Cassie is working from home more often than ever before. While she has a desk in the office, she finds that the commute is hard on her and she prefers to work uninterrupted. At first, she found she got more checked off her task list at home. Recently, though, she’s feeling like she’s putting in more hours and still not accomplishing what she used to. Email interruptions and meetings are cutting into time she should be “working.” Most days things are fine, but sometimes the frustration can be overwhelming.
When we ask people why they enjoy working from home or away from the office (aside from losing the commute), often the answer is “I can get more done.” Studies bear this out.1 People who work away from the office often check more tasks off their to-do list than when they are interrupted by coworkers or there is yet another birthday cake in the break room.
For the most part, this task-focused productivity is a good thing. After all, it’s the reason we’re hired. It’s the first question senior leadership asks about those who work remotely: Are they working and how do we know? In our surveys, the people who know you best (your manager and your peers) don’t worry about this so much. In most cases, they know you’re working.
But working hard and putting in time at your desk is not the same as being productive. Many teleworkers report that while we put in the time, we often feel like we aren’t making the progress we should. The freedom to set our own schedule also means we often don’t manage our time. This can lead many to put in more time than those who commute to the office. Some of the most common complaints are:
■We get more done because we work longer hours than we should. Our days start as soon as we roll out of bed (and some are checking email while still under the covers!) and often don’t end until we are back in bed.
■We find ourselves focusing on individual tasks rather than team project work that might be more valuable. This balance between “team work” and our personal tasks is one of the hardest things to achieve, and we’ll talk about it more in the next chapter.
■The benefit of being away from the office seems to have vanished. We’re interrupted by emails, texts, IMs, and phone calls as much as we were when we worked with everyone else.
■Some days it’s difficult to make a dent in our growing task list and we are so busy “putting out fires” that we can’t make progress on the truly important things we need to do.
■We are so determined to prove that we can be trusted to get our work done that we don’t seek help or guidance when we should, meaning we often dig ourselves a hole, and it takes time and energy to climb out. This makes the “I’ll just work more hours” rabbit hole deeper as well.
Being productive and being busy aren’t the same thing. In our 3P Model, we stressed that Productivity is doing the right work in the right amount of time for both your benefit and that of your teammates. That seems like it should be simple enough, so why do we sometimes feel overwhelmed, burned out, and like we’ve lost whatever control we were supposed to gain by working remotely?
As Kevin has been pointing out for years, what we call time management is really choice management—it is about the choices we make with the time we have. Everyone has the same number of minutes, hours, and days in the workweek. Why do some people seem to get things done in the time allotted and others struggle?
When you have other people around, you sometimes draw inspiration or energy from them. When you are alone, you may feel drained and confused about what you should be working on and when. How can you catch yourself and change course before you get discouraged and frustrated?
Most days you know what you’re doing: you have a list and you tackle it. Other days, not so much, and the frustration mounts. It doesn’t have to be that way.
We suggest you ask yourself these four questions when you are snowed under with work, or staring at your task list, convinced that you’ll never make a dent. We call them “pivot questions,” because when you get the answers, they can help you change direction and make real progress.
The four pivot questions are:
■Where is your focus right now?
■What is the best use of your time?
■How can you influence others to maximize your productivity?
■What habits impact your productivity and results?
In a perfect world, we choose a task, work on it until it’s done, and then move on to the next job. In the real world, it doesn’t often happen that way. You begin building that presentation, and you get an incoming email. It might be important, so you stop, read it, answer it, and then get back to your work only to get a panicky instant message from a teammate. We convince ourselves that we are being productive because we are multitasking, trying to do many jobs at once.
There’s only one problem: multitasking is a myth.
The human brain is a single-task processor. When we do more than one thing at a time, we aren’t doing them simultaneously. We actually switch back and forth from one task to the other. When we’re bouncing around like that, our brains can’t give 100 percent attention to any of the jobs we’re juggling.
In fact, if you are constantly interrupted by distractions like email, you may be working at a maximum of only 70 percent of your capacity.2 The seductive thing about this is some of the time that’s enough. When you’re clearing out your in-box, or performing mindless administrative tasks, you might not need to be at your absolute best, and you can check-check-check things off your list.
But when we get in the habit of responding to interruptions, like when email becomes a productivity killer instead of a tool, or instant messages take us away from higher-value work, we need to stop and think about where our brains are focusing.
On a gut level, you probably know this. But why do smart people allow themselves to get so distracted?
