Here are just a few reasons as to why we think this should be the case.

Balancing work and personal life from home

So I’m going to be honest here, organization is something I struggle with. It takes a conscious effort for me to stay organized. I know for some folks it comes naturally, and for some others…well, you are like me. And I don’t necessarily just mean in terms of keeping your desk neat and tidy- I mean with life.

What does this all have to do with working from home? Well let’s face facts: it’s easier to do things when everything is in one place. Being able to walk across your house or into the next room of your apartment, sit down, and bang out whatever work you have to do is infinitely easier than having to have all of your working materials at…well, work.

Plus, now that it’s 2020, there are plenty of ways for you to actually make working from home work for you. As we said above, before the advent of the internet this would have been basically impossible. But now, companies have moved forward; the advent of telephony services like MightyCall make it possible to essentially conduct all of your business from afar, without losing any of the ability to work you would have otherwise had if you were at your office.

Saving time: the hidden benefit of home offices

So there’s something else about working from home which is not often talked about, at least not by your boss (or, if you are your own boss, it’s something you may not even admit to yourself): working from home is just…easier. And it’s not lazy to admit that! It just IS easier. For example, here’s how the normal 9 to 5 job works: you wake up at 7:30, sleep your way through breakfast, drive to work, and then sit at your desk for 8 hours.

You might not actually need to be there for all 8 hours—I think anyone who has worked in an office can tell you that you definitely don’t need to be there for all of those 8 hours—but you have to be there nonetheless. Then, you’ll drive home, cook dinner, and watch a show or read a book for a bit before going home. If you have any social events during the week, they’re usually crushed in and guarantee you can’t get any chores done, meaning that you’ll get to spend one of two weekend days cleaning your toilets. If you have kids, it means that for a majority of the week, you won’t get to see them.

Here’s working from home: get up at 8, 8:30, casually eat your breakfast. Start working from your other room (or heck, your bedroom) at 9, work for a couple hours, then take a long lunch break without your boss tapping his or her foot waiting for you to come back. Take the time to eat, do a chore, walk the dog; then resume working for a bit more, finish the, say, six hours of work you had, and then you’re done by 3 without having to drive home. Greet your kids for the school bus, and have a nice, longer, and fun night.

What working from home can do is free you from the rigid routine of 9 to 5. With companies that allow you to work from home, and software which lets you take advantage of being allowed to work from home, you actually can break free of the same rules which governed your great grandparents when they were working.

Improving the business strategy with efficiency

This one is frankly, self-evident: no one likes commuting. Even if you do not live on the horror show that is Interstate 405 in by Los Angeles (the one that you always see on the news, profusely clogged with traffic), commuting can still be just…un-fun. Even if your city has effective public transport, unless you happen to live near where you work, you’ll still spend a decent chunk of time commuting to work; the average American spends about 26 minutes. There and back, you’re closing in on nearly an hour of travel.

But when you work from home, your commute is about thirty seconds, depending on how far your work station is from your bed. Plus, as we mentioned above, you can take breaks more easily and aren’t forced to just sit at a desk to please your corporate overlords- so that means when you go outside, it’s because you want to, not because you’re expected to.

Understanding the financial benefits of working remotely

 Americans spend thousands upon thousands of dollars a year commuting to work. That’s a huge chunk of cash! That’s a couple of nice vacations. That’s money that can go to loans, or fixing your roof, or toward a car payment, or can just sit in your wallet instead of going straight into your car’s gas tank.

When you work from home, that massive chunk of change disappears entirely. And you’ll probably end up even saving more: think of all the times you didn’t have time to pack lunch, so you bought something from the cafeteria in your building or ran to the restaurant down the block during your break. All the times you put a couple quarters into the vending machine. That stuff *adds up!*

Meanwhile, working from home barely costs you anything. A business phone system from MightyCall, for example, can cost as cheap as only $19.99 a month! Math was never my strongest of subjects but even I can tell that that’s a heck of a lot cheaper than a couple grand a year in gas alone.

Improving business operations from home

What you have probably picked up at this point is that the current system we have of working is…just not optimal. It is severely lacking. It’s far too expensive, eats up time, and just overall makes no sense whatsoever.

When you work from home, those issues disappear, and you can truly optimize your business from top to bottom. No longer being constrained by physical locations is everything- and with a phone system like MightyCall’s, which effectively turns any internet-connected device into a phone, your opportunities will grow massively. Tired of working in only your house? Spend the day in your local coffeeshop, making calls and great deals over their wi-fi. Need to meet with your colleagues? Hire out a temporary co-working space where you can all get together and share ideas and plans of attack.

Plus, if you are not constrained by physical locations, your employees, don’t have to be either. In the past, if the best possible employee you could hire worked three hours away, that hire wouldn’t have worked out. But transitioning your business away from the 20th-century physical model means essentially that you no longer have to worry about hiring second best. Geographic restraints are a thing of the past.

It’s time to try and work from home

The work environment as we know it has evolved. The embrace of remote working isn’t just a necessity borne out of a crisis; it’s a revelation of a more efficient, balanced, and satisfying way of conducting business. Companies and employees are discovering the profound benefits of this shift, from financial savings to enhanced productivity. It’s clear that the traditional 9 to 5 work model is undergoing a fundamental transformation, and working from home is at the forefront of this change.

The post Turn Your Home Into Your Hub: Working From Home Tips first appeared on MightyCall.

Slack’s Future Forum survey recently found that 72% of Americans want to continue with the hybrid work setup after lockdowns end and 68% consider the hybrid working environment as the ideal workplace. In contrast, only 8% of workers are considering the return to in-office work post-pandemic, preferring to resign instead.

As employers strive to keep ahead of the Great Resignation and accommodate the demands of a new workforce, here’s how to support your hybrid employees long-term and ensure that your company makes the best of hybrid work.

Contents:

• What is a hybrid work model?
• Benefits of a hybrid working model
• 5 insights to improve your hybrid work model
• Make any place your workplace

What is a hybrid work model?

A hybrid working model is a flexible working arrangement where employees can work both in the office and remotely. This arrangement may be either full-time or part-time – e.g. employees may work remotely on specific days or on a special arrangement. Alternatively, some employees may always work from home, while others employ office or hybrid models of working.

“A hybrid work environment is a mix of traditional and remote working. It’s an environment where employees can choose to work from home or a co-working space, or they can choose to come into the office for meetings or other social events. It’s obvious that a hybrid work environment gives employees more flexibility and autonomy over how they want to do their job.“ – Anastasia Avgerinou, Digital Marketing Specialist at Comidor

Benefits of a hybrid working model

• Flexible working environment – Some folks don’t like the isolation of remote work. Others hate the noise of the office. But what if you are both those people at the same time? Many of us would prefer the flexibility to work in the office some days and stay at home on others, depending on personal and family circumstances, and this is exactly what makes the hybrid job environment so attractive.
• Lower costs – Hybrid remote work models save a business about $11,000 per worker per year. They dramatically lower costs on technology, including hardware, office spaces (demanding less office space), and the ability to adjust remote worker wages or hire freelance workers on hybrid teams.
• Less burnout and low turnover – According to Forbes (citing HR specialists), burnout accounts for up to 50% of employee turnover. For a small or medium-sized business, that can amount to a huge problem. Giving your employees the flexibility to choose their preferred model will solve the issue for 71% of your workers, says a Gallup survey.
• Business growth  –  63% of high-growth companies use hybrid work models. On the other end of the spectrum, 69% of businesses with “negative no growth” are the ones rejecting the hybrid workforce. Company growth is linked directly to the flexibility of its working arrangements and willingness to meet staffing demands.
• Attracting talent – When you’re no longer limited to hiring talent within a car ride from your office, you’re open to diversifying your talent pool. You may find fantastic candidates from outside your zip code, state, or even country who, with a traditional working model, you wouldn’t even have considered. This, in turn, accelerates business growth.

