Lockdown and remote working has begun to feel like the norm for many of us now and although things are slowly starting to change, remote working for many is here to stay. Many of us will have experienced the flurry of Zoom calls, team huddles and more to stay connected in those early weeks. The longer remote working goes on, the more important those connection points become – so if they’ve fallen away a bit in your team, re-invigour them again.

Despite stats being reported in the media about how many people are feeling like they are being productive whilst working from home (which is fabulous by the way!), we know there are many for whom this has been and remains to be a real struggle. If that’s you and you’re wondering how on earth you can keep this up – one of these tips might just make the difference.

Top tips for staying connected and energised when remote working

So what can we do to stay connected, motivated and energised as this remote working continues for many (and help our teams do the same)?

1. Daily goals – set yourself three daily goals that give you energy – could be a chunk of work that will make you feel fulfilled, a friend you want to call or an article to read that gives you a new perspective

2. Positivity – start meetings with a good news story or a shout-out to someone – remember to say why that person deserves a shout out

3. Move – put a post it on your laptop with three different exercises a day and make sure you do them (maybe one at a time, not all three together) throughout the day

4. An act of kindness – a card to a loved one, some flowers from your garden on the doorstep of a vulnerable neighbour or a message of support to a colleague.  Find acts of kindness you can give each day – they’ll fuel you, whilst also making someone else’s day more positive

5. Little moments of learning – it’s so easy to turn to the web and browse without learning anything. Make it a goal to go onto a quality site once a day, read a five minute article and grow your knowledge – maybe set a learning theme each week and share the outcomes at one of your team huddles

6. Tick lists – whenever you are on a call, have a list of participants and, everytime one of them talks, give them a tick. Watch out for people not talking or talking too much, and make sure you give yourself some ticks

7. Colour your days – think about the week ahead and give the days colours – red days are high energy and achieving, yellow – contemplative, blue – chill, green – creative etc. Make your own colours and use a mix that makes sense for you

8. Simplify your media – more people are telling us they’ve ‘got back into’ radio, and audio books are hugely popular right now. They are great for focus, as you cannot as easily ‘flick channels’ or end up following random links and have bad news appear

9. Identify your ‘crazy’ buddy – ****pair up with someone and agree to be each other’s ‘go-to-person’ when things get tough and they/you just need to vent. Agree a format – five min chat, no judgement or advice unless asked and high emotions are allowed

10. Keep perspective – if you are reading this article then you are still a functioning individual that’s connected to the world. We’ve mustered a global response to the pandemic, and you are contributing to the effort by doing what you are doing. Keep it up.

Find loads more tips for high performance remote working in the recently published Bank of Me: The Remote Working Edition.

Our team is currently with organisations across the globe on high performance remote working cultures in the wake of COVID-19. Get in touch if you’d like to explore how we could support you or your business.