Working remotely is one of the fastest growing perks in the working world. It’s something that people talk about a lot, and it’s a solution to the “work/life balance” problem that bothers so many people. Most of us have asked the question, “Why do I work so hard?” For some people, there are many sides to this conundrum. For one thing, we tend to work during the day, during the best parts of the day. We also tend to work doing something we don’t altogether enjoy. It’s lots of hours for never-enough pay, all while we feel our hopes and dreams slipping away. Sucks, huh? That’s why the working remotely thing is so important.

But a common complaint from people who’ve tried it is that working remotely DOESN’T WORK. They try working from home, only to find that the productivity they thought would be all around them has vanished. They don’t get anything done. They mope about. They get a little lonely and decide that maybe traditional office life exists for a reason. This is the inevitable result for a newly mobile worker who doesn’t understand his or her own tendencies. Fortunately, there are ways to make working on the run successful.

  1. Make Sure Communication Stays Strong. One of the ways the mobile workers fail is to lose touch with boss or client. This is death to productivity. Whether you are working from your living room or the other side of the world, it’s important to make sure you’re communicating clearly and often. This is especially true if you are overseas or in a different timezone. Nobelcom has some of the world’s best international communication resources, whether you’re calling from England or the United Arab Emirates. Whether you primarily use email, Skype, traditional phone, or any other method, make absolutely sure you keep your people in the loop. Their expectations will help you keep working.

  2. Focus on Fun. If you feel yourself wasting time, focus on things that are fun and interesting. If you feel that you’ve taken the time to have an amazing time, your subconscious mind will likely feel like it has to keep up its end of the bargain. This is how it works for a lot of people. Without focusing on our own interests, we feel burned out, cheated out of what we actually want to do.

  3. Be Desperate. One of the best ways to stay productive is to make sure that your lifestyle depends on the work that you can accomplish. If you are having fun in the meantime, your hours spent working will have to be productive. People who feel that they are working for a reason (in this case, the funding of a better lifestyle) find that motivation is theirs. People don’t work when they feel they have no reason to work.

Working remotely is a great perk, but you’ve got to make it yours if you want it to last. Freedom isn’t free. Sound familiar? Maybe the office life isn’t for you, but without making yourself productive, you’ll be back there soon enough.