How to improve your hybrid work model and support employees

1. Help employees feel acknowledged in a remote environment

With work-from-home models and hybrid setups, professional motivation and growth can get hindered as employees don’t come. Moreover, managers have a harder time seeing individual achievements and fostering career growth. James Angel, Co-Founder of DYL, a business growth tool for Email Campaigns, Lead Generation, and Telemarketing advises that special tools for employee recognition can help.

“One typical complaint is that remote workers have a tougher time getting promoted since they are less visible to the managers and leaders. This is not a problem with remote work. It’s a basic fact that some people are more adept—or perhaps simply more willing—at self-promotion and drawing attention to their accomplishments than others.

“Digital ‘thank you’ tools can have a significant impact on both visibility and the development of a more supportive culture. These enable individuals to express their gratitude for coworkers with the click of a button and a few well-chosen words. Managers can have a better understanding of who deserves a promotion by examining who consistently earns appreciation from peers for going above and beyond for their coworkers.”

Employee recognition tools like Bonusly, Guusto, etc. encourage employee recognition regardless of the chosen work model and help managers in hybrid workplaces identify employee accomplishments that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.

2. Unify the technology stack and prioritize privacy

As mentioned above, “productivity anywhere” hybrid models are the choice of 63% of businesses with the highest growth indicators.

But what does the “productivity anywhere” model imply, exactly? First of all, it’s giving your team the means to do their work through a unified tech approach that gets rid of excesses in digital culture. The concern between privacy and work-life demands is especially strong in flexible working models like hybrid office work and WFH models. Many employees want companies to respect their private digital space as earnestly as their private physical space, says entrepreneur Harriet Chan.

“[In our hybrid model] what we’ve found to be unsuccessful is frequent meetings and using a more personal communication medium like WhatsApp for work. Our employees frown on that and it is understandable because in certain instances it may seem like an intrusion of privacy.”

A unified digital strategy doesn’t intrude on privacy to enable productivity. Our own example of a unified tech stack that’s cost-effective and simple to use:

• Only necessary hardware – A phone and a laptop with a stable internet connection/Wi-FI are usually all the hardware an efficient hybrid work model needs. While printers and scanners may be essential to some work models, mobile scanning apps (including free built-in ones) are very good at replacing scanners in many circumstances. Meanwhile, occasional printing tasks can be delegated to a nearby print shop.
• Virtual phone system for business– A cloud-based business phone system like MightyCall routes calls from your business phone to the mobile devices of your team. Use it to make and pick up business calls from any connected device (mobile phone, laptop, tablet, desk phone), and any global location with internet/WI-FI access. Plus, VoIP comes with free teamwork and customer service features you’ll definitely want to explore.

Learn more: reasons to stop using your personal mobile line for business

• Project management tools:  SaaS companies like ours often use Jira for project management and love its Kanban boards. For non-tech teams, platforms like Monday.com, Basecamp, or Trello boards are simpler co-op options. Here are more freemium cloud tools for you.
• Internal communication: Use whatever app works best for your work model (Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.) but stick to one that all of you are comfortable with. It’s best to avoid personal chats like WhatsApp and Skype. Since the pandemic, MightyCall’s team switched to Discord for all work chats, daily stand-ups, 1-1 meetings, and urgent communication.
• Cybersecurity: supply your hybrid team with anti-virus software and VPN protection, especially for those in hybrid work from home environments and co-working spaces.

3. Recognize scheduling flexibility

As we adapt to post-pandemic realities and understand that it’s quality of communication that matters over quantity, keeping a flexible scheduling strategy remains key in light of the volatility of modern realities. If you want an optimal hybrid work environment, discuss the level of flexibility your team will have, says Taylor Murchison, SEO Growth Director of marketing agency On The Map.

“Some organizations can run smoothly without having a clear timetable for who comes in on what days. If this is the case, inform your personnel as soon as possible. Also, let them know if they just need to show up or if they should schedule their visits ahead of time.  [Others] may require employees to report on specific days. This could assist them in confirming that particular individuals will be able to collaborate or ensuring that the office will never be overcrowded.”

Over here at MightyCall, hybrid employees in various departments know the hours and days when they have more flexibility, so they can adjust their work-life balance accordingly. Even though we ship our product on time, we know that trust builds way better achievements than rigid regulations. Want more trust in your team? Adopt a flexible approach and discuss scheduling as a team.

4. Connect employees with mentors

Up to 50% of new employees in organizations leave within two years—that’s a pretty frantic turnover rate. But the good news is that when onboarding processes are curated by mentors, that number drops to just around 8%. In a hybrid model, mentorship is often missed out on. However, virtual mentorship should be part of both onboarding and employee development in any growing business, says Emir Bacic, Co-founder at Pricelisto.

“People need to know what is going on and how they fit in the whole process. Employees working from home cannot see other team members, so it’s essential to ensure that everything is available over the phone or video conference.  People working remotely usually need advice from more experienced colleagues in their area of expertise. As long as the mentor is available over video conference, this shouldn’t be a problem. There are other options [companies may consider] like mentorship by email or phone.”

For other employees, biweekly 1-1 meetings where not only ongoing job issues but hybrid work, remote work, and even personal challenges are openly shared are just as important for empathetically motivating your team, advises Andrew Lokenauth, Finance Executive & Career Coach.

“A great hybrid work environment strategy is to hold 15 minute weekly one-on-ones to discuss the prior, current and upcoming week, and how things are going. [Employee] coaching is important, so hold periodic meetings to discuss the goals of each member, provide feedback, and answer questions. This will also help to build a great rapport among your reports, as well as learn their skills. Because we are missing out on many small conversations that come with working in an office, this will help to build relationships.

5. Encourage team-building but respect each other’s boundaries

A long-term hybrid work model means that the whole employment process, from hiring to onboarding to daily communication, is done remotely. This work model also means that it’s particularly important to find the balance between virtual team-building activities and respect for boundaries that many employees felt violated in the first waves of COVID-induced remote work. David Ciccarelli, technology entrepreneur and CEO at Voices shares an approach that worked for his company:

“Our social committee continues to amaze by recreating events that were once in person and now done virtually. [However] we’ve shied away from mandatory attendance or volun-telling people to participate. Our approach has been to create the opportunity for engagement and those would like to attend, do so. Others have family commitments, pressing deadlines or rarely the activity simply doesn’t appeal. We make a point of mixing up social committee activities so there’s eventually something for everyone.”

Make any place your workplace

Hybrid work is no longer a lockdown survival measure. It’s our permanent workplace reality. With the Great Resignation in full swing and employees leaning into hybrid environments and digital nomad jobs, businesses that will see rapid growth are those that combine digital stability with human empathy.

Understand how to combine both with a communications system that’s “productivity-anywhere”-centered and will provide your team with both privacy and digital freedom.

Learn more about MightyCall’s virtual phone system ideal for hybrid work, starting at just $15/month!

The post How to Improve Your Hybrid Work Model first appeared on MightyCall.

Unlike many of the rumors and misconceptions, remote work increases productivity and effectiveness. Working on your own terms has its perks, and it’s a great way to offer something new to employees while giving them more freedom. However, remote work wouldn’t be possible without the right digital tools.

