What are some effective focus and flow hacks for remote workers?

As a mother, wife, business owner, and volunteer of numerous organizations, prioritizing and putting order to my tasks is key to staying focused and being effective in each corner of my life. Without a strong task management system that I intentionally invest in, responsibilities both large and small risk being neglected. To help stay on track each day I: - Review my tasks for the day first thing in the morning - I put them in order of importance - I line the up against the appointments that I have scheduled to ensure that I realistically have time to complete it all - I add each and every new task or idea that comes along - And at the end of the day I reflect on what I accomplished and adjust unfinished tasks for the next day.

Optimize your space for the task you're working on. Personally, as someone who is neurodiverse, I've learned that my brain can't function the same in every space. Generally, I need lots of natural light to be productive. I also work best in smaller spaces for focused work, versus larger spaces or outside for more creative work. Lastly, I don't limit myself to a desk, and have learned that the best ways to invite creativity are silent walks and gym sessions.

Breaking my workflow always hits me hard when I’ve made every effort to create the right environment and headspace for it. Be sure to communicate your needs to your colleagues and managers, especially if you work in an open seating environment without an available breakaway or quiet room.

One of the benefits of remote work is that a lot of the time, there's also room for it to become asynchronous. Which means that as long as I get the work done, I have the flexibility to choose my own working hours when I need to. As a creative, I've learned the importance of managing my stress. When I'm too stressed out, I don't have any new ideas. So the way I manage stress is by meal prepping on Sundays, limiting my trips into Manhattan from Brooklyn, working out 5 days a week, practicing yoga and meditation, and using gratitude as a "punishment" when I start thinking negative thoughts.

In my experience as an entrepreneur balancing a 9-5 job, optimizing my workflow has been crucial. Some ways that I do that are changing up work locations throughout the day to help break up my schedule and retain information. It also enables me to better remember what I got done throughout the day, boosting productivity and confidence. Another way I optimize my workflow is to keep an up-to-date to-do list that breaks up "9-5 work" and "personal work." And each week, when I meet with my accountability partner, we both can review what we've accomplished for our personal work, and what we plan to achieve the following week.