration and maintain focus.
- 🤝 Bring ideas to brainstorming sessions: Provide a framework or draft to stimulate discussion and productivity.
- 📝 Develop a consistent note-taking system: A singular method for organizing notes can streamline productivity.
- 📅 Block work time on your calendar: Reserve time for focused work and communicate this to colleagues to minimize interruptions.
- 🗣️ Opt for quick calls over email threads: Direct communication can resolve issues faster and more effectively.
- 👥 Be selective with meeting invitations: Only invite necessary participants to keep meetings efficient and relevant.
- 🎨 Utilize collaboration tools: Tools like virtual whiteboards can mimic in-person collaboration and boost productivity.
- 🚶♂️ Take breaks away from your desk: Physical and mental breaks can improve focus and productivity.
- 🏞️ Change your work environment:偶尔变换工作环境,如在家、办公室或咖啡店工作,可以提高工作效率。
Q & A
What is the main topic of the video?
-The main topic of the video is providing tips for being productive when working virtually or remotely.
What is the role of the speaker in their full-time job?
-The speaker works full-time at a consulting firm doing change management and strategy implementation.
Why did the speaker switch to remote work?
-The speaker switched to remote work due to the circumstances of 2020, which led to a widespread shift to working from home.
What is the first tip for productivity in remote work mentioned by the speaker?
-The first tip is to have a good workspace setup, including a wireless mouse, monitor, keyboard, and laptop stand.
Why is turning on the video during conference calls recommended?
-Turning on the video helps with accountability and staying focused, reducing the likelihood of getting distracted or multitasking.
What does the speaker suggest bringing to a brainstorming meeting to enhance productivity?
-The speaker suggests bringing something for people to react to, such as a plan, framework, or draft, to facilitate the brainstorming process.
How does the speaker recommend organizing notes for better productivity?
-The speaker recommends having a regular routine or a singular place for storing notes to easily refer back to them.
Why is blocking out working time on a calendar beneficial for productivity?
-Blocking out working time on a calendar helps to prevent meetings from occupying all available time and encourages working faster to complete tasks within the blocked periods.
What is the speaker's advice on making calls instead of exchanging emails?
-The speaker advises picking up the phone or starting a call for quicker resolution of issues, as it is more efficient than exchanging multiple emails.
Why is it important to be thoughtful about who is invited to meetings?
-Being thoughtful about meeting invitations ensures that only necessary participants are included, making the meetings more productive and less time-consuming.
How does the speaker use collaboration tools like Mural to enhance productivity?
-The speaker uses Mural, a virtual whiteboard, to mimic the collaborative environment of a physical conference room, which aids in brainstorming and working with a team.
What does the speaker suggest to create a mental break from work?
-The speaker suggests taking breaks away from the desk, such as eating meals away from the computer and doing chores or going for a walk.
Why might the speaker switch up their work environment?
-Switching up the work environment, like working from a coffee shop or an office, can help to break the routine and potentially increase productivity.
Outlines
📈 Tips for Productivity in Remote Work
Kay Troy, a consultant in change management and strategy implementation, shares insights on enhancing productivity while working remotely. She emphasizes the importance of a well-set workspace, including a wireless mouse, monitor, keyboard, and laptop stand. Additional recommendations include using a monitor clamp, wireless headphones, a desk lamp that doubles as a ring light, and a standing desk. Kay also stresses the value of turning on video during conference calls for better collaboration and accountability, and suggests preparing materials for brainstorming sessions to stimulate productivity.
📅 Time Management and Communication in Virtual Work
In this segment, Kay discusses strategies for managing time effectively in a virtual work environment. She advises blocking out 'working time' on one's calendar to ensure focused work periods and to avoid being overbooked with meetings. Kay also highlights the efficiency of direct communication, such as phone calls or video chats, over email exchanges. She encourages thoughtfulness in meeting invitations to keep them productive and relevant. Kay introduces the use of collaboration tools like Mural, a virtual whiteboard, to enhance team productivity. Lastly, she touches on the importance of taking breaks away from the desk to maintain mental health and productivity.
🏡 Balancing Work and Personal Life in Remote Settings
Kay concludes with tips on maintaining a healthy work-life balance while working from home. She suggests taking regular breaks away from the desk, such as eating meals elsewhere and occasionally doing chores or going for walks. She also recommends varying the work environment, like working from a coffee shop or co-working space, to prevent monotony and boost productivity. Kay acknowledges the ongoing learning and challenges of remote work and invites viewers to share their experiences and suggestions for future video topics.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Remote Work
💡Productivity
💡Workspace Setup
💡Video Conferencing
💡Collaboration Tools
💡Note-taking
💡Calendar Blocking
💡Hybrid Schedule
💡Mental Health
💡Sponsorship
💡Brainstorming
Highlights
Transitioning to remote work has been a significant shift for many, including Kay Troy, who shares her insights on productivity in a virtual environment.