Here are 6 convenient remote working tools to make the process easier for managers and employees alike.

Navigate:

• Virtual phone system
• Project management
• Employee management
• Team collaboration
• Productivity monitoring 
• Password management

1. Virtual Phone System

Finally, the phone is still a large part of communicating with remote workers. Remote workers often manage and handle a wide arrange of calls, from customer support to prospective clients. Making sure they’re able to answer those calls promptly without compromising their privacy is key.

With MightyCall’s virtual phone system, you can do just that in as little as a few clicks. Now, employees will feel more secure without needing to worry about interruptions in call quality from wherever they choose to work.

2. Project Management Tools

One of the biggest challenges of transitioning to remote work is learning how to best manage one’s time. When you’re used to a manager giving direction, it can be hard to know where to begin in daily tasks. When that stress is combined with impending deadlines, it only becomes more complicated.

Using project management tools helps remote workers feel connected to their team. They can use it independently to keep track of their own projects, or with other collaborators to check in on overall progress. Two of the leading project management tools are Trello and Asana.

3. Employee Management

Connecteam offers an all-in-one employee management app that allows remote employees access to all things company-related. In fact, Connecteam connects everything a business needs from field to office, all in one place. In the click of a button, you can connect your staff, manage day-to-day operations, track hours, share work schedules, assign tasks, improve employee experience and engagement, and drive your business forward.

4. Team Collaboration

While those project management tools above do have ways to leave messages for other teammates, they aren’t built around conversation. Using a tool like Slack will help remote workers feel connected to their team members even though they’re not physically in the same office. Slack is a great choice because it’s jam-packed with other fun features like gif integrations, chatbots, and more.

5. Productivity monitoring

Making sure that teams are able to get things done at an efficient rate is often a challenge in remote teams. Using a productivity monitoring tool like Hubstaff will help you understand your team’s performance better.

With its app and URL tracking, keyboard and mouse monitoring, and time tracking, Hubstaff shows you not only when your team is working, but also how they work. This data will prove useful in optimizing your schedules and workflows for maximum efficiency.

6. Password Management

Security is a top priority of all organizations today. When working with remote workers, it’s even more essential to keep track of your passwords and worker access. A password management tool like LastPass works to cut down on weak passwords while also storing team passwords in a secure cloud.

Once you login to one account, you’ll automatically have access to all other login information. It simplifies your day since you no longer need to spend time memorizing extensive passwords. More importantly, it generates stronger passwords to give you much-needed peace of mind.

Finding Success When Working Remotely

Remote work is more than just a trend. It’s a new reality of business today. Luckily, there are so many tools out there that make remote work a breeze. You’ll only wonder why you didn’t give it a try earlier.

These tools above should be in any remote worker’s arsenal. Not only do they aid with feeling like part of a team, but they’re simply a smarter way to do business. From staying in touch with coworkers to never missing a deadline, these tools have you covered.

Unlocking the Potential of Remote Work Software and Tools

Remote work has become increasingly popular, boosting productivity and efficiency while offering flexibility to employees. The key to successful remote work lies in selecting the right remote work tools and software.

This guide introduces indispensable tools for remote teams, including project management, employee management, team collaboration, productivity monitoring, password management, and virtual phone systems. With these work from home tools and remote work software, you can create a thriving environment that fosters communication and collaboration among remote workers.

Leveraging the right tools for remote workers and teams enables you to capitalize on the advantages of remote work and meet the demands of the modern workforce. Embrace remote work tools and work from home software to fully unlock your team’s potential.

The post 6 Best Tools for Remote Workers first appeared on MightyCall.

A few reality checks later, though, we know it —  neither the immaculate cleanliness nor the $5k gadget set would remain untouched for long. In a matter of hours, all would be messed up by roommates, kids, or pets, the desk stuffed with sticky notes, Lays packs, and tea bags, fancy wearables later found in various corners of the house. We’ll be lucky if we don’t lose half our wits in the cleanup process.

There are a few things you can do, though. Here are a few office organization ideas:

1. Go for comfort, not trends

Pinterest may be buzzing with home office organization trends, and just looking at some of them our mouths get watery for shopping (at least my own does). That said, the first step to a perfect home office is personal comfort. For some people, that’s a formal desk, for others, a plush chair. For some, it’s perfect minimalism and bright sunlight, for others, a cozy study with lamplight.

A few things to ask yourself before setting up or revamping a home office:

• What’s the least comfortable thing about your current office/home office space?
• What does your ideal office feel like? What kind of space fuels your productivity?
• Do you have to be alone or around people to focus best?
• Do you work best in silence or with background sounds? (We’ll come back to this later)
• What distracts you most from work?

We know you’ve heard this before, but it’s worth repeating: you’ll be sitting before your laptop a lot, make sure you get yourself a comfortable, ergonomic office chair, even if you have to go shopping for that one. As someone who’s used everything from dining room chairs to pillows to prop up myself during hours of work, trust me: your back will thank you.

2. Consider a pop-up home office and more

Closet home office. Image source: Pinterest 

Privacy is the epitome of a great home office. Among the things we love best about designer home offices is the silence emanating from the photo. That even outwins the fantastic organization of space where ordinary things are given a second life and every inch of space is used wisely.

The lack of privacy can be really tough to beat when you’re working from home, but there are ways you can foster more privacy with minimal investment, and even in a tiny apartment.

Let’s look into a couple of ways to gain privacy and organize your home working space effectively.

Pop-up home office cubicle

Panasonic has recently released Panasonic Komoru, its first-ever pop-up office cubicle made for organizing a home office. However, we can safely say that you can “steal” the idea for a fraction of the cost. Just use Japanese folding screens with hooks attached for hanging folders, and place a light laptop desk inside. Fold when not in use.

Closet turned home-office

One of my favorites, this may be the coolest home office nook ever, if only you have a spare closet (or are willing to turn your wardrobe minimalist).

Space dividers for home office

Curtains, bookcases, and folding panels all make for easy and affordable space dividers that can seal off your “nook” from the rest of the room (and its inhabitants)

Stand-up home office desk

A stand-up office desk isn’t for everyone and definitely not for 8-hour workdays, but it’s the latest trend in healthy alternatives for people with back problems. So if that’s you, why not? You can find creative standing desk organization ideas on Pinterest.

Fold-out desk or table

A great alternative for small apartments. A fold-out desk or table aligns against the wall and folds out when you need it while pretending to be a bookcase/shelving unit at other times.

Painted chalk wall as organizer

A chalk wall is a great idea for keeping memos, brainstorming, and for anyone involved in creative work. Want a 2 in 1? Paint a free wall (ideally next to the table) in your kitchen using chalk paint and have it function as an office whiteboard during the day (use the kitchen table as a desk) and recipe board in the evenings and/or weekends.

3. Find balance and respected space

What’s the secret of our obsession with minimalist home offices? No, it’s not just the visual appeal of a modern, sleek look. It’s the psychological parallel between a decluttered space and a decluttered head: focus inside and out.

Sure, the shiniest minimalist home office won’t make one a productivity guru. But our brains are wired in such a way as to project external surroundings into our internal state of mind. The calmer the ambiance outside, the better and more productive we feel inside.

Parents will agree that the hardest part about creating the right ambiance is having all the members of the family respect your working space as sacred. If you’ve got a family with small kids, this can even seem impossible. In such cases, experts in remote work recommend scheduling breaks to check up on your family/kids, and even do household chores, as long as the chores don’t manipulate your working schedule.

