Organization and Time Management

Virtual workers create their own workspace and schedules to a large extent. You may have meetings and deadlines to show up for but the rest of the time is yours to manage by yourself. It is critical to developing good habits of time management and organization to keep you on track.

Understanding the way that you work is helpful for this process. What are the times of day when you are most able to focus? Which tasks are you most inclined to avoid or procrastinate? Questions like these can support you in creating a working pattern that utilizes your natural energy where possible and sets you up for success by safeguarding against distractions and creating good habits around less enjoyable tasks.

There is a range of analog and digital tools that can support you with keeping organized and managing your time. These include:

• Wall planner or paper calendar
• Desk clock or timer
• Online calendar with reminders
• Apps for logging your time on different projects
• To-do list apps
• Apps to block certain websites such as social media during working hours
• ‘Do not disturb’ setting on your phone

One of the greatest challenges of managing your time when working from home is dealing with distractions that can derail your focus and disrupt your schedule. For some advice on managing your time and mitigating distractions in your virtual working day, check out this short video (3 mins) on how to actually work when working from home: