A Brief College Student’s Guide to Working Remotely

Working from home always seemed to be a career milestone in my eyes. You get to a certain point in life where you just have a home office that you can spend a couple of days per week working in, and that’s that. Apparently, we’ve all reached that milestone a little bit earlier than I’d expected. For the last six months, I’ve been taking classes online and working remotely, so I figured I’d share a few things that I’ve picked up.

To preface said things, I have two bits of advice you should know if nothing else:

1. Use a dedicated workspace. My productivity skyrocketed when I got a desk and chair that I use only for school and work. Your workspace could be a desk, a park bench, a particular spot on your floor...as long as it’s not the same space where you binge Netflix.

2. Don’t compare your productivity to others. These are weird times, man. Some days you get a lot done, some you get nothing done. As long as you’re finding a balance and not letting everything fall to pieces, you’re doing great!

Without further ado, A Brief College Student’s Guide to Working Remotely:

How To Get Going

• Find a morning routine. Mine? I wake up, lay in bed on my phone for 30 minutes, read for 15 minutes, then start my Keurig and shower. I’m (usually) at my desk by 8:15 a.m. and start checking emails, Slack notifications, etc. 

• I would highly recommend showering and putting on presentable clothing – even if you’re not on Zoom, it helps your brain understand it’s not relaxation time. 

• Knocking out a couple of easy couple-minute tasks right away can get you into gear as well!

How To Stay Going

• Take frequent breaks. That sounds counterintuitive, I know, but trust me. You’ll be much more productive if you take a few 15 minute breaks during that 5 hour study/work sesh. I’ll usually stand up and walk around, go outside or even run some quick errands!

• Along those lines, make sure to eat regularly so that you’re fueled up. Snack. Graze. Whatever you want to call it.

• I also find it helpful to create a daily task list in my bullet journal. It’s how I juggle work, class and extracurriculars while reminding myself of upcoming stuff.

• Staying off of personal social media is key for staying on-task; if you’re like me and are apt to go down a Twitter rabbit hole.

How To Stop Going

• While it can be hard to get yourself motivated to work from home, something I’ve struggled with in the past, it can also be hard to set boundaries as well. Make sure that you know and your employer knows that despite you now working from home, there’s still an end to the workday. You have a right to close your laptop and turn on the TV in the evening, if that’s what you’re into.

• Exercise is another great way to hit the daily reset button – I bike, personally.

• You also need to sleep at a reasonable time, but what time that is varies from person to person. I’m a happy camper as long as it’s before 1:00 a.m.!