A good idea is to use a Pomodoro timer (you can use the digital version or get yourself the cool little desk timer) where uninterrupted work is interspersed with smaller breaks during which you’ll check up on the kids and do any smaller tasks. Many a time, you’ll find that 2-3 hours of focused work with 15-min hourly breaks will outdo 4-5 hours of constantly interrupted work.

4. Sounds matter: how various sounds influence productivity

Sounds have immense power over the human brain. As a neurotransmitter, sound exposure activates dopamine synthesis. While natural sounds soothe the nervous system, artificial sounds induce the same brain reactions as those observed anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression.

It’s no wonder that sounds have a great effect on productivity and many people relate how they just can’t focus with or without a certain sound background.

Do you know how different sounds influence productivity?

Nature sounds

Studies show that the more stressed a person is, the more their nervous system benefits and relaxes from nature sounds. So once in a while, take your laptop to the park, beach, or countryside to relax and listen to the birds. If none of those are available, just listening to ocean, birds’, or rustling leaf sounds will switch on the relaxation mode in your brain.

Cafe sounds and ‘white noise’

In a study that delved into why people can focus well in a cafe but not in an open space office, researchers noted that a medium level of ambient noise minus the distractions of office life “may trigger the brain to think abstractly, and thus generate creative ideas.” If this feels like you but you want to feel safe during COVID and stay home, turning on “cafe sounds ambiance” on YT may be the way to go.

Music

Music is another proven way to activate the brain for study and work. In this respect, classical music works best. Known as the “Mozart effect”, classical music boosts productivity by enhancing brain activity, overall health and well-being. YT’s “light classics” playlist or “music for studying” is a good starter if you’re feeling in the mood.

Silence

One study found that listening to silence for 2 hrs per day grows new brain cells in the hippocampus or “memory region” of mammals. Science aside though, if you’re like me, you may appreciate perfect silence as your top productivity tool. Even as a remote worker, I usually pull up my (unplugged) headphones when working to shut out the external noise. This works magic and lets me focus entirely on the task at hand, accomplishing a task at twice the normal speed.

Keep in mind:

With current pandemic-related remote work and self-isolation, finding your habitual sound environment plays an even more important role than before, when you could have found these sounds naturally. Thankfully, with modern technology, we’re no longer confined to a certain environment in order to immerse ourselves in its atmosphere.

5. Declutter you phone

As much as thoughtful use of technology can ease your workday, tech clutter can really break your attempts at productive work. And let’s face it: most of our phones are really full of apps we open once, on a good month.

Though Airplane Mode is great for avoiding distractions from social networks, SPAM calls, and the itch to scroll through to procrastination, many of us working from a home office have client calls and other important communication that just can’t be put on hold until the end of the day.

What’s the answer? Leave just the necessary apps on your phone and focus on integration so you receive important notifications without scrolling. Here’s what you’ll need.

Business phone app

For business owners, there’s no business communication without a business phone. And a business phone system without a great app is a waste of time. Take MightyCall’s business phone system, for example. It has a terrific mobile app that lets you immediately know whether a call is a private call or a business call, has an anti-robocall feature, includes a single Business Contact Book with CRM synced to each team member’s mobile phone, and a lot more. Now, that’s something you’ll definitely need in your pocket!

Integration app

The problem with apps is that there are lots of them and each is sending notifications to your phone, stealing little by little, hours of your workday. To avoid that, what you can do is set up an integration service like Zapier that will automatically direct important notifications to your email (or certain team members’ emails), while you can turn off unimportant notifications with peace of mind.

Team messaging app

If you’re working as part of a team, whether a freelancer or business owner, the quality of your communication often determines the quality of your work. Avoid using lots of messaging apps and choose one that your team will use permanently. Keep the notifications for that one going and turn off the others during the workday. For our team, that’s Discord, since it allows you to tag team members, create virtual chat rooms for specific groups of people (like marketing and sales), do voice and video chats, and daily stand-ups.

Discover more

Have you found some home office ideas that inspire you? If so, you may want to take a look at more best practices for remote work. We are here to make sure your work and communication is as smooth as possible. Take a look at the professional VoIP system that will help improve your office organization via remote calling and texting.

The post How to Organize Your Home Office: 5 Tips first appeared on MightyCall.

As remote work becomes mainstream and is the primary source of income for 79.5% of Millenials, digital nomad jobs push the concept of globalization to a whole new level. And no wonder – safe, sustainable, eco-friendly, and taking the entrepreneurial mindset to a level where the “whole world is our home”, these are the jobs of the future.

As most countries are reopening to easier travel in 2022, here’s everything you need to get started as a digital nomad at any age and point in life + expert advice to get you there.

What’s inside:

• Who can be a digital nomad?
• How the pandemic impacted digital nomad jobs
• The tools to get you started as a digital nomad
• 25 digital nomad jobs for a high-paying remote career
• Digital nomad communication: opt for simple

Who Can Be a Digital Nomad?

What does it looks and feel like to be a digital nomad? For many of us, the primary image that pops up is of someone super young and carefree, spending their days between the beach and their Macbook spread out on a lounge chair, sipping a margarita, Instagramming their lifestyle that resembles glamping a lot more than work.

Studies show that 61% of digital nomads are married, and a report by Virtual Vocations further reveals that Millennials (87%) and Baby Boomers (84%) are equally interested in working and traveling as digital nomads.

This means no one is too young, old, or incapable of becoming a digital nomad. If you’ve got a family willing to travel with you — either as a short-term solution, or a way to explore a new lifestyle, there’s no reason you can’t work from anywhere as a family person.

How the Pandemic Impacted Digital Nomad Jobs

While travel has been restricted for much of 2020-21, in 2022 many countries around the world are finally lifting travel restrictions. This is great news for nomads who work as they travel since the pandemic has aggravated our need to work remotely, work safely, and opt for eco-friendly workplaces instead of virus-infected megalopolises. Due to its versatility and high-paying salaries, and remote work capabilities, the IT industry has become a favorite among tech-trained nomads.

”Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, remote information technology jobs were the top remote career fields for 2020 and 2021. Information technology jobs, which include in-demand positions for software and web developers, network engineers, security analysts, and technical project managers, are recommended for digital nomads because they can be worked entirely online from any location with a stable internet connection and power source.” — Kimberly Back, Senior Job Data Content Producer at Virtual Vocations

Regardless of industry, stable internet, flexible hours, and a safe environment are key requirements that make a job suitable for traveling in light of the pandemic.

The Tools You Need to Get Started as a Digital Nomad

• Laptop with internet access
• VPN – if you plan on using Wi-Fi from a variety of spots in the world, VPN is a must-have to prevent identity theft through WI-Fi networks.
• Website and social media accounts – build a website in just a few steps with these DIY platforms.
• A business phone system that works from Wi-Fi – a virtual phone system (VoIP) is perfect for digital nomads since it works from any device with WI-FI or internet. For those of you whose clients are back in North America, it provides you with a U.S./Canada business number so customers always feel that you’re close by, while you don’t have extra phone charges.
• Freemium tools for organization – optional, but here’s a great list to get you started.

