Remote work is slowly becoming the norm for a lot of people. It became the norm for many people because of the need to do so. However, many people also realize that this could be a permanent situation for them.

Working on remote work is very convenient because you don’t have to deal with traffic and don’t have to leave your home. Although it has its benefits, it also has its own set of challenges that you need to overcome.

If you find yourself shifting towards a remote work style, you might benefit from knowing the nine most common remote work challenges and how you can overcome them.

Maximizing Productivity

Productivity is an issue for everyone, no matter where they work. However, it’s even more challenging to maximize productivity when you’re working remotely or from home. Many people realize that although they did accomplish some tasks while working remotely, they could have accomplished a lot more.

People find themselves taking longer than usual to finish a task that they could have completed a while ago. In this case, it might be helpful to use technology to maximize your productivity.

There are a lot of productivity apps that address specific issues when it comes to your overall productivity. Identify your particular productivity issue and then find an app that might be able to help with it. Using the tools available to you will help you accomplish a lot more than you would have without them.

Overcoming Distractions

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to remote work is how to overcome the many distractions around you. Even when you’re not working remotely, it’s still a big hurdle to overcome. Distractions can take away concentration, and you will end up finding yourself doing something that has no business taking away your attention.

There are several ways you can overcome distractions. One solution would be to be aware of your most frequent distractions and ensure that you actively get those distractions away from you. For example, if your phone is a distraction, you can place your phone out of your reach when working.

According to Cleaning Exec house cleaning NYC, another way to avoid distractions is by making sure that you have a tidy workplace. You should consider your workspace as a sanctuary, and you should treat it as such. Don’t let unrelated items accumulate there. Before and after each workday, make sure that you get rid of clutter and garbage from your workspace.

Staying Motivated

Motivation has always been a fickle beast to tame. When you’re feeling motivated, it feels like you’re able to conquer the world. However, we all know that this feeling is few and far between, which is why when we’re motivated, we should try and extend that as much as possible.

Since you are working from home, there is no palpable external pressure that’s genuinely pushing you to stay motivated. Sometimes you need that pressure to get the ball rolling.

One way you can stay motivated is to stay connected with your team members and organize sessions with them. Your sessions don’t have to be the entire day. You only need a few hours or so when you keep each other accountable and responsible for your work.

Unplugging After Work Hours

The lack of structure that comes with remote work is another common challenge that people need to overcome. You need to create a structure so that you don’t find yourself still plugged into your work even though the work hours are over. The best way you can do that is by taking a step away from your work devices once work hours are over.

Remember to set clear guidelines on your work hours between you and your clients and your higher-ups. Instead of telling them not to contact you after work hours, you should reiterate that you are most available and ready to respond during your indicated work hours.

Communication and Collaboration

Before working from home or remotely, it was already hard to collaborate with your team members. The hurdle becomes even more significant now that everyone is doing remote work. It’s a lot harder to sync up work styles and hours with one another. Communication and collaboration are crucial to effective teamwork when people are working away from the office.

Having a sit-down with the team and communicating to them the importance of remaining connected will help everyone understand the level of commitment you need. Since everyone’s work style is different, giving your team a heads up of when you need to be in contact will help immensely.

Technology Hiccups

Technology hiccups are remote work challenges that are unpredictable and often difficult to overcome by yourself. For example, a poor Internet connection is hardly something that you can control if your Internet provider fails you. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t do a little something to make it better.

When you encounter technology hiccups, you have to communicate with your team so that they are aware of what’s going on. Try and look for alternative ways to stay connected and to be able to accomplish your work and tell your team what you’re doing. Maintaining communication is vital when it comes to technology hiccups on your part.

Poor Time Management

Since people are working remotely, they are under the wrong impression that they can take on more work because they don’t commute anymore. They find themselves biting off more than they can chew.

Setting a limit and knowing your boundaries will help you be better at managing your time. You can test the waters and stretch your limit as long as you do it one at a time. You want to accomplish a lot, but you also don’t want to stress yourself too thin.

You Just Can’t. Stop. Working

Since you’re working from home, it can be hard to separate your work life from your personal life. For some of the workaholics out there, the only indicator that you have of stopping would be the work hours. However, when you’re working from home, it cannot be easy to figure out when you should stop.

To help remind you to stop working, you should set the alarm and have the discipline to stick to your schedule. Aside from enabling you to stop working, it also helps pressure you into accomplishing your work goals during work hours.

Bad Health Habits

Since the boundary between working and your personal life is blurry when working from home, you might end up building lousy health habits. For example, you might find yourself skipping lunch because you’re in a groove, and you don’t want to disconnect from it.

Another bad habit that you might have developed would be working late into the night and having an unfortunate sleeping habit. Both of these issues are avoidable if you create a schedule and stick to it.

When it’s time for your lunch break, you should get off your workspace and it someplace else. If it’s time to log off work, step out of your workspace and do something away from your work computer or phone.

Remote work is a solution that came at just the right time for many people to maintain their careers despite a tumultuous time. Although many of us are just now learning how to manage this new work style, knowing the most common hurdles people stumble on will help us overcome them.

If you find yourself having a hard time adjusting from the remote work situation, consider applying these tips and see which ones work for you the best.