In part, this is because you want to be seen as a responsive teammate. Or it could be important to you that your boss knows you are at your desk working, so the faster you respond the better. Sometimes you feel so isolated that any chance to talk to or interact with another human being overtakes the need to finish whatever you’re working on.
Whatever the reason, if distractions are stopping you from accomplishing what’s important, there are some steps you can take:
■Identify and remove the distraction. If you are constantly reaching for your cell phone (and the average office worker looks at their phone at least 150 times a day3), place it out of your line of sight, and preferably out of reach so it takes effort to look at it.
While you might not be able to stop checking email and IMs completely, turning off the audible “dings” and “beeps” that capture your attention and force you to respond like Pavlov’s dogs, salivating at every bell, is a heck of a start. When you make this recommended change, it may lead you to resetting expectations with others. There is more about this in chapter 12.
■Structure your time to allow full concentration. While we recommend turning off your email and other notifications, that might not be possible in your role. And even when it is possible, people have often told us how stressful it is to ignore the messages that they “know” are piling up. Believe us, you can: assign specific times to check messages. Start with fifteen-or thirty-minute intervals. You might be able to work up to an hour or more. Then check in every hour or so. You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes in your productivity.
If it makes you feel any better, studies show that our brain can only maintain “peak focus” for thirty-five to forty-five minutes at a time. You’ll get better results by focusing on one important thing until you’re out of steam, then switching to something else. The good news is that very often you’re free to choose the blocks of time you assign to which projects.
■Beware of shiny objects. The hard truth is that most of what pulls our attention, whatever the new thing is, is likely more interesting than what we’re working on. Depending on the day, it might be something you find more fun to do, a chance to connect with a teammate, or just responding to anything your manager asks you to do. Before jumping at it, ask yourself, Is this where I should be focused right now?
It might seem like a blessing to be left alone to decide what you should be working on and when. But sometimes your brain begins to second-guess yourself: Are you balancing all the work (including stuff beyond what is on your immediate task list)? Which of the four things your manager asked you to do is the top priority now? Is this important to you but will it negatively impact someone else’s job?
Setting priorities can be difficult when left to our own devices. Sometimes it’s because you get conflicting advice or requests from other people. Sometimes it’s the voices in your head arguing about what should be done when, and occasionally you have so much on your plate you don’t know where to start.
Here are some guidelines for setting your priorities:
■Think big picture. When you stare at a to-do list, it’s easy to take each task at face value and treat them all equally. This is especially true the more panicked and frustrated you are. Take a deep breath and ask yourself where this particular task fits into the bigger picture of the organization and your team’s needs.
When you’re struggling to prioritize tasks, it helps to look at the nonnegotiable factors. Things like hard deadlines, for example, can help clarify your next order of business. Account for your deadlines, and those of your teammates and the project team or organization. If others can’t get their work done until you do something first, move that up your priority list. The feeling of accomplishment from helping the team might spill over into the energy needed to tackle something on your personal list.
■Be realistic about “important” versus “urgent.” When you’re looking at a growing task list, it is tempting to tackle the easy things—the jobs you can check off the list fastest—first. That means you are busy, but are you accomplishing anything important? While there is some satisfaction to crossing something off, those items often aren’t what need to be done the most.
While you’re probably familiar with the concept of “important versus urgent,” it’s worth a reminder that “knowing” something and “doing it” are not always the same thing. Urgent tasks are the things that feel as though they demand our immediate attention. Sometimes they do, like when there is a hard and fast deadline assigned to them. Other times, they can feel critical (requests for assistance from peers, or when your manager asks if you can do something for them that might pull you away from more important tasks, but they’re THE BOSS).
Important tasks have long-reaching impacts on you, your team, and the project or organization. They fit firmly under the “Potential” part of the 3P Model. Ask yourself, If this task doesn’t get done, what is the long-term impact? And how will things be improved when this is successfully completed?
■Break the elephant into bite-sized pieces. There’s an old riddle that goes, “How do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time.” (Nobody said it was funny, just true.) Sometimes you look at a task or project and it is overwhelming. Why start, when you know you will have only twenty minutes or so before the next interruption? Sometimes the answer is to look at that elephant and break it into manageable chunks. You might not get that report written, but you can get your research organized. Maybe you can’t solve that customer problem entirely, but you can alert the other stakeholders and schedule that meeting. Nobody says you have to do it all at once, and most projects can be handled as a series of small, easily managed pieces.