25 Digital Nomad Jobs for a High-Paying Remote Career

Information technology (IT) digital nomad jobs

”[For a career in IT] you must love learning, because the learning never ends. You must love challenges, because the better you get at your job, the tougher the challenges you’ll need to solve. You must be self-motivated and doggedly determined to figure it out because engineers get paid the big bucks to find solutions.” – Kim Desmond, COO of software engineering training program CodingNomads

1. Programming – Again and again, programming hits the lists of one of the highest-paying jobs. Not only that, it’s one of the most popular and versatile digital nomad careers. Front-end developers, back-end developers, iOS/Android developers, software architects – those are just a few turns you can take with a programming mindset. Moreover, formal education in mathematics is no longer needed for a successful programming career. Almost anyone with strong analytics skills and the desire to learn can complete programming courses and get started on their portfolio.

”Programmers benefit from being able to travel light, as all they need to do their jobs is their computers, and not suffering much from a language barrier as the majority of programmers world over work in English or very language agnostic environments. The cons of being a programmer nomad, however, include a decent amount of social isolation as you likely will work fully remote. […] This can be a tough wall to climb without a friendly co-worker taking you under their wing for the first few weeks to give you the lay of the land.”– Dragos Badea, co-founder and CEO of hybrid work management software Yarooms

2. Web design – Another popular IT job, web design is a more popular choice for women in IT and those with a creative vibe. Unlike programmers that deal with the technical elements of the website, web designers focus on the visual elements that the user encounters such as layout, appearance. They can also advise on the visual aspects of content.

3. Graphic design – Graphic designers make product ideas come to life through visuals. They often work hand in hand with product teams to communicate visual messages but can also work on independent projects as freelancers. This job usually works well with a drawing/arts background, but apt learners can receive training and start out in graphic design from scratch.

”Graphic design … offers a lot of opportunity because the industry is growing. The pros of graphic design are that you can learn it online, work for anyone in the world, and make up to $150 an hour. [Among the challenges] are the competition and keeping up with digital trends and technology.” — Daniel Javor, Founder & CEO of Step by Step Business

4. Product/project management – Product and project managers regulate the work of teams. Prior to COVID, this wasn’t specifically a remote kind of job, but these days lots of project and product managers (including our own here at MightyCall) work remotely from different parts of the country. For example, one of our product managers spent the summer working from the beach. So why not you?

5. SEO – No website is complete without Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and no business is complete without a website. This places huge demand on SEO specialists and it’s also the perfect kind of job if you want to travel. To start a SEO career, you have to be good at analytics, know how to work with spreadsheets and tables, and always stay on top of leading search engine algorithm trends, which implies a constant learning process.

”SEO work is a very recurrent job among digital nomads … who have their own projects and attract traffic by generating money to travel or work from anywhere in the world. When looking for SEO jobs, as in most cases there are two options: work for a company remotely or create your own project and monetize it to generate the income that will allow you to lead a good life as a digital nomad.” — Jeroen van Gils, CEO at LiFi.co

6. Security analyst – Security analysts ensure the digital privacy and security of organizations and businesses. This implies strategic planning on how to protect the company’s networks and computers against cyberattacks, cybercrime, fraud, and other malware.

How to get started in IT digital nomad jobs

• Enroll in an online course to pursue the IT career of your choice
• Get a tech mentor for faster progress
• Build a starter portfolio on pilot projects during online courses
• Sign up for an account on a freelancing marketplace like Upwork or Fiverr, or get your CV on HR sites – many companies out there are looking for remote junior-level IT specialists.

Aspiring IT professionals should begin with choosing their desired field of work and make a list of hard skills that the industry demands. For example, want-to-be programmers can explore the most popular programming languages.

Once you get the hang of what you plan to go into, enroll in a course on a platform like Coursera to pursue the particular job you want to get into and get started on pilot projects that you can put into your starter portfolio. Here’s more on how to launch an IT career in less than one year.

Virtual healthcare digital nomad jobs

7. Telemedicine – with the COVID era, virtual healthcare and telemedicine have become a popular choice with people who need medical assistance from the safety of their homes. If you have a medical degree, providing virtual medical consultations can allow you to lead a digital nomad lifestyle while being on call with patients ar certain hours.

8. Virtual Doula – Doulas are trained birth coaches that provide assistance to women during pregnancy as well as during and after childbirth. In the COVID days, the virtual doula trend has become very impressive as more and more women seek virtual assistance. Virtual doulas can be on call at any time, providing emotional assistance and physical training to women. This profession is a fit for many women who’re considering a digital nomad career – especially those with several children of their own.

9. Online nutritionist – As more and more people recuperate from COVID, many understand they need lifestyle and nutrition changes to get better sooner. Nutritionists are trained specialists who advise people, including those with special health conditions, on the best dietary and lifestyle strategy.

”The demand for healthy food has grown a lot in the COVID-reality lifestyle. Therefore, the search for online [health] services [like] nutritionists has also grown. As a digital nomad, you can research and use this knowledge to create authority on the internet with the production of [health-related] content, besides the creation of e-books.” – Richard Lubicky, founder, RealPeopleSearch.

How to get started in virtual healthcare digital nomad jobs

• Have a medical degree or get certification (for some jobs)
• Have a business website and social media presence
• Get a business phone number that will work from any place in the world

While you’ll need a medical degree to provide online medical consultations, other niches like becoming a virtual doula or a nutritionist demand only training and/or certification that can be completed online.

To nail a virtual healthcare job without a medical degree, opt for accredited certification courses in nutrition or as a virtual doula. This can be done on platforms like Dona International and Alpafitness. Once your certification is complete, you will need to set up a website and social media presence, and a business phone.

If you plan to be an international digital nomad but your clients will be from the USA or Canada, definitely get a U.S./Canada-based toll-free number. You should also connect it to a business profile like WhatsApp business. This will give you the freedom to receive professional calls and messages from any place in the world, while your clients don’t feel the geographical distance.

Writing digital nomad jobs

10. Blogging/Influencer – We’ve all seen them, those multi-millionaire kid bloggers. Which all makes it seem like blogging is a no-brainer. However, to be a successful blogger or influencer, you will need not just writing skills (and not even so much these) as much as knowledge of all the latest blogging trends, SEO, social media algorithms, and affiliate programs. However, blogging is natural for travelers for those in the know of the latest trends who enjoy an open lifestyle.

11. Copywriting/editing – Copywriting is one of the top jobs that’s associated with digital nomad freedom. If you have strong writing skills and a good knowledge of the niche(s) you will work with, you can take orders from individual clients, companies, magazines, newspapers, blogs, entrepreneurs, and people hiring ghostwriters. You may also do editorial work and work as part of a remote team in company marketing departments, which provides income stability in contrast to freelancing gigs.

”Copywriting … provides flexibility and allows you to work at your own pace. If you enjoy writing and conducting research, this is the job for you. [Usually] it would [also] require you to give marketing and advertising strategy and recommendations.” — Laura Roeder, Founder and CEO at PaperBell Coaching Software.

12. Translation – If you plan to live abroad and know another foreign language, doing translation work from that language to English can be a good secondary source of income as you become a digital nomad. Keep in mind that you need only an intermediate knowledge of the input language but a strong knowledge of the output language.

13. Book writing and publishing – Writing and publishing (or self-publishing) a book isn’t the top option if you need a steady income. But if you already have one and want to invest into long-term income, and always wanted to write a book, doing so while traveling is a picture-perfect story. Alternatively, you can get acquainted with the publishing industry or even become an independent publisher. 

What you need to get started in writing digital nomad jobs

• Possess strong writing skills
• Be reliable and ready to work on strict deadlines
• Build a professional website with your portfolio
• Learn affiliate marketing (for blogging and influencers)

Writing, blogging, and social medial influencers may seem like the simplest career option for nomads – after all, all you need is a laptop in tow. For writers, translators, and authors, a laptop and a sample portfolio of works are usually good enough to get started. Platforms like Medium will even pay you without a specific portfolio or experience, just for people reading your articles.

