Trends around technology and self-care are changing the default approach to work-life balance. Here’s how to take advantage.

It’s not at all uncommon in this day and age that a company hires employees who will work remotely – because of many technological benefits, geographical differences are not an issue here. Being that it’s an amazing way to boost different economies worldwide, remote outsourcing is widely supported and appreciated. However, considering the fact that it’s still a new way to do business, having a remote IT team still brings up several issues.

Science-backed, expert-approved tactics you can start using today.

If you think of it in terms of Tuckman’s stages of team development, suddenly shifting to remote en masse throws your team into “storming” mode. Confusion and frustration abound, and everything feels twice as hard as it should. (We know because we’ve been there.) Your goal right now is to get back to the “performing” stage and resume your regularly-scheduled level of productivity. Here are five ways to do that.

Whether the flexibility of working from anywhere has always been appealing or you’re trying to figure out how to navigate a remote work schedule as a way for your team to stay healthy, remote work can seem challenging at first. The best way to succeed as a remote worker is to make sure you have all the tools and information you need to do the job well.

I remember it like it was yesterday, but it was 20 years ago. As I approached my boss’s desk, I saw her do something amazing: she made a smaller window appear on top of her screen, displaying the icons of her open applications. She quickly toggled and selected another. In an instant, she’d gone from Outlook to Excel. No mousing around, no hunting to open the app. I squawked. What the heck was that? That, my friends, was my alt-tab Eureka! moment.

It’s 3 a.m. and you’re up again tossing and turning, a stampede of wild thoughts running through your head about your latest work issue. Maybe it’s a project gone south, a recurring problem rearing its head again, or a difficult relationship with a coworker. Either way, it’s up to you to calm your mind, talk yourself through your worries, and get a good night’s sleep.

When it comes to your “whole self” and how you’re supposed to bring it to work, there’s a lot of talking and not so much walking. Let’s change that.

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Productivity often feels too much like a fleeting moment than a focused channel. It’s too tempting to open a new browser tab, check your phone, or (if you’re like me) pace madly around your desk in a reluctance to sit still. Capturing that moment of focus and stretching it as far as you can is the key to finding the productivity groove you’re seeking on a daily basis. Easier said than done, right?