Sponsorship by Squarespace, an all-in-one platform for building websites and developing online brands.
The importance of a good workspace setup for remote productivity, including a wireless mouse, monitor, keyboard, and laptop stand.
The benefits of a second screen during video calls for sharing documents without obstructing view of participants.
Optional workspace enhancements like a monitor clamp, wireless headphones, desk lamp, and standing desk for comfort and efficiency.
The recommendation to turn on video during conference calls to improve collaboration and maintain focus.
The strategy of providing a framework or draft in brainstorming sessions to stimulate productive discussions.
The ongoing challenge of developing a consistent note-taking routine to organize thoughts and project information.
Blocking out 'working time' on the calendar to prevent over-scheduling and ensure dedicated time for tasks.
Advocating for direct communication via calls to resolve issues efficiently, rather than lengthy email exchanges.
The practice of thoughtfully selecting meeting attendees to keep meetings focused and productive.
Utilizing collaboration tools like Mural, a virtual whiteboard, to enhance creative and collaborative workflows.
The advice to take regular breaks away from the desk to maintain mental health and productivity.
Experimenting with different work environments, such as coffee shops or co-working spaces, to break the routine and boost productivity.
The video concludes with an invitation for viewers to suggest topics for future content and a thank you for watching.
Transcripts
hi i'm kay troy welcome back to my
channel i work full-time at a consulting
firm doing change management and
strategy implementation and like a lot
of people in the corporate world i've
been working remotely since 2020
switching from working in an office and
being in person with clients and team
members to being fully remote and
virtual has definitely been a big
transition but i feel like i've learned
a lot about how to be productive when
working virtually and remotely so i
would love to share that with you today
before we get into those tips let's take
a moment to talk about this video
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and thank you so much to squarespace for
sponsoring this video okay so tips for
being productive when you're working
virtually my first one is to have a good
workspace setup it definitely was a
process to get my own desk and workspace
set up especially because at the
beginning we weren't sure how long we
were going to be remote let's say you're
just starting out with your laptop so
the things that i would add in order of
importance for me would be a wireless
mouse then a monitor then a keyboard and
laptop stand those i feel like are the
minimum to just helping you be
productive and do things quickly and
it's especially helpful and important
for your productivity to have that
second screen when you're doing video
calls so that if you're sharing
documents you're not covering up like
the faces of the people that you're
talking to other things that i've added
on top of those basics are a monitor
clamp so that my monitor isn't taking up
more room than it needs to on my desk i
got some wireless over ear headphones
that are really comfortable for
conference calls i also got a desk lamp
that sort of serves as a ring light that
also clamps onto my desk again to help
just keep my desk feel more open and
clean and i also invested in a standing
desk so that i could take some breaks
from sitting down throughout the day so
again work on setting up your workspace
in a way that works well for you you
want it to be comfortable and easy and
for me i like it to be as open and clean
as possible because that helps put me
into a better mental state to be more
productive my second tip for being
productive when working virtually is to
turn on your video when you're doing
conference calls this might be a company
culture thing because i've worked with
clients where the norm seems to be
not turning on the camera but for the
most part if you are trying to
collaborate or be very productive and
have like a working session i think
turning your video on really really
helps it also helps me stay accountable
and pay attention to whatever call i'm
on because if i have my video off i'm
more likely to get distracted or
multitask and that all works against
being productive tip number three is
pretty specific to like a brainstorming
or collaborative session but it's to
bring something to the meeting for
people to react to let's say i'm leading
a brainstorming session i don't want to
just go in there with a blank page and
say hey let's brainstorm i want to be
able to either have some kind of plan or
framework to give people a space to put
their ideas or have a draft of something
and have people react to it it's always
easier even if you have something that's
completely wrong it's easier to have
something for people to react to and say
what's wrong with it versus coming up
with something from scratch or on the
spot so especially if you're leading
some kind of meeting have something that
people can either look at visually or
react to versus just talking into the
abyss and you will definitely
see more productivity in that meeting
time my fourth tip is something i'm
still kind of working on but it's to
have a regular routine or a plan for how
you take notes and if you're on lots of
different projects like i am that it
might differ from project to project but
i find that i'm the most productive when
i have like a singular place or a
singular routine for how i store my
notes that way when i need to refer to
things i know exactly where i'm going
and i'm not like going all over the
place or forgetting key things that were
covered in a meeting again i'm still
figuring it out because right now what's
happening is i'm getting like all these
post-its on my desk that um i take
random notes on i'm showing you the back
side so that i don't need to blur out
any
sensitive information here but i mean
you could start here i think it could
also be helpful to have a notebook and
just organize it in a way that you can
easily find your notes but i really feel
like having a good system for
note-taking can increase your
productivity a lot tip number five is to
block out working time on your calendar