Importantly, writing for paid platforms, blogs, and magazines demands from authors a choice of specific topics to specialize in, knowledge of writing and editorial best practices, and an ability to adapt to the voice of various publications/platforms.

Business services digital nomad jobs

14. Marketing, Advertising, and PR – Marketing jobs are incredibly versatile and include digital marketing, social media marketing, advertising, PPC advertising, market and product analysis, product marketing, public relations, and more. These jobs are suitable for people with a writing and communications background or skills.

15. Business consulting – Business consultants organize business processes, work with leadership to develop business plans and budgets, help marketing and HR departments to work with clients, and consult on hiring strategies. Business consultants need strong analytical, problem-solving, communication skills, and a business or financial background.

16. External agency recruiter – unlike HR working specifically with a company, external recruiters can work from any place which has made them bulletproof even during the pandemic. Agency recruiters live off of sizeable commissions – top recruiters can make from $100-250k a year. The job demands strong communication and negotiation skills but can be a potent source of income if you’re a professional in the field.

“The job of an agency recruiter is completely free since we can choose how to use our time, our clients, our candidates, and who we want to spend our time with. When I’m traveling in Europe, I’ll walk around all morning and midday without having to turn on my laptop til the afternoon. Then I go to a coffee shop or back to my hotel and just work into the night. As long as my customers know what hours I’m working and how to reach me, there is nothing so urgent that requires me to be physically awake or available since most businesses only work 9-to-5.” – Entrepreneur and agency recruiter Dandan Zhu

17. Financial services – Virtual assistants can also provide financial services such as accounting, financial advisor/manager, budget analytics, stockbrokers, investment advisors, tax preparation consultants, and other forms of consultancy. A background in finance is usually necessary for these jobs.

18. Customer service – With the advent of technology like virtual phone systems with dozens of team features, customer service teams and call centers can be distributed across the world. While this job demands a stable and constant online presence during specific hours, if you’re comfortable working set hours and have stable internet, there’s no reason why you can’t work as a customer service representative while traveling.

How to get started in business service digital nomad jobs

• Define your competencies/skills
• Build a website and/or social media presence
• Get a virtual phone number that will work via WI-Fi
• Promote your services on professional networks, through connections, and on freelance marketplaces
• Join a professional community

The business services/assistance industry is ideal for people who work remotely. A business assistant or Virtual Assistant (VA) is someone who is hired by entrepreneurs and businesses. The range of services you provide can be targeted to a specific niche or you can offer a wide variety of non-specific services as a remote secretary would do. This is also an industry that provides a strong digital nomad support network.

The Association of Virtual Assistants is a great place to start if you’re new to the business services industry. Workers who like to travel can be either freelance business assistants or take it a step further and learn to start their own virtual assistant business.

Education digital nomad jobs

19. Teaching and virtual classes – During the pandemic, the demand for online classes has surged. Giving online language classes on platforms like iTalki or VipKid is a particularly popular gig for native English travelers and ex-pats. Virtual classes can range from just one skill that you’ll teach others (know Photoshop, Spreadsheets, InDesign, Adobe Premier, etc. useful software? Develop your own strategy and teach it better than others!) to sports and exercise, arts and crafts, and languages. The downside is that unless you develop teaching into a business, freelance teaching gigs aren’t usually enough to sustain a traveler’s lifestyle.

”For people who are entry-level and have limited skillsets, I recommend becoming an online English teacher. If you’re a native English speaker and writer, you should be able to land a job like this. [It] will allow you to live and work anywhere in the world.” — Cam Woodsum, Founder & CEO, Freedom Is Everything

20. Coaching – If virtual/online classes can be as small or big as you want them to be, coaching is a more 1-1 kind of experience. Coaching is usually targeted at a specific skill. Business coaches, life coaches, entrepreneurship coaches, finance coaches, fitness coaches, social media coaches – you name it, there is coaching for anything.

21. Online courses and webinars – Unlike online classes and coaching, online courses don’t need constant investments of time. Recorded once, online courses and webinars can then be successfully sold to a wide audience. This is usually a good option for someone who’s already working in the virtual education niches and has got an audience to market their courses to.

How to get started in education digital nomad jobs

• Write a short list of skills that you’re able and willing to share
• Have a business website and social media presence
• Get a low-cost second phone number (separate from your private number) for a professional business account
• Actively network and engage in online communities
• Promote your social media profiles to engage new audiences

Getting started in virtual education asks for strong communication skills and knowledge of digital marketing/social media marketing to get the word out about your classes/courses. Also, don’t forget about word of mouth! Even if your business is digital, spreading the word about it between friends, connections, and online communities is a great booster to finding your audience.

Visual and audio media digital nomad jobs

22. Photography – Photography is closely linked to travel, and one can easily become not only an inspiration but the hands-on material for your photography portfolio. Find a perfect niche from portrait photography, to wedding and event photography, children’s photography, animals and nature, industry-specific photography (like music, ballet, theater, sports, science, etc.), journalism photography, and more.

23. Illustration – Lots of businesses are looking to hire freelance illustrators that will help form a cohesive brand image. From blog and social medial illustrations to the larger brand vision, digital illustrators can work for individual entrepreneurs, companies, and, just like photographers, provide stock images to platforms like Shutterstock.

24. Audio transcription – Since the pandemic, there’s been a rising demand for audio transcription. This is due to many business meetings being handled over Zoom, and the rising necessity for companies to have those available as transcripts. While this is a job that probably won’t be enough to cover living expenses and may be sporadic unless you work on long-term projects, it can be combined with any other versatile gig for travelers.

“Transcription agencies hire typists as independent contractors, so scheduling tends to be very flexible. You can work as much or as little as you want, from anywhere in the world. It’s easy to get started — most agencies will ask you to complete a short aptitude test. ” – Chloe Brittain, owner of Opal Transcription Services

25. Videography – for those more familiar with the video camera, videography is likewise full of niches perfect for someone looking for a travel-related job. Like photography, it’s pretty versatile but comes with more expenses unless you already own the equipment.

How to get started in visual media digital nomad jobs

• Buy the right photography/video equipment depending on your niche
• Enroll in a course if you have little or no prior experience in the field
• Set up a professional website and Instagram with your portfolio of works
• Promote your portfolio on social media through paid ads
• Actively network with existing contacts and new groups and communities where your target audience can be found

Visual media jobs are a natural choice for nomads who travel the world. In fact, some of the most popular visual artists have started out by taking leaps of faith like quitting boring and unfulfilling jobs to start as photographers and videographers. Many of them started from scratch, built their first portfolio by photographing friends, learned by trial and error, and went on to become prized professionals in their field.

Apart from building their clientele, photographers and videographers can also submit work to stock websites and earn commissions that will self-generate income.

Working Nomad Communication: Opt for Simple

The digital nomad experience is what generations of people have dreamed about: a fantastic means not to miss a moment of life while you work remotely from any spot in the world. Moreover, as we’ve seen above, with the variety of jobs available, you can choose something that draws on your experience and develops into a full-fledged business.

As you travel the world with your business, you’ll see that one of the survival aspects is cost-effective communication from any place. To avoid excess mobile fees, if you have customers in one country but travel/live in another, your smartphone should operate via WI-FI and a virtual phone system (VoIP).

