What does your remote-friendly company do? What does your virtual team do within the company? Did you switch to remote or start out that way? How important is remote work to your business model? What do you consider the biggest benefits of a remote workforce? What were the main reasons to integrate remote work into your workforce?
What traits do you look for in candidates for a remote job? How do you conduct interviews for remote jobs? How do you convey your remote culture in the recruiting process? What is your hiring process for remote workers? Do you use third party testing or evaluation services when hiring remote workers? How do you conduct onboarding for remote workers?
Do you have remote communication protocols for your remote workers? Do you organize remote team retreats? Do your remote team members meet in person? How do you measure the productivity of remote workers? What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams? What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce? How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture? What is your BYOD policy for remote workers? What is your time off policy for remote workers? What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
How did you implement a remote work policy? Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture? How do you nurture your company’s culture in a remote work environment? What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote? What challenges have you encountered building a remote team? What are the most effective tools for remote team communication? What has changed about how your remote team operates? How does your team address different time zone challenges?

What tips do you have to disconnect when working remotely?

1Password

Find something that gets you out of your head and into your body. For me, that’s trail running, cooking, restorative yoga, hiking, playing music, making friends laugh, and building LEGOs while listening to a good podcast—yes, toys and blocks.

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AnswerFirst

Be sure to have an active social life outside of the home. Even if you just do a routine walk through the neighborhood, that is enough to disconnect from work. Have a normal work routine that allows you to distinguish work time and your off time.

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BELAY

Finding and protecting a work-life balance is important for the remote worker to be able to disconnect. Tips for establishing a work-life balance include proactively mastering your calendar. Plan out your schedule by blocking times for specific activities. This includes planning free time. Once you have established calendar rules, stick to them. Establishing a strategy for answering emails also helps to disconnect by alleviating the pressure to check your inbox during established non-working hours.

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Blossom

I like meeting people, so I make sure to have at least one meeting over coffee each week. I also work from a co-working space once every week where we take lunch together.

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Bright!Tax

I have a room where I work, a home office. When I enter the room then I’m working, and when I’ve finished for the day I simply shut the door on it. This would work better if I didn’t have a phone of course!

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Buffer

I try to plan something for right after work, even if it’s just going for a walk. I think it’s important to close my laptop at the end of the day and mean it. It can be tough to stick to working hours when your home is your office, so definitely finding the right way to “end” your day has been really powerful for me in disconnecting.

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Crossover

Once you’re done for the day, really try your best to be done for the day. It’s tempting to check in on your work email or that latest project, but that type of habit can quickly lead to burnout. It can help to keep two distinct spaces in your home, if possible: one primarily for work, and the other for everything else; this helps keep a mental separation as well as a physical one.

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Dell

Have your office space in an appropriate location not within areas used during personal time. Learn that the work will still be there in the morning.

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DevriX

Personally I’m a great fan of push notifications. They allow me to take more time “off” while being available for the team at all times. Often I need to respond to 4-5 yes/no questions in the evening without having to stay at the office. Having my messengers online on my phone and notifications sent to my smart watch, I can sit down and watch some series or even grab a drink with friends, and simply reply for a moment to a team member who can continue working afterwards.

Breaking down the day into a “productive and focused working time” and “simply being available” is a great combination that works for me and achieves more, as long as people are aware that they shouldn’t nag me all the time and only reach out in case of a problem or a blocker.

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ezhome

Just do it. Yes, it’s easier said than done, and I’ll admit I’m not perfect at this yet, but at the end of the day, you just have to disconnect. Just do it.

Turn off Slack notifications and don’t check email after a certain time of day. Let your co-workers know your working hours and be true to yourself by sticking to these. If you don’t, you can get onto the slippery slope of always being connected which is a quick slide down to burnout. Do yourself and do your company a favor by knowing and communicating your limits.

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FMTC

If you’ve done a good job building your business, you should be able to disconnect and trust your team. I find the first 2-3 days are difficult, then I’m totally relaxed and not worrying about what’s going on back at “the office.”

