7 Daily Challenges of Remote Work & Tips to Overcome

Remote working has always been a popular working arrangement for professionals around the world.  Many people wished to get a chance to work remotely, they would not miss this opportunity.

According to Buffer's State of Remote Work report, 99% of people who participated in the survey were interested in working remotely.

Since the Covid 19 pandemic allowed many of us to work from home, I have to say that remote work is just too hard to resist, especially if you want to spend more time with your loved ones.

You can also enjoy some other benefits of remote work. No more hassle of commuting, no more stress of choosing clothes for a meeting with a client, no more unhealthy food in the office cafeteria, just to name a few.

However, I want you to be aware that working remotely, like anything else, comes with some challenges. But with the right techniques and tools, you can overcome these challenges and become a happy and productive remote worker.

In this article, I will share with you the most common WFH or remote work challenges along with actionable tips to overcome them.

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Common challenges associated with remote work

Crumbling team communication

Your communication with the team is the first thing that will take a mighty hit when you work remotely. Things will be disappointing for you if some of your team is working from the office.

In this scenario, you may miss attending unscheduled meetings and brainstorming sessions.

You're likely to feel left out at times, and the fear of being the last to know affects your performance at work.

How can you overcome this?

The best way to curb this problem is to increase communication with the team, which can be done by using robust communication tools.

An instant messaging or chat tool that supports real-time message exchange would do the trick for you. However, it is advisable to have video calls with your team members from time to time to strengthen your bond with them.

You also need to encourage your team to share all important work-related information with you in a timely manner.

Burnouts due to overwork

One of the biggest challenges when you work from home is disconnecting from work.

Although there is no visible boundary separating your work from your personal life, it can be difficult to leave your desk once the clock crosses the last minute of your working hours.

As a result, you tend to overexert yourself and end up exhausted almost every day at work. And this can have a negative impact on both your physical and mental health.

How can you overcome this?

The easiest trick to overcome this situation is to create a physical boundary between your leisure space and your workspace. You can set up a home office or reserve a certain corner or room in your house for your office work.

If you leave all the equipment you use exclusively for work in the office space after hours, you will worry less about the work at hand.

You should be clear with your manager and teammates about your availability and let them know the time you stop working.

Deal with a lot of distractions

Working remotely means you'll have to deal with a bevy of distractions almost every day. When you work from home, a significant number of distractions can come from your family. Your children invade your office space after they return from school, your father discusses news with you several times a day, and so on.

These distractions are just the tip of the iceberg - there are many more.

How can you overcome them?

Although it is not possible to eliminate all distractions, you can still reduce the number of them by taking some precautions.

For example, one effective way to avoid distractions is to choose a workplace where the number of daily steps your family members take is quite low.

Another way to limit distractions is to let your family and friends know that you don't want to be disturbed during your 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. work hours or something similar. Also, make it clear to them that you cannot attend to any trivial matters while you are busy with your work.

Loneliness triggered by lack of human interaction

You may feel the urge to have a beer with your colleagues or throw a small after-office party for your co-workers after a long day. Unfortunately, nothing of that nature will happen if you're miles away from your office mates and working from home.

Plus, you won't be able to participate in the water cooler talks and communal chats during coffee breaks. As a result, you may feel lonely and trapped in your inanimate workplace.

How can you overcome this?

Even if you don't interact with people too often, you need to balance your work life and your social life.

The easiest way to do this is to have social interactions with your family and friends every now and then. However, if that's not possible, you can take social breaks with your colleagues via unofficial chats and video conferences.

You can also try working at a co-working space or coffee shop a few times a week. You might find people to socialize with there and get the dose of human interaction you've been missing when working from home.

Stay motivated in a barren environment

As a remote worker, it's common to work in an environment where no one pushes you to take your daily tasks more seriously. Moreover, it is not possible for your supervisor to monitor your work and manage your time, so you always have to motivate yourself and complete your work in accordance with the time constraints. Otherwise, you will find yourself procrastinating most of the day and losing sight of your deadlines.

Unlike in the office, you are not surrounded by people who are working and at the same time acting as a motivator for you to stay on top of your tasks.

How can you overcome this?

To motivate yourself, you need to set daily goals and create to-do lists to stay on top of your tasks for the day. Project management software would be the ideal option to manage all your tasks from a single place.

It is also a good idea to reserve the most difficult tasks for certain hours of the day when you are most productive.

You should also start a loop of trying and identifying things that will help you get motivated and do your best at work.

Low visibility or lack of recognition

Another remote work challenge you will most likely experience is that you are only partially visible to your employer or manager. As a result, remote workers have to work on projects that are of low importance. And even when they do perform exceptionally well, remote workers are at the back of the queue for promotion.

This kind of low visibility and lack of recognition not only limits your potential, but also demotivates you and affects your performance.

How can you overcome it?

The most important thing you need to do in such a situation is to get people to acknowledge your presence and contribution.

If possible, you should visit your office regularly and even work from the office a few times a month. You also need to be physically present at conferences and office parties to let others know that you are an active member of your organization.

Also, while you are working from a remote location, you need to communicate with your manager the tasks you have been working on. It is always better to stay in touch with your manager or supervisor to ensure that your accomplishments never go unnoticed.

Endure technical difficulties

First of all, when you are in the office, the chances of a power or internet outage are too low, and even if there is a technical failure, no one will blame you. Moreover, you are not responsible for finding the solution to a technical difficulty that has occurred. However, things take a turn when you work remotely. Whether your internet connection is not working properly or your system is behaving erratically, you have to take the responsibility to fix things.

How can you overcome this?

Before you move to remote work, you first need to determine what you need on the tech front to support your work.

You may also need to check if your current internet connection is ideal for work or if you need to upgrade.

It's important to have a technical expert on your side that you can call if you're faced with a technical issue that you can't fix yourself.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that working remotely has many benefits and can be more rewarding than any other form of work. However, you will have to overcome the common challenges of remote work that I have mentioned in this article. If you believe in yourself and really want to get on with remote working, then overcoming these challenges will not be that difficult.

Before you start overcoming your remote work challenges, don't forget to share this article with people in your social circle who you think will find it useful.

Find Out More... A Guide to Manage Your New Remote Workers