At MightyCall, we’re a remote team ourselves, so we know how important communication is to running a business. Our award-winning VoIP system allows you to work from any spot in the world and keep/get your U.S./Canada-based business phone number (local or toll-free). Reliable, simple, and low-cost, you won’t lose a single client back home, wherever you happen to work from.

Learn more about MightyCall’s virtual phone system perfect for digital nomads, starting at just $9/month!

The post 25 Digital Nomad Jobs for a High-Paying Remote Career first appeared on MightyCall.

In the unthought-of remote work scenario of 2020–21, we’ve seen that a productive work from home environment is a lot different than Pinterest would have it. But what are the most nagging culprits behind our burnout? What challenges, hopes, and struggles do U.S. remote workers daily face at home? And what can their bosses and families do to make remote work comfortable?

These are some of the questions MightyCall asked a total of 480+ people in online remote work communities, in an independent remote work poll.

Based on the responses received, here are the numbers (transposed to percentages for convenience) that business owners and managers alike should have a look at to better understand their employees’ remote work habits.

Plus, we’ll take a look at what those stats mean and how they translate to (more) loveable remote work practices.

1. After nearly a year of remote work, home office hardware and privacy are still a problem

Many of today’s work at homers were thrust into the remote work scene abruptly with the start of the pandemic in 2020. They had nowhere near the convenience of the “digital nomad” or “laptop lifestyle” guru.

Add to that a financial crisis that impacted about 46% of American households as a result of the pandemic, and you’ll see how many remote workers still struggle with the hardware which they need to efficiently work at home but can’t afford to buy.

66% of poll respondents said they lack hardware in their home office. Lack of a printer/scanner topped the list with over 35% of votes, followed by Desktop PC at 31%.

The second-largest factor in remote work is, understandably, privacy. Know that comic where a dad works from a tent in his living room labeled “Office, do not disturb” while the kids and pets run like crazy around it screaming? This is something many of us have become familiar with in recent months.

26% of remote workers polled said they don’t have a personal space for work at home.

That comes down to roughly a quarter of work from homers having inadequate space to quietly and productively work. And with cafes and many open workspaces not safe enough to migrate to, lack of privacy results in pushed deadlines, screaming bosses, and even ruined families.

What to do if that’s you/your employees

If you’re a manager or CEO of remote workers, knowing the living circumstances of your employees will help foreshadow conflict and missed deadlines. When you know what’s happening in your team’s life, you can find ways to solve challenges beforehand. For example, by opening up the office to certain employees or at certain times or finding safe coworking spaces in your city.

Asking whether your employees lack essential hardware is important if you deal with documentation (say, if you’re a legal practice) that does a lot of printing/scanning. One way to solve the scanner problem is using a mobile scanning app like DropBox Scan App on your mobile phone. This is actually a two-in-one, letting you store documents after scanning them.

2. Lack of informal socializing kills the team spark

Say “remote worker” a year ago, and you’d imagine the bespectacled introvert, gnawing away at their laptop in a dark corner of a coffee shop.

But these days, even introverts aren’t like that! We love to socialize with friends and colleagues whom we know and love. We love our dark corner of the coffee shop only when it’s voluntary confinement.

These pandemic days, lack of socializing is frustrating all of us, both introverts and extroverts. And it’s impacting our spark.

Only 3% of respondents said they miss live business meetings. A whopping 60% feel deprived of informal socializing.

Guess what? It may not be curiosity, after all, that killed the cat, but confinement (at least, Schrodinger’s cat).

What to do if that’s you/your employees

The 60% of people that miss informal socializing can’t dwindle to 0%, but it may be effectively lowered if more managers and bosses used communication channels not just for work, but for informal chats and even play.

It’s a common mistake to think of virtual team-building activities  as “special occasions”. It’s much better to ease into every daily meeting with an informal 5-min chat about anything except work. Make informal socializing with colleagues a part of your remote work life, just like you’d do in normal life, vs. a fancy “bi-weekly team building event”. This won’t normalize your social life altogether, but it will drop more carefree moments into your workday.

If you’re using channels like Slack, Discord, or Teams for work chat, some of the strongest teams actually create a space just for exchanging informal chats and those cat memes everyone loves. Follow their example. Smile.

3. If you’re having one too many Zoom meetings, your team needs a break — literally

With most managers insisting on face-to-face communication as a means to gain illusive control over remote workers’ w̶a̶r̶d̶r̶o̶b̶e̶ productivity (giving 25% of us just enough time to pull a crumpled shirt over sweatpants), Zoom fatigue is a condition 2021 remote workers are intimately familiar with.

Gianpiero Petriglieri, associate professor at Insead, says  that the reason even “happy hour” Zoom calls cause fatigue is that using one platform to juggle all our social interactions is detrimental, not beneficial, to human psychology. “It doesn’t matter whether you call it a virtual happy hour, it’s a meeting, because mostly we are used to using these tools for work,” he says.

Here are some Zoom stats from our poll:

53% of respondents said their quirkiest work from home habit was having “pets on/under the desk”, including during Zoom calls.

Among the 18% that chose “Other”, some commented that they have to regularly put Zoom calls on hold to do bathroom breaks.

At least now you know what some of those awkward pauses were about.

What to do if that’s you/your employees

Zoom is a great way to connect emotionally and check up on how everyone’s faring (or degrading, if that’s what your boss fears), but don’t overdo communication for communication’s sake.

Anna Miranchuk, NPG’s “Women in IT” Silver Medalist and Product Manager at MightyCall recommends  using Zoom knowledgeably. “At the beginning of our own remote work journey, we diligently obeyed the ‘over-communication’ rule,” Miranchuk says. “Quickly enough, trampled by the virtual meetings stampede, managers including myself realized they have no time left for actual work.”

Remote workers and their managers will see that a voice chat doesn’t in fact, lower productivity. In fact, audio is great to get through the business at hand. Likewise, use chat groups on Slack or Discord for clarifying running matters.

Zoom can be reserved for weekly face-to-face meetings and team building, making video calls special, not frustrating.

4. Work-from-homers struggle with self-motivation — but not the kind managers fear

Say “self-motivation” and BAM — your boss thinks “productivity”. But this is about another kind of self-motivation — one that eventually explodes on productivity like a ticking bomb, but remains unnoticed for months and even years. I’m talking about physical self-motivation.

Remote workers agree that the biggest lack of motivation they face is pursuing exercise habits. 53% of remote workers polled struggle with exercise in their daily routine.

In contrast, 66% of remote workers are currently satisfied with their productivity, though turn that number and you’ll see that 34% are looking for tools — usually digital — to improve. And this is the problem, that while Pomodoro timer can help improve your short-term productivity, only getting off that home office chair will boost your productivity long-term.

What to do if that’s you/your employees

Most managers and CEOs are concerned only with business productivity and as long as those rates are OK, they think everything is fine. This is a big mistake.

Among the growing concerns of COVID-19 remote workers has been the feeling that their productivity is on the verge of dropping because of the prolonged lack of social interaction, sports/outdoor exercise, and travel.

While travel and social contacts are still limited, individual sports and exercise are proven psychological rejuvenators that reduce stress. Many famous people started their workday only after a walk. Why not emulate them?

If you’re a remote worker or have a remote team, encourage sports breaks during the workday, hold weekend activities and even challenges (have fun and share the photos) or gather outdoors for a picnic/exercise if it’s safe in your area.

Remember to check in on the psychological health of yourself/ your team regularly and find the exercise routine that fits your workday best.