■Check with others if you have conflicting priorities or can’t decide. This is one of those “proactivity” things that many good remote teammates don’t do perhaps out of fear that they will look foolish. It isn’t a sign of weakness or failure to ask your manager which of the four things they’ve given you to do takes priority. Find out what your teammates are working on (and why) or what they most need from you right now. If the priority isn’t obvious, sometimes we can be paralyzed by the number of choices. When that happens, get some help in deciding. Trust us, your manager and teammates would much prefer you get their opinion than have you working on things that don’t make their lives easier.
We’ve said that interruptions are a problem for our productivity. Have you ever wondered why interruptions occur?
Sure, people can be inconsiderate. And yes, the universe doesn’t care about what you planned today. But one of the major contributors to lost production is the way we’ve taught others to work with us.
Wait. What?
Think about it this way. If every time someone asks a question in email or sends out an instant message, you are the first to respond, what message are you sending? You have basically told everyone that what you’re doing is less important than solving their problem. At first, that seems like being a good teammate (and it is!), but over time there’s another message you’re sending: you will always drop what you’re doing to answer a question.
The next time they have a problem, who are they going to go to? They might even stop going to the rest of the team and rely on you. While it feels good to be a resource to your team, this puts an extra strain on getting your own work done.
Here’s a paradox central to being a great remote teammate. How can you support your team and be a resource, while at the same time getting your work done and taking care of your own to-do list?
If you have the time, and you can help, do it. That said, here are some simple things you can do that (over time) will help you develop a helpful, equitable relationship with your teammates and help everyone get their work done:
■Clarify expectations with others. If you aren’t clear about how quickly you must respond or feel you have no control over your time choices, you aren’t alone. Many teams don’t have explicit conversations about what is a reasonable response time to an email request (usually end of day or within twenty-four hours) or an instant message (usually faster, because it says INSTANT in the name), and so everyone is left to make their own assumptions about what’s “reasonable” or “fast.”
Have honest conversations with your peers about response time and how interruptions affect everyone’s work. If you can come to an agreement about expectations, including many of the previous suggestions, you are less likely to insult someone or damage an existing relationship while at the same time giving yourself permission to make good time-management choices.
■Read the request carefully. Not every question or request requires an immediate response. Is there a stated time frame for a response? If Charlie doesn’t need an answer until the end of the day, there’s no need to stop what you’re doing and answer him right then. You can help your peers by letting them know when you need answers to a problem or a time to talk. Simple directions like “no rush” or “by Friday” will help lower everyone’s blood pressure and make your request far clearer. Don’t panic if you don’t need to. If you don’t know when they need it, ask in a way that provides clarity, not a way that raises their defensiveness.
■Respond with an explanation. If the issue sounds urgent, or you know you can help, just not right now, don’t be afraid to defer the answer with a brief explanation: “I am in the middle of something but can get it to you tomorrow morning; will that work?” Usually the person will understand and wait for you (in which case you’re still helping) or go find help elsewhere (so they aren’t waiting for something that isn’t coming). Silence is far more damaging to relationships than honesty. Remember—assuming serves no one.
■Use your status updates to set expectations. How carefully do you manage your online availability? If your Microsoft Teams status says “online” or “available,” why is it surprising that people message you? After all, you’re online and available. If they think you are there and you don’t respond, they have reason to get cranky. If you are engaged in something and can’t be interrupted, it makes sense to let people know that. Set your status so people know your true availability. When you do this, remember to change it back when you are available. This applies to shared calendars and time allocated in your project management software as well.
For example, in Slack you can share your current status. (Most tools have a similar availability feature.) You can also write additional information into your status such as “Working on a project until noon” or “Out of the office but available by phone.” This helps set reasonable expectations about response time, and people aren’t drumming their fingers waiting for an answer that isn’t coming. Your email, collaboration, and instant message tools can be used to protect your time when needed and show availability when you have the bandwidth.
Another way to do this is to set expectations about response time in the subject line of the email. For example, at The Kevin Eikenberry Group we often write the subject of the email and then “No Rush” or “Need by tomorrow” in the subject line. If there’s no need to cause a panic, we try not to create it.
■Share your calendar, then actively manage it. If your team doesn’t share calendars, why not? This is a simple way to set expectations for everyone, and still respect your time. But simply letting people look at your calendar isn’t enough. Most of us put meetings or client time on our calendar, but if you don’t schedule time for getting to and from the meeting, project work, or working on something without interruption, all your teammates see is that you’re available.
