Remote work 101: the one guide that every remote worker needs
Office commute is an expensive thing for every employee whether they accept it or not. Most of them admit it and prefer remote work from home opportunities and have great work experience within the four walls of their house.
But how long can you sustain in a remote job? Will it replace your regular 9 to 5 that you were going for many years?
Remote online jobs require tools and skills apart from your technical expertise to actually start working remotely. Being successful in your remote job will require a lot from your end because things will not be stable.
Don’t worry. I will guide you on how to set up, work, and sustain in your remote work to make it a full-time career. Trust me, it will pay high dividends for you in the future.
Remote work will be the future
The world is different after the pandemic. Companies have realized that they were spending too much on infrastructure and investing less in remote jobs and talents outside their offices.
With the pandemic, jobs for remote workers are on a constant surge and they will occupy a major portion of a company’s workforce in a matter of years.
But how can a regular 9 to 5, office commuting employee adapt to the freedom of remote work? You have all the 24 hours of your day at hand and nobody is there to tell you what to do except you.
This brings infinite freedom and freedom always follows responsibility. Before getting into how to crush in your remote work, you need to analyze if you have the skills to choose an online remote job.
As you have a picture of the scope of remote work in the future, Waw Asia has the hot remote jobs where recruiters are looking for remote talent right now. They could be searching for someone like you and you might want to check the list out.
Do you have the tools for remote work?
Just because the remote work culture is soaring high with popularity, doesn’t mean that it is suitable for everyone. Every individual has their own preferences and some may find remote work to be too quiet and boring with the company from their co-workers.
Before kicking things off, assess yourself of the following qualities before choosing a remote job.
There are a ton of jobs for remote workers out there and most of them have many things in common.
Are you comfortable with technology?
The emergence of advanced tech options made remote work possible and if you can’t adapt yourself with tech, remote work is not for you.
A desktop/laptop and a stable and fast internet connection are unavoidable. You don’t want your PC to have software issues and leave you stranded in the middle of your remote work. Frequently interrupted and buffering calls are a big turn off for your recruiter which is why you need a stable internet connection.
Choose a broadband connection that delivers at least 30 Mbps and keep your mobile hotspot set up just in case things don’t go according to plan.
On the other hand, all you need are simple tools to get the job done.
- Skype or Zoom - for those team meetings and discussions with your recruiter. Both of them have many features in common so pick one that suits you.
- Slack - combining with Zoom, you can use this to schedule and assign tasks with your co-workers and recruiters.
How good are you in communicating with people?
How much clarity do you have when you communicate? Apart from having fluency, can you get the message out in a short and crisp manner?
You don’t need to spend too much time figuring out what to say when you are in a remote job.
Especially when you have to communicate with people from different time zones and different countries, you have to be clear and must not find switching time zones difficult.
Report about the effects of Covid 19
Trial and error
Choosing the right recruiter that provides jobs for remote workers is crucial otherwise you will end up with a pile of work to be done in a matter of days.
Different companies have different work schedules and plans for their remote workers. You need to assess the following:
Remote work culture
Ask your recruiter about the virtual culture they have for their employees. How often can you reach out to other remote workers? Are there possibilities for physical meetups? How many hours per week do they expect from you in your remote job?
Meetings and Standup calls
Since you are home, you need to get insight and updates from your recruiter to assist the day’s work. Most recruiters follow a fixed time for their conference calls with the remote workers.
In some cases, you may miss out on getting information than the employee who is present in the office. Find out if you have immediate contact with the company.
Apart from the above-mentioned points that should be on your checklist, you need to have other attributes to be a remote worker.
There is little room for feedback and so you should be able to get the work verified and assessed multiple times before delivery. You should be comfortable working alone and manage work with the resources you have.
With these prerequisites made clear in the beginning, here is how you can get comfortable in your remote job.
Use a task manager
Managing 24 hours of your day is never easy when you have different tasks at home to be taken care of.
Attending the baby, preparing meals, getting the day’s remote work done, keeping yourself fit, and having some extra time to relax with your family are only some of them.
Which is why a task manager becomes essential.
It is better to get the day’s task sorted out before the day starts. So when your day starts, you will know what you should go for first and execute them in order.
Trello is a popular task manager but if you wish to keep things simple, basic to-do list apps will do fine. You also have your Google Calendar to help you out where you can assign the tasks for the upcoming days.
