How Do You Practice Self-Care? The New York Times

And the vast majority of the studies came to the same conclusion – flexibility and freedom offered within the approach largely impact productivity in the virtual workplace. A 2020 Statista study shows 73% of respondents reported feeling more efficient working outside the office. A general lack of distractions, in addition to reduced commute time and the overall comfort of the home or other chosen work environment, have made the significant productivity boost possible. And, as the pandemic is dying out, and companies are issuing the return-to-the-office memos, it’s pretty much business as usual for teams working across time zones.

There are also many alternative and effective ways to share ideas and feedback that doesn’t involve having a meeting at inconvenient times of the day or night. Firstly, when you are planning to host meetings for your remote team, consider whether you can achieve the desired outcome without having a meeting. While having contact and hosting meetings are important, meetings can be challenging with diverse time zones. Minimizing and streamlining meetings efficiency and productivity can offer solutions. After all, most of us have all been in meetings that ramble on unguided for hours, achieving very little. Since it is not possible to always remain on and manage your remote team in real-time, it is necessary to clarify your expectations from your workforce at the very start.

Con: Meetings might be late, or early

It’s easy for changes in your diet to impact your mental health, though. You can practice good self care while traveling by tossing aside everything you think you SHOULD do on vacation. The ideal trip looks different for everyone, and the best way to take care of yourself while you’re traveling is to meet your own needs in terms of what you want to get out of your trip. If you’re feeling down, plan some relaxation time for the next day.

Sure, a team brainstorming session is most effective over a video conference, however, a general weekly update doesn’t necessarily require a 5 a.m. Of course, there’s the argument that the vast majority of meetings may not be necessary, and flexibility is pretty much a part of the remote job description. Still, some form of meetings is vital for organizations looking to keep the connection and interaction across distributed teams. If teams don’t experience any overlap in work hours, there’s bound to be some time wasted as one team is waiting for the instructions or the input from another one, working at a later time. And, as team communication is directly correlated to productive collaboration, it can lead to unnecessary delays, missed messages, and an overall drop in productivity. Diversity and inclusion drive innovation and positively impact overall business targets within remote companies that span across time zones.

Scheduling Conflicts

You can use Google Meet and Zoom tools to organize virtual events like company games, happy hours, and other social events. You can even start clubs and events on specific interests and throw membership open to team members. Working across time zones can be exhausting, so it’s important to take breaks throughout working remotely in a different time zone the day. Take a walk, grab a coffee, or do some yoga to recharge your batteries. This will help you stay focused and productive throughout the day. How many of us often find ourselves hitting loose ends and empty, awkward pauses when talking to a colleague who is 10 hours ahead of our time zone?

• Fuel up for the next day’s activities by making sure to get enough sleep each night when you’re traveling.
• And be vigilant to guard against any incoming guilt 🙅‍♀️ for not doing the other task; you can’t do everything and no choice is perfect.
• That will eventually cause people to become disconnected and potentially leave the company.
• Hybrid employees and on-premise workers are just as susceptible to burnout and stress.
• Typically, we try to be mindful of what time it is for others when we use synchronous communication like video or Slack.
• Having distributed teams working across time zones essentially implies round-the-clock workflow.
• When you’re working with a global team or a client, it’s important to familiarize yourself with their local time and time zone differences.

Whatever you choose as your self-care, you need to work on prioritizing it. If it’s hard for you to transition to that big of a change, then hopefully these are some helpful, simple ways to start you on a path to making more time for you. Different time zones have always been a challenge for team management.

Team Cohesion

Therefore, any amount of time difference can be used as an advantage for distributed teams, considering it gives employees time to work undistracted. The fifth step to managing your time is to take care of yourself and your well-being. Working with different time zones can be stressful, exhausting, or disruptive to your health, sleep, or mood. You should try to maintain a regular and consistent routine, and balance your work and personal life. You can use online tools, such as Calm or Headspace, to practice mindfulness, meditation, or breathing exercises. Taking care of yourself will help you stay healthy, happy, and productive.

However, there are strategies that can be implemented to make working across time zones more manageable and successful. Slack, for instance, lists each team member’s time zone, how many hours that is from your local time, and that person’s current local time whenever you click their name. That’s an easy way to double-check before expecting an immediate reply. Or, if you attempt to message everyone in a group, Slack can let you know it’s late for some people before you hit send. The Couchsurfing team has a similar schedule to make sure everyone’s connected.

Tips to Master the Digital Nomad Lifestyle

Meeting planning is made easier with tools like World Time Buddy and Time and Date. Simply enter your team’s current locations, and these calculators will calculate the best times to meet (and even show local holidays being observed). When you host virtual meetings with your team, there’s a lot of planning you can do to ensure that the meeting runs efficiently and is productive. Using these tools to https://remotemode.net/ keep time zones top of mind makes sure that all team members have an equal opportunity to work smarter, not harder, and that they can engage or disengage when they want. When your team is working remotely, it’s important to schedule regular socializing time. When it comes to a traditional physical office environment, it is much easier for a newly joined employee to adapt to the working culture.

Embracing the inherent advantages of remote work, forward-thinking organizations recognize the significance of implementing flexible working hours to accommodate their diverse and globally dispersed workforce. By eschewing the constraints of traditional 9-to-5 schedules and instead empowering team members to align their work hours with their peak productivity periods, businesses unlock a plethora of benefits. Not only does this approach foster a profound sense of autonomy and trust among employees, but it also cultivates a work environment where individuals can optimize their productivity and creativity.