Pluralsight is the first company where I have been working in a remote environment and I don’t mean working out of a WeWork! I have been working from home for the last 2.5 years and although I have come to love working from home, it wasn’t like that in the beginning. When I graduated from college, I was introduced into the workforce with traditional practices (e.g. office building, assign desk and 8:30 am start time). Since then, I have seen companies embrace remote working in various ways through open desk policy that promotes working from home once a week, to starting a new WeWork office as a satellite office to headquarters. Each of these experiences introduces bits and pieces of being a remote employee. When I joined Pluralsight and learned that I would be working from home 100% of the time, I learn quickly that to be productive at home requires a new type of discipline to work.

When working at previous companies, I had the luxury to mentally disconnect when leaving the office (yes I know there is the occasional late email while at home) but for the most part, the act of commuting home gave you time to disconnect and feel like the work day was over. Also, when working from an office, there is equipment and a desk setup that is provided you to help you be more productive; even being near your co-workers helped with your productivity when you needed to collaborate. However, I learned that working from home requires new ways to help you be more productive. Here are four things I have done to help me be productive while working from home:

1. Find /or create a dedicate space for work - I’m not just referring to going to IKEA and buying yourself a desk and stick it in a corner of your house. You need to plan out where in your house is ’the office’. In other words, when you step out of that space, you will mentally disconnect from work. I think this is super important to define since work will now be part of where you live.

2. Invest in A/V Equipment - Being productive is being able to connect with co-workers and I have found that having a great audio/video software and camera enhance my ability to connect with others. Also, I make sure to always have my camera on (unless I’m on the road of course) so that I’m always seen in meetings to feel more connected to my team and coworkers.

3. Shake up your work environment - Working from home can get exhausting as I occasionally feel trapped in my own home (e.g. sleep, eat, work continuously without ever having physical interaction with people). This is why I try to at least put one day every couple weeks to get out of the house and work from a coffee shop. Although it might not feel as productive or easy, being surrounded by other working people helps keep me from feeling trapped in a routine.

4. Remember your "why" - Behind my office chair hangs a picture of a world map. This picture helps ground me to why I work. I have a passion to travel and this map represents all the countries I have yet to visit which helps me focus on why I work so hard.

Do you have any hacks on being more productive remotely?