Hello, my name is Filipe and I work remotely

My name is Filipe Fernandes. I am the CFO of Startup Portugal and I worked remotely for many years. Here I’ll share my tips on how to better adapt to this reality while still maintaining the necessary productivity levels.

This post is part of a collaborative effort between Startup Portugal, The Next Big Idea, and Sapo24, meant to create relevant content to tackle the Covid19 pandemic.
Content available in Portuguese.

I worked, not from home, but remotely, for some years now. During those years, my work involved a lot of travelling. This means that I not only to work from home but also to work in offices different than my own and from hotel rooms to cafes, airports and even airplanes.

At first, the lack of a routine and a physical space to work was not easy to handle. I won’t deny it. But over time, I started to adapt and learn a few tricks. Today, working remotely is something perfectly normal to me. All I need is a computer and internet connection, and I’m ready to work.

Routine doesn’t have to change completely. On the contrary, I realized very early that it was important to keep some aspects of it the same such as my work schedule. It is important to start and finish work at the usual time without forgetting to take breaks during the day. Maintaining productivity in a situation like this also implies ensuring that you don’t work too little, but also that you don’t work too much. For me, the best routine starts at eve. In normal circumstances, I am used to prepare my lunchbox and clothes the day before so I continue to do so.

At home, it is important to set up an exclusive space to work. It shouldn’t be the bed, nor the sofa, nor the dining table. It is worth remembering that we are creatures of habit and things that we are used to associate with leisure will tend to decrease our productivity. It is also useful to turn off all non-work related notifications on the phone. It is much easier to indulge in distractions when we are not in a work environment. Instead, we can use these essential breaks we talked before to check our social networks, personal emails or other applications.

However, depending on the size of your home, you can change the place where you work now and then. For example, if you have a balcony, you can work there for short periods of time. This change of environment reduces the boredom of always working in the same place whereas the person is at home most of the time.

When you need to get in touch with someone or need to have a meeting or brainstorming session, video conferencing is the best solution. Seeing a face when communicating with someone, even if it is through a computer or tablet screen, helps to reduce the loneliness you may feel sometimes.

If you usually commute, whether by car or public transport and use that time to listen to a podcast or read a book, keep doing it. Before starting to work and after finishing. This process will give a sense of accomplishment before you even start working. This process will give you a sense of accomplishment, before you even start to work and, thus, will help you with your motivation and get into (and out of) work mode. Also, look for a hobby that will help you disconnect from work.

For example, if you usually exercise, you can follow several accounts on social networks that give tips on how to do exercises at home and stay active. As I am a golf fan, I started training every other day with the rug I bought several years ago that simulates a putting green. Having created this new habit gives me extra motivation to stay productive as I know that once I finish my job, I can focus on my favourite hobby.

In the end, the most important thing is that we all stay reasonable in this new way of living. More than ever, it is important to have trust between the parties, colleagues, managers, and also between bosses and those who report directly to them. We cannot be too harsh with ourselves or with whom we work with, whether it is the team we manage or our peers. It is worth mentioning that for many people, working remotely is a whole new experience. Therefore, with time, they will also learn to deal with and adapt to this new situation. If you don’t trust your team, it’s probably because you’ve made a recruiting mistake. In this case, you’re the problem. Do you need to have control over everything and everyone and do micro-management? Again, you are the problem and you need to solve it.