i find that now that we're virtual i get
calls put onto my calendar at any open
time of the day and then that leaves me
with no time to do my actual work so
what i find helpful is to literally on
my calendar block off working time and
i'll title it like working time for x
project so that way if someone's looking
at my calendar they at least know that
i'm planning to do some work at that
time and if they absolutely need to
schedule a call then usually they will
ask me if it's okay to book over that
time and then i can figure out my own
prioritization in terms of how i'm
managing my time that day i also find
that setting those times on my calendar
can help me get tasks done more quickly
and then it's kind of also like a reward
if i complete whatever task i needed to
faster than the working time that i
blocked out on my calendar so blocking
off time on my calendar not only allows
me to be more productive because my time
isn't all taken up by meeting it also
encourages me to work faster tip number
six to being more productive when
working virtually or remotely is to just
pick up the phone or start a team's call
or zoom call or whatever it is so much
more efficient and productive to just
ask someone if they have a few minutes
to chat and sort out whatever question
or problem or issue you have verbally
rather than sending an exchange of three
or four emails and just getting confused
and getting things lost in translation
talking to someone live is almost always
going to be better you'll get things
done faster and we want to work smarter
here not harder so just pick up the
phone on the topic of calls my seventh
tip is to be thoughtful or mindful about
who you invite to certain meetings not
everyone needs to be on every call and
even if you do have let's say a weekly
project connect there might be some
people on the project team who don't
need to be involved at the very
beginning or don't need to be involved
at the very end so especially if you're
the one who's putting on the meeting or
leading the meeting you want to think
ahead think about what are the topics
you're going to cover for that meeting
your agenda and if there are people that
don't need to join or maybe they just
need to join for the first 15 minutes
and then they can drop off think all
those things through let your team know
and people will really appreciate it and
your calls will be much more productive
tip number eight probably looks
different at different companies or
different teams i try to take advantage
of different collaboration tools for
example something that i use a lot at my
company is called mural it's a virtual
whiteboard this isn't sponsored or
anything but it is something that i use
a lot and it is very helpful for being
productive in a working collaborative
environment because it's like a virtual
whiteboard you can add sticky notes you
can put in images you can draw so it
just helps to mimic the environment of
being in a conference room with a
whiteboard where you're working with a
group of people and collaborating i
think there are lots of different tools
that allow this but the one that i
personally use a lot is mural just
through work and i think that it could
also be helpful just on an individual
level not just a team collaboration
level because i was mentioning note
taking earlier sometimes you know your
notes might not fit nicely on like a
word document or in a notebook and you
might need a little bit more flexibility
and freedom so something like a virtual
whiteboard can help you accomplish that
as well tip number nine is one that i
think is much easier said than done but
it is to take breaks away from your desk
if you work from home like me then it
it's kind of difficult to separate your
home versus your work life but at the
very least i try to eat all of my meals
away from my desk so i am trying not to
eat in front of my computer just so that
i can have a little bit of that
separation and mental break i'll also
take some breaks by doing some chores
around the house and once in a while
going for a walk but i don't usually get
enough time to go on a nice walk but
that would also be a great thing to do
just for your mental health and when
you're thinking about your mental health
then that can help you be more
productive as well in your work life my
tenth and last tip is to switch up your
work environment this sort of relates to
tip number nine in terms of not wanting
to just be glued to your desk at home
for 40 hours a week but it's more just
about switching up your work environment
a little bit a lot of companies are
starting to have a hybrid schedule where
people are in the office a few times a
week i personally am still just fully
remote but there is an office in new
york that i will go to once in a while
just to change things up and i do find
that i feel more productive on those
days not to say i'm not productive on
the other days but it is just nice to
switch things up a little bit and be
around people as well if you don't have
a lot of meetings or phone calls
throughout your day then working from a
coffee shop can also be nice or you can
maybe meet up with some friends at a
coffee shop or co-working space and sort
of work together even though you're not
working on the same thing this tip can
sort of go against my first tip in terms
of having your nice workspace set up
luckily for me when i go to the office i
can book a desk that has a monitor so i
can at least still have my two screens
so you kind of have to think about what
kind of work you're doing that day and
what the ideal setup might be for you
but i personally found that switching up
my environment once in a while really
really helps that's it for this video i
hope you found it helpful i know from
personal experience that it can be
really difficult to be productive not
only when you're working from home and
working remotely but also virtually and
apart from people it's something that
i'm still learning and challenged by
every day but the tips that i've shared
have helped me over the last couple of
years so i hope that they help you as
well let me know in the comments what
other videos you'd like to see on this
channel because it really helps me out
and with that thank you so much for
watching and i'll see you in the next
one bye
[Music]
you
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