■Respect the time you block out. Remember that we’ve been talking about how we teach people to work with us. If your status says you’re unavailable, or you have time blacked out but respond to the email right away, what message are you sending? You are still letting people know their time is more important than yours. Sometimes that’s true, but not always. If you respond during time you’re scheduled, try an explanation: “We are on a break from class so I can answer you …” so people know your time is still being managed.
The American general and former secretary of state Colin Powell said, “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.”
That’s a roundabout way of saying that our daily productivity is impacted in all kinds of ways by our habits. Some of those habits—say, turning off the TV when you’re working—make you more productive. Others, like leaving Facebook open on your browser when you’re working, might add to the distractions.
We are creatures of habit, and what is a boon to one person (maybe you work well with music blasting) may be a barrier to someone else. We won’t get into specific habits here, but we do need to take a look at how we reinforce those habits and behaviors that help us get work done and eliminate those that get in the way.
There are some proven approaches to break or change a habit. If you have identified something you know gets in the way of your productivity, here are some ways to alter it:
■Replace one behavior with another. This can be as easy as remembering to close your home office door when you start work so you don’t get sucked into family drama. Maybe get in the habit of cleaning out the coffee pot before you sit at the keyboard so your brain doesn’t become obsessed with the dirty pot when you need to focus on your work. Creating rituals and repeating behavior helps change our habits over time. We’ll discuss more of this in chapter 6.
■Set reminders and make notes to yourself. Since you know you need to take breaks and eat properly, build those activities into your day. Don’t rely on your brain or your stomach. Set timers for breaks, and block lunch on your calendar.
■Reward your successful change. Changing some behaviors is incredibly difficult, and there can be short-term pain or discomfort associated with it. If you’ve ever suffered caffeine or nicotine withdrawal, you know what we’re talking about. People change habits when they avoid pain or receive pleasure from the change in what they do. Reward yourself in little ways for doing things right. Engage the pleasure centers of your brain. This can be as simple as allowing yourself to knock off ten minutes early on days when you achieve your goals or having something especially yummy for lunch. Just tie these little rewards to the successfully changed behavior.
■Start small. If you try to make huge habit changes, you are far more likely to fail and be demotivated. Let’s say your goal is to check email less often. Start by turning off the “ding” notification and only checking your email every thirty minutes. Then you can extend it to sixty. If you start by saying “I’m only going to check my email in the morning and at noon,” there’s a good chance you might feel like your head will explode, and you won’t be able to focus on anything else. Baby steps are still progress.
■Be patient. Change is not easy, and habits become habits because we get to the point where we don’t think about them, we just do them. Your brain will try to keep doing things the way you’ve always done them. Some days you’ll win, some days your old brain will claim victory. When you engage in the old, negative behavior, just start over. Think of those signs on construction sites that show the number of accident-free days. Replace “accident free” with “ate a healthy breakfast” and carry on.
■Find support and accountability. Think about changing big habits such as excessive drinking. One of the basic tenets of organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous is that it is nearly impossible to change by yourself. That’s why you must publicly state your goals and have a sponsor (someone you are accountable to and can go to for help). Staying off email while you’re supposed to be in a meeting might not be as big a problem, but the concept is the same. Tell a trusted teammate about the change in behavior you’re trying to achieve, and ask them to help you be accountable.
Wayne once tried to stop answering emails in the middle of the night, with little success. Finally, he and a friend agreed to hold each other accountable and playfully bust each other’s chops when emails had a 2:00 a.m. time stamp. Together they stopped that foolishness.
In the same vein, we suggest you consider telling your manager what you’re trying to achieve. One of the highest forms of accountability is to include support in your coaching discussions. When the boss asks, “How are you doing with ____________?” the behavior takes on new significance.
■Learn more about changing your habits. There are some great resources to help you further. We recommend Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Being a productive teammate is more than simply checking the tasks off your list, or “buckling down and working harder.” It comes from knowing what needs to be done when, finding ways to get around both systemic and self-created roadblocks, and changing your behavior while supporting the goals of the team.
When you are doubting yourself, or you feel like you don’t know which end is up anymore, ask yourself the four pivot questions from the beginning of the chapter. We’ll bet you can find the answer and take action.
Pause and Reflect
▶On most days are you getting enough of the right things done? If not, what is your biggest barrier?
▶What is your best strategy for “snapping out of it” when you are stuck or unproductive?
For a tool to help you identify habits that block your progress, as well as those you want to further develop, register at the website:
LongDistanceTeammate.com/resources
and request the Habit Tool.