5. Remote workers don’t plan to move to the office anytime soon. But not all bosses agree.

Before the pandemic, remote work was a dream for many, but a dream out of reach. Many bosses were reluctant to give up control — mainly psychological — over their employees and accepting remote work even as a part-time arrangement seemed improbable.

Last year, we saw how all prejudices dropped in view of necessity. And it’s safe to say, the masse migration in favor of remote work isn’t going anywhere.

75% of remote workers polled say they plan to continue remote work post-pandemic.

So far so good. But there’s still a problem that among the 25% who plan to return to work or are currently undecided, there’s also necessity speaking. For example, some remote workers are already gathering hard evidence for their bosses on the improved productivity of remote workers, or are planning negotiations for at least part-time remote work post-pandemic.

What to do if that’s you/your employees

If you want to drift towards permanent remote work after the pandemic but your boss doesn’t even want to hear about it, give it a try anyway. Gather the evidence, and more importantly, be the evidence. Document and offer the results of your work as proof of credibility.

If reasoning doesn’t work, however, there’s no reason to stick to a job that forces you to go back to the office when you have other plans for your life, or when other employers are able to accommodate those plans.

The best you can do it set the matter straight with your boss right early on, instead of hoping they’ll change their mind. If they’re immovable to negotiation, you’ll win the time to find yourself another hustle or even start your own. Why not? Entrepreneurship is, after all, the ultimate remote work move.

Final word

As the results above show, loving remote work (or making your team love it) is caring to make your remote work environment the most comfortable it can be.

Whether you’re a remote worker, a manager, a CEO, or a family member of a remote worker, we’ve all got things to work on to make remote work better. As for me, today looks like the best day to address those questions.

Because crazy WFH memes might be fun viewing, but a peaceful household is what all of us need to make remote work loveable again.

The post MightyCall Asked 480+ Remote Workers About Their Struggles, Habits, and Hopes. Here’s What We Found Out. first appeared on MightyCall.

The fact that employees now use personal mobile devices for everything from personal entertainment (e.g. free movie nights) to daily business tasks involving sensitive data means your team doesn’t have to go far and wide to catch cyber viruses. And let’s say right away that cyber viruses are as dangerous to your small business as coronavirus is to your health.

Just like their human counterparts, cyber viruses are extremely contagious, have a thing for “big” gatherings of people (think torrents and freeware), and can go unnoticed for several days. Worst of all, it is precisely remote workers who bring the most risk to their companies, a new Kaspersky survey  finds.

What cybersecurity gaps should remote workers and small business owners pay specific attention to? Here are seven important stats you can’t miss.

2/3 of remote workers don’t receive instructions on cybersecurity from their company

A lack of team culture on how to protect personal devices are the top reasons data breaches occur in small business environments, according to the Kaspersky survey. The problem is two-fold: a  lack of consistent security information for team members (even if that’s a team of two) and an equally dangerous belief in small business “invincibility” that many smaller companies share.

Most small business managers and owners think security as only necessary for the “big guys” — so if you aren’t anywhere close to Google dimensions, you’re all safe. This is a very frequent misconception since small business is vulnerable on two fronts: website hacking and data leaks due to unsafe BYOD practices.

DDOS or “distributed denial of service” remains a very popular website hacking tactic. This means that your network is bombarded with spam traffic so real users can’t gain access to it. At this point, hackers will force you to pay them in order to restore service. According to Embroker, here’s how educating your employees and creating a proper response plan will help protect your business against common types of cybercrime.

68% of remote workers use personal devices for work

Kaspersky’s survey revealed over two-thirds of respondents using personal devices for work — which in 2020 conditions is nowhere near surprising. What is problematic is the content these personal devices are subjected to outside of working hours.

Add to that the Pew Research Center data demonstrating that 53% of 1000 surveyed internet users aren’t certain about things as basic as http vs https protocol (in case you aren’t sure, the extra ‘s’ in the web address shows that the website encrypts your data and is basically, a yardstick of website safety), and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a hacker attack on your newly-remote workers.

33% of remote workers use personal devices to access content known for frequent malware attacks

If you’ve ever downloaded freeware  — or watched a movie online for free with fingers kinda crossed, this one’s for you. But if the next morning you sent an email to a colleague with business information that’s by default private, well, you better cross fingers on both hands!

As a business owner or manager of a small team, keep in mind that the same devices your team uses to send each other documents, sensitive client information, and access business software is the very device on which about a third of remote workers also access high-risk content.

The aforementioned Kaspersky study found that one-third of respondents admitted to viewing adult content from the same personal devices they use to access business data. And the problem with such content is it draws hackers like honey. It’s the perfect place to distribute malware.

Other frequently hacked content remote workers view from personal devices includes:

• Freeware
• Torrents
• Games
• Pirate content like free streaming movies, music, etc.

You’ll find that asking team members upfront whether they’ve accessed any of these websites in the last 2 months may not go very honestly or transparently. But sending your remote team a regular memo with the reminder of not accessing such websites on devices they use for business is a no-brainer.

Wi-Fi attacks on your data can take less than 2 seconds

Remote workers may think Wifi is among the greatest inventions of humankind, but in reality, it’s also the biggest threat to small business security. Connected to in a random way (think cafes, hotels, and other public spaces) Wi-Fi is as bad a security threat as it gets — and all it takes for malware to get under your device’s “skin” is 2 seconds, according to Extreme Network.

The problem with remote workers, especially those just gone remote is they don’t really understand the danger behind Wi-Fi networks, even password-protected ones. And even if they do know it, they may just forget to protect their devices “occasionally”, while in a hurry.

After all, 75% of people say 1 week without Wi-Fi would leave them grumpier than 1 week without coffee. How much of that Wi-Fi connectivity is done with all safety practices observed? It may be time to ask your colleagues.

Only 13% of internet users understand VPN

VPN is the must-have when connecting to public Wi-Fi, but it’s a great tool way beyond that. VPN safeguards your data on password-protected Wi-Fi since the latter is not a guarantee of a secure network in itself. It also protects your mobile data and home broadband.

The problem with VPN, according to the same Pew Research Center survey, is that 70% of survey respondents that encompassed over a thousand American internet users say they aren’t sure about the role of VPN in minimizing Wi-Fi risk. For a business that’s dealing with a lot of sudden remote workers, this lack of knowledge is especially troubling.

For non-IT sectors, I’d suggest hooking up to a specific VPN service and sticking to it since non-tech people are really better at sticking to something that their team uses too. Do the same for antivirus software, including antivirus on mobile devices. Explain to your team the importance of paid antivirus software and even buy it on company budget if necessary.

90 percent of mobile apps are susceptible to cyber-security threats

Cybersecurity experts show that it’s extremely easy for hackers to get into a remote worker’s personal device through mobile app downloads. With dozens of apps being downloaded to mobile phones, iPads, and tablets, mobile devices users often go for free vs. verified.

For example, a solopreneur in search of a second phone number may go out to find a free mobile phone app that promises to take care of the problem instantly. Or you may be in search of VPN to safeguard your Wi-fi connection. The list goes on and on. There are lots of free apps for many needs, so why overpay, when you can google your way to freeware?

So malware doesn’t find your way into your devices, remind your remote workers to download only verified apps and avoid any apps that ask you to download through PC first. There are lots of legit apps out there that are both cybersecurity verified and low-cost.

For example, anyone looking for a low-cost second phone number can check out this mega-comparison of VoIP providers which shows only cybersecurity safe and verified providers. Likewise, for free VPN, you can use something like Kaspersky VPN that has a legitimate free daily traffic quota.

30,000 small business websites are hacked each day

Last but not least