9 Tips to disconnect and recharge for remote workers

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Really grateful that I got to collaborate on this article with Remotive, the community of remote workers that I’ve been a part of for many months, now!

This article is all about how remote workers disconnect or recharge their batteries when working remotely. Some great insights from 9 different people, myself included.

My answer:

I’m lucky enough to be a remote freelancer living in the South of France (insert cliche of the sun, the beach, and a colourful cocktail!) So there are a lot of perks that come with that. In addition, I’m living in the center of a medium-sized city: another perk that directly leads to my happy lifestyle of being able to walk around the city with my computer in my bag and working from a cafe a few times a week.

How to Disconnect:

My way of disconnecting is simple: whenever I feel like I need to take a break from work, I make a note of the advancement of the project I’m on, and leave with my keys, wallet and phone. Sometimes, it’s a short break to grab a coffee and come back, sometimes it’ll be meeting with a friend or running a couple of errands.

Even a small break helps me reorganise my thoughts, plan ahead on the next client work to be done, or simply helps me to take a breather from a busy day.

These days, despite the heavy load of work to wrap up before the end of the year, it’s rare that I spend my entire day indoor. And if and when I do, my Fitbit is always there to shame me into talking a walk during the day or after my work is done.

Recharge:

When it comes to recharging, nothing is obviously as efficient as taking a proper vacation. To each his own: some of us want to spend time with friends, or discover a new city and culture. And some of us prefer to be outdoors, or in remote places where they can completely disconnect from their day-to-day lives.

But even if a vacation is not available for a few more weeks or months, I find working in a different environnement (or even better, a different city to be very beneficial.)

For me, it’s usually a week-long break in Paris where I’m going to catch up with friends during my off-time, but also work in cafes and coworking spaces during the week. I’ve actually met some members of the Remotive community like this, IRL / AFK after months of chatting online.

I guess in conclusion, I’d add that we are an incredibly fortunate bunch, at the forefront of “the future of work”: we’re location independent, employees and freelancers and can work at any hour of the day and from anywhere. It doesn’t get any better than that. 

And while it’s great to set some sort of routine, it’s also worth trying something new with the free schedule that you now possess.

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