Get the most out whenever you communicate
Having doubts in your remote work is common and it is fine to call and ask your recruiter once in a while.
But the best remote worker will keep it simple by making one or two calls and extracting the most information out of every call.
The idea is you don’t want to spend too much time doubting your work. Once you get the resources, get into a constant workflow. This is a trait that recruiters look for in people for remote work.
For instance, being a remote content writer you need inputs at the beginning of your assignment and so get the most information about the requirements before starting your work. Once that is done, you can carry on writing without interruption and present confidently before the deadline.
Speaking of content writing, are you a content writer interested in remote work? Waw Asia presents you with the best collection of remote technical writing jobs to take up anywhere in the world.
Get ergonomically equipped
Ergonomically prepared office space in your home is easy to set up and helps a lot to boost your productivity.
As seen before you need a stable internet connection. Along with that, you need adequate hardware equipment depending on the type of remote work you are involved in.
If you are a remote developer, you will need a high functioning PC with high-end features. Android App developers will require the best in class machines to support Android studio whereas a content writer will need a basic laptop that can support Google Docs.
To choose the specifications of your workstation read this guide to choose the build your workstation on your affordable budget.
Since you have your family always around you, you should find a way to eliminate noise. Get a headphone with a condenser mic and webcam on your laptop. A workspace in a separate room can help a lot.
Remote workers survey source: My Modern Met
Step out of your desk once in a while
Sitting and doing remote work is no different from binge-watching Netflix. Well, the intention may be different but your body does not know that. All it sees is that you sit too long.
You can end up having zero mobility in your remote job which is not good in the long run. Speaking of running, physical exercise is what you need and the best part is you are not exhausted like the way you are exhausted after a 9 to 5 job.
For maximum productivity, you need to step out to take breaks, attend some simple chores at home and reset things, and continue your work.
In fact, remote work is the best thing you can do 7 days a week without compromising on other necessities and also avoid getting burnt out.
With all that, you can sustain your remote work. But if you want to be successful and turn this into your regular lifestyle, you need to step up your game.
Waw Asia has a specific list of skills to become successful in your remote HR job and if that sounds like your domain, I highly suggest you check it out.
Be honest to yourself
Once your daily call ends, you are alone. Guess what you can do alone?
Social media, your family, and your friends texting you to come over are some of the many diversions you have when you choose remote work.
If you are not self-disciplined, you can get away by working for a couple of months. But you will lag behind and be unable to finish your work before the deadline.
The worst part is time flies away really fast to the point where you won’t realize how much time you wasted.
Unless you manage your time and tasks effectively, you cannot choose remote work to be your long term financial solution. Meeting deadlines have a self-motivating mindset and overall a positive attitude are the best assets and remember that being in a remote online job is a marathon.
Make sure you have backup
When you choose to remote work for your career, you need to have backups ready to face the worst-case scenario.
It could be your PC that might have crashed, you may lose internet connectivity or it could be a minor bug that prevents you from reaching out to your recruiter.
Apart from your work, communication is key because even if things go wrong, you need to intimate your employer to buy some time.
In my opinion, have apps on your phone as well so that you can talk to your employer about the issues you face. A personal issue I faced was an unstable internet connection and so keep your mobile hotspot ready just in case you go offline.
Find freelance gigs for extra cash
This is optional but highly beneficial in your remote career. Even though you spend 6 to 8 hours a day with your current remote work, you may have time to take up freelance gigs.
Short term projects will help you boost your remote work profile, build your portfolio, and not to mention bring you extra cash.
For freshers who may not have a strong portfolio to get a remote job in the first place, freelance projects will be the first impression you leave on your recruiter.
We did not leave you alone to find your freelance gig. Here are Waw Asia’s freelance jobs that you can apply that will boost your profile to get remote work.
If you are a software developer and looking to improve your portfolio game, Waw Asia has a guide to build a portfolio that stands out for any remote developer job.
Waw Asia is the leading remote work portal in Asia
As you have seen how to survive in this gruesome market by taking up remote jobs, you need to have the right place that has top recruiters who pay a great salary for talented individuals like you.
That is what Waw Asia is specialized in; providing the best companies with remote jobs to people who seek remote work within the Asian timezone.
Waw Asia has the best line of remote jobs that you can check out right now. You know how important a portfolio is for your remote job and so why do you want to wait?
All it takes is three steps; Sign up, build your profile and start searching for your perfect remote job recruiter.
