Get in Focus and and Skyrocket Productivity while Working from Home (Sample)
Your Quick and Dirty Guide to Remote Work
As a quick and dirty guide to remote work, it is not the last word on the subject, nor is it meant as an academic treatment of the issue. Per Merriam Webster, Quick and Dirty means "expedient and effective but not without flaws or unwanted side effects" It is meant to provide some helpful hints on maintaining sanity and skyrocketing production that I found from my own history as a remote worker and also doing research in my doctoral dissertation (Understanding E-Mentoring in Telecommuters, 2019)
We have all seen children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and perhaps bouncing all over the room. Parents used to say, “Don’t worry, he’ll grow out of it.”
Well, sort of. I never outgrew my attention deficit disorder symptoms behavior which demonstrated problems with attention, hyperactivity, and impulse control. I did become more socialized as I grew up and stopped bouncing all over the place. The ADHD, though, reared its head in other ways. For instance, I could never stand taking college courses because I hated sitting in classes listening to the instructors interminably drone on, some of which have served to energize me when the going has gotten tough.
I was not a traditional college student. I went back to college in my late 40s to complete my degree online. Remote education was perfect for me. I had coursework to complete every week and met with discussion groups to review the assignments. I was wild with joy, not having to listen to instructors interminably drone on! Online education was the solution to my lack of higher education.
Then one fine fall evening, I had a heart attack, requiring minor surgery. Except, there is no such thing as minor heart surgery. My big concern, though, was that if I took a leave to recuperate, I would never come back, like what happened to me as a youngster (A 25+ year-long semester off).
Then I remembered, “wait. I’ve been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder symptoms, and I can’t focus anyway.” I developed a plan and learned to manage my time. I worked in 15-minute sprints and would rest until I had the energy to go again, and my cat Farrah hung out with me the whole time. Wash, rinse, repeat, feed Farrah. I turned in everything on time, skyrocketed my productivity, and received an A in the class. That was an ah-ha moment for me! I found ways to be highly effective as an adult with ADHD despite having a natural lack of focus by creating time management techniques.
I continued my remote learning for three degrees, A Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management, a Masters of Arts in Business Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Corporate Training and e-Learning. I completed the Ph.D. in May of 2019, having written my dissertation in the area of remote work. Little did I know that would soon become very applicable.
Although the shift to remote work had been occurring for decades, it had been shifting at a slow pace. Both management and contributors were leery of remote work. There were concerns about distractions, relationships, logistics, productivity, and balancing work and life while doing them in the same place. In 2013, Marissa Mayer, the then CEO at Yahoo, banned remote positions due to relationship/collaboration concerns.
The COVID-19 pandemic had caused a paradigm shift in terms of what working will look like. Even when things are back in control, we'll still find ourselves being at-home employees. Employers have liked the money they can save on office space; workers like the freedom and convenience that remote work offers. A recent survey has shown that 93.5% of employees have stated that they would like to continue to work from home some days of the week. 95.1% of employers are permitting, if not encouraging, remote work at least part of the week. Working from Home, however, does have its share of issues, such as distractions, isolation, lack of collaboration, and technical difficulties.
Yes, remote work also has its own blessings and curses, but I found something quite interesting: The techniques that I had researched in order to leverage my lack of focus, also produced stellar results when applied to Working from Home. These systems are readily available on the internet, and some are free. May this book be your guide to having your remote work experience be a blessing!