Here are how I manage my works as a remote web developer
I began to work remotely in 2012. It’s one of the biggest challenges in my life. This biggest challenge turns out to make my life much better. At least I am not following the 9-5 life now. I can work when I have time as long as I can deliver the result on time. It’s been seven years now. I’ve been working remotely for almost seven years. Here are how I manage my works as remote web developer.
Have a dedicated room for working
I transformed one of the bedrooms at my house to be my dedicated working room. I didn’t put many things in this room. Here are the kinds of stuff I have there:
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MacBook Air along with its chargers.
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Samsung tablet for testing
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Samsung Android phone for testing
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iPhone 6 (tentative)
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Treadmill.
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Two small working desks
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Air conditioner
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Small desk lamp
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Wireless headphones
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A Bible and The Cross
Ok, that may sound too much. I am not a minimalist. But I hate to see clutter in the room.
I always work on this dedicated room. This way, when I am not in this room, I don’t work.
However, this is not the case at the beginning of my remote working years. At that time, I don’t have a dedicated room.
Instead, I work in my bedroom. I often work until late at midnight. Even when I go to bed, I am still trying to reach my laptop to check for the work. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is checking my laptop for updates on the projects. This is hectic.
Set a limit for my working hours
I didn’t do this in the beginning. The result is I work for more than 40 hours per week. Sometimes, I doubled it to nearly 80 hours per week.
Until one day, I heard from my wife that her friend’s husband, who’s working remotely like me, just passed away because of a heart attack. The doctor said it’s caused by too much tiredness on his body. That guy is a very hard-working person. He always **works for more than 40 hours ** per week. His body can’t take it anymore. Sad.
I can’t imagine if that happened to me. I believe we can’t control where and when we’re going to die. But dying from tiredness caused by overwork is something I need to avoid at all costs.
That’s why I set a limit for my working hours to be 40 hours per week. No more. That’s why I don’t pursue as many as projects now. I am grateful for all the clients I’ve handled so far.
I may make less money. But I can take care more of my health, family, and happiness.
No work on weekends unless for emergency
I won’t work on weekends unless there’s an emergency. Here are some conditions I define as an emergency:
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Site or application crashed.
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Server is down
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There is an attack
Otherwise, I am trying to enjoy every weekend as much as possible. I am trying to avoid working on weekends unless there’s an emergency. I’ve arranged this with all of my clients.
Work on the hardest task first
When I start work every day, I always work on the hardest task first. This makes me feel good. Though it’s going to take some hours in the beginning, once I take care of the hardest one, I’ve got a good motivation to take care of the other ones.
Step up every some minute
I always try to step up every some minute. Sometimes, it’s 15 minutes. Other times it is 30 minutes. But I am trying I always take a break for some seconds before one-hour passed.
Verdicts
Though the way I manage my work now sounds an ideal one, I don’t reach this point overnight. It took me at least three years to initialize the improvement.
Even now, I am still trying to improve it more and more. When I see an area where I can improve, I’ll try to improve it.
Also, don’t try to follow how I manage my remote work. As my favorite author always says, we are all individuals. Do what’s best for yourself.
For some people, working on a dedicated room may hinder their productivity. This is completely fine.
So, those are how I manage my works as remote web developer. What about you?