3 Elements of a Clear and Conscious Approach to Remote Work
“The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest” (St. Thomas More).
Even as a young adult working in corporate environments, working remotely seemed like an idealistic and wonderful phenomenon. Not many people I knew worked remotely, but it seemed like the perfect way to find balance and build boundaries. This balance was important to me, because I am someone who is passionate about my work and have never been one to clock out at 5 p.m.
Long before a global pandemic forced (allowed? gifted?) many of us with the opportunity to work remotely, I made that shift months before. I found three key themes that kept me grounded in this new role that centered around routine, connection, and flexibility. While it has become somewhat chaotic in a pandemic — add in two small children and a husband — the tenants of my work-from-home practice have stuck, and I go back to them after a chaotic or unproductive day.
I originally decided to make this shift because I have a family with small children, and working from home gave me the ability to continue to grow in my career while being more present for my family. Yet, since the pandemic drew many people to turn their home into a semi-permanent office space, I’ve seen how remote working can be helpful for people in different seasons of their life. Ultimately, it provides the opportunity to hold space for things that you hold dear.
Regardless of why you’re working from home, these three elements of my remote work practice might help you with yours:
The Routine
My most productive days have parentheses that open and close the day. The most important way to ensure that days do not drift mindless from one into the other is to find a routine that works for you. It might be centered around rising early to pray and meditate prior to starting your work day or using dropping off and picking up kids as boundary markers.
Part of establishing a routine is developing a schedule that helps you fit in the work and the personal in a way that feels productive at the end of the day. Using planners or daily notepads (I like these) has helped me visually block out what time of the day I will spend doing which tasks. At the end of each day, it also helps me see that I accomplished personal and professional tasks that day.
Before I start my day, I take 10 minutes to go through my most priorities, my scheduled calls, and where I’ll fit in something for my family or myself. Especially if you have a remote role that does not have a lot of calls every day, this routine can help you keep priorities top of mind.
Continued Connection
Working remotely can become isolating. Even for the most introverted person, never grabbing a quick coffee with a co-worker or having a quick vent at the water station can become lonely. Finding that community — whether in the same industry or not — is key to keeping a pulse on your social interactions and the wider business world.
My co-workers are on different continents, so in-person get-togethers are not possible. Making sure to email, send text messages, and have weekly calls is even more important in a remote role. Ask for video chats when possible so that you still get to see each other “live.” Even having a 10 minute status update can be reviving and a good reminder of the team you have working with you.
My favorite connection that I discovered in remote working was a local co-working space. It inspired me, helping me connect to different types of thinkers and creatives and giving me a weekly outlet to interact with other people. This type of workspace can serve a dual purpose of getting out of your typical space and giving you in-person interaction with others.
Removing the commute and rush to leave the house has also helped me build a conscious connection with God. Often, we think that a connection with God has to happen in the morning or at night, but there are no rules here. During the day (sometimes during nap time) is when I need to inject a moment of prayer in my day. I’ve come to really enjoy that midday moment, which I might not always have had time for the rush of a corporate office.
Flexibility
Flexibility is probably the golden ticket of working remotely, but the reminder to lean into it was hard for me during the transition. Enjoy the flexibility of working from home! Go to lunch with that friend whom you would not have been able to meet up with in a more traditional environment, or take that 12 p.m. workout class if you are not a morning person. Take up that 11 a.m. Mass or adoration habit that you’ve alway wanted to start.
Even though routine is key in feeling like a productive and continuous contributor, don’t let the traditional standards of a 9-to-5 workday hold you back from enjoying the biggest perk of working remotely: more control over your day. Of course, my first priority is making sure I’m meeting my deadlines and moving company initiatives forward. If I’m meeting that obligation, I make leaning into flexibility a daily priority, too.
After almost a year when many of us have been working from home in an unprecedented context, it’s easy to think that this is how remote working always is. Often, when lockdowns first started, friends would ask me how I work from home productively. The reality is that when I started working remotely, it was not during a global pandemic, having lost my village of support (gyms, child care, co-working spaces, etc.).
Yet, even in the midst of the challenges of the pandemic, these three key elements have held as pillars to my family’s day-to-day life. Our routine has kept us sane throughout these times. The virtual connection to our “village” and daily practices to keep in connection with God have kept our faith. And, the flexibility to shift work or do a mid-day walk has been a mental healer.
Alexandra Gonzalez Repetto is a native Washingtonian turned New Yorker. A beauty marketer by trade, she has worked at companies such as Unilever and L'Oreal over the last decade. Most recently, she has been working in the beauty start-up space leading marketing and business development. Other than being a beauty junkie by day, her dream is to turn her love of writing into a side hustle as a fiction writer. Until then, between running after her little two girls and work, she finds pockets to write as a volunteer or freelance when she can.