DISTRACTION | MINDSET | REMOTE WORK

Disconnecting And Recharging As A Remote Worker

Have you found your flow of productivity?

I love finding a constant flow of productivity, ticking tasks off my to-do list, and feeling energised during the working day; but I also know how important it is to take time to disconnect and recharge. Booking a week, or even a few days off, allows me to return to work feeling motivated and refreshed.

Having been location independent for 3 years now, you’ll mostly find me exploring the cutest cafes in Europe or the spicy (sometimes too spicy) traditional dishes of Asia.

The flexibility of remote working not only allows me to choose my location but how I spend my time when in that location. Some days I’ll head to the beach for a morning walk, set up in a cute cafe with lunch in the sun and other days I’ll find a co-work, followed by an evening sunset. Where possible, I’ll chase the sun all year round!

Main benefit of working remotely?

Being able to work from anywhere.

Being able to work from anywhere doesn’t automatically mean that it’s easier to disconnect; you just need to find a balance.

Working from home doesn’t always mean that you can leave your office behind closed doors when you log off every day. Most of the time my “office” is the living room, where I also usually eat, watch Netflix and work-out all in the same space. Of course, I’d still suggest keeping some separation between work and play but understand it’s not always easy, if you have limited space. Anyway, we digress, back to disconnecting and recharging your energy…

How to recharge?

I recharge in order to find my focus, naturally taking regular breaks throughout the day. My day is broken into manageable chunks by following the Pomodoro method. Being able to travel flexibly whilst working, allows me to re-energise by seeing family and friends around the world. Other days I feel just as recharged by getting some peaceful and relaxing alone time!

Spending the majority of your day in front of multiple screens, it’s important to find the time to step away. Focusing my brain on something totally different, especially activities which reduce my screen time like painting, cooking, learning to play the ukulele, exercising or learning a language is the best way for me to 100% switch off. If you want something quick and fun to recharge, usually, a 5-min dance (and sing) in the kitchen allows me to forget about the world around me, switch off and have a laugh (admittedly my partner thinks I am crazy but who cares, I’m recharging my batteries!)

I crave the variety of workspace, switching up where I work from or making sure I get out of the house at least twice a week to find the best coffee shop nearby.

This allows me to stay creative and keep the energy flowing — ensuring that my days are interesting and eventful.

I also love to people-watch so when I’m stuck on a task and I need a break, that’s always fun to do.

How to disconnect?

An ideal break for most would be closing your laptop, setting your Out of Office and disappearing into the sunshine for 2 weeks, disconnecting entirely from work. Excellent idea! But I like to switch things up more often, rather than waiting for those juicy 2 weeks off. I’m more than happy to take 2–3 days off or extend my weekend breaks to switch off and come back feeling motivated.

I’d like to think that I have optimised my routine, although I don’t start and finish at the same time every day. I do the same things in the morning and same things in the evening to make it easier to switch off — mostly this includes a morning walk and working out after work. I appreciate the flexibility remote work offers so I always make sure I take breaks throughout the day to improve my productivity and stay on track.

I’m also known to take the occasional power-nap, it works wonders!

Notifications

This is a big one, disconnect entirely from your phone for the day. Guilty of mindless scrolling? Me too! I recently wrote about this, if you’re able to remove or even just reduce the number of notifications you’ll start to notice the difference and feel way more disconnected!

Making plans for right after work to close out the workday helps avoid the “I’ll just finish this” mentality, as before you know it, it’s dark outside and you’ve still not had dinner! Even on days where I don’t want to leave the house, I’ve found that doing a walk on the spot whilst watching TV really boosts my energy and helps me disconnect from my day job.

Above all, to stay sane, I have to disconnect. There are plenty of activities that can provide a break from work.

I am always trying to find new ways to disconnect and recharge so comment below telling me what you do to disconnect, recharge, and return to work full of renewed energy!

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