Remote work: expectations vs. reality

We can agree on one thing.

If you, similarly as most of the folks out there, have never worked from home before, and even if you did for quite some time, you presumably imagined the reality of this lockdown to be at least slightly different.

Our unrealistic expectations

The optimists around us might have imagined remote work will end up in more valuable time at home – spending extra time with family, learning something new or… finally getting some rest, since we don’t need to be stuck in traffic jams for hours.

The realists might have imagined we’ll finally have less stuff to do for work and less responsibilities, simply because our bosses are not around. Less control, less responsibilities, right?

Not so fast.

The ugly truth

The truth is, neither the optimists, nor the realists were entirely right. Remote work came with its own stressful challenges nobody has expected.

Most of us work longer than before, feel more anxious than ever, and yet, the number of responsibilities has been only increasing.

Who’s to ensure a safe work environment, risk-free data sharing, or finding reliable password management tools since Excel sheets are not even close to ‘reliable’ when it comes to secure data? Well, that would be the same remote workers – us.

Time-tested solutions

Having our expectations shattered, now it’s time to take control over our work and personal life. To help you with that, we’re sharing some practical suggestions from the full-time remote workers.

Deal with anxiety: Disconnecting

To cope with anxiety and burnout at work, take time to disconnect. Easier said than done, but here’s what helps:

• Set time when you must finish work, let’s say 6 p.m.
• At 5.55 p.m. take those 5 minutes to write down tasks that you didn’t finish. When you write them down, there’s no need to think about them until the next day.
• Now you’re ready to unplug and simply rest.

Deal with responsibilities: Password management tools

Heavy responsibilities might scare everyone at first. But when you know the tools that do the job for you, using them becomes just another habit. Here’s how choosing reliable password management tools facilitates your work keeping the same level of work quality (and satisfying your boss!).

Reliable password management tools, such as PassCamp:

• Save your brain cells since you don’t need to remember a bunch of passwords yourself – they securely store all your data in one place.
• Protect your reputation since you don’t need to risk sending passwords via unencrypted emails – they let you safely share passwords with clients and co-workers inside the password management tools.
• Save that precious time of yours by securely auto filling passwords to the websites you go.

In the end, it’s okay to feel stressed when things don’t work out as we expect them to. But there are ways to deal with it and you have just learnt two of them.

Try out the aforementioned mental health strategy and PassCamp – highly recommended (by both users and reviewers) password management tools – and see how these simple things elevate your productivity and well-being while working from home. Let us know how it goes!