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iTutorGroup

Work when you really feel like you want to. That way you can show the best of yourself.

Jungle Scout

Develop good habits and remember that it’s OK to switch off sometimes. Also if you’re stuck on something or you have worked too many hours, it’s unlikely that you are being productive. You have the opportunity to go and do something else, clear your mind, and then try again. I think those are things that should apply to anyone in their work, remote or not.

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komoot

I think it’s pretty similar to working non-remotely. Different people have different preferences, but I am quite outdoorsy and I like to move. Go for a run/walk. Do something creative. Take a vacation. It’s a must. I also like to hang out with my friends and talk about nothing and everything.

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Mavens

Have a separate space and avoid using your work laptop for anything except work. When you have finished work, close the laptop and, if possible, leave it somewhere out of sight.

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Melewi

Go to a remote location once in awhile –  a place where there is no Internet so that you can at least spend a couple of hours or days being offline to reconnect with nature or yourself.

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Mokriya

If possible try to create a “space for work” that is removed from your life. It could be a co-working space, a home-office, a cafe or designated desk space in your home. Finding outlets to recharge your batteries are also important. Exercise, meditation, time with family. If you can pull it off, a good 7-8 hours sleep with your phone on airplane mode doesn’t hurt either!

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Must Have Menus

It’s very difficult to do, but extremely important. I try to have time with my family and friends as a regular part of my day that doesn’t involve technology.

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Omni Interactions

Treat your remote workday just like you would an in-person workday—you have a start time and an end time—and set boundaries to ensure that you’re not allowing work to leak into your personal life.

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Packlane

Get a dog. They demand your undivided attention at times, require long walks outside, and in some cases my dog even takes it upon herself to cut the cord if I’ve been connected for too long.

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Project Ricochet

I make time to exercise daily. I do ten miles on my bike each day at sunset on a bike trail near my house. I also bought a sauna and spend a bit of time in it each night. The intense heat and steam has a really calming and stress-melting effect on me.

Whenever I find that I am carrying stress with me throughout the day or after-hours, I solve the immediate problem, but then tackle whatever is happening in my organization that allowed stress to get to me in the first place. It’s taken years of iterative improvements, but these days, I have very little stress in my life – and in fact I have less as we’ve grown large

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Referral Rock

My last trip I uninstalled Asana and Slack from my phone and only a few key team members could call me in an emergency. If those apps were on my phone, I’m sure I couldn’t help myself to see what was going on.

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Remote Year

If you have ever walked through a doorway and forgotten why you entered the room, then use that same trick in reverse. Need to disconnect even for a minute? Walk outside or even into another room. There is just something mentally refreshing to cross a threshold, and it adds a simple break between work and life that you can use to your advantage.

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Sanborn

Find a coffee shop, put headphones on, and use the “do not disturb” feature on your machine and devices.  It works 100% of the time for me.

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Scribendi

When working remotely, it can help to set designated times for work. You can still retain flexibility, obviously, but working at certain times each day (such as when the kids are in school or when you are least likely to be interrupted) will create productive work habits while helping you to avoid the guilty compulsion to always be working. It can also help to have a designated work space, such as a home office or a coworking space. When you’re there, you will know it’s time to work; outside this space, you can put work away and focus on the other aspects of your life.

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Time Doctor

Don’t work in your house all day long. Work in a coffee shop or in a co-working space if you can. If you can’t, then have a dedicated spot in the house that is only used for work. When you’re at that spot (basement, spare bedroom, corner of the kitchen), then that’s when you’re “at work”. When you’re not at that spot, then you’re not working.

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Tortuga

Set rules and boundaries for yourself. Have a way to signal that you’re taking a break or done for the day. I have a separate room for my office, so it’s easier to have some physical distance between myself and my computer. I can close the door to the office as a signal to myself. I recommend building some signals or routines into your work that remind you when you’re “done.”

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Ultimate Software

Make sure to have a separate working space when working remotely so that you can shut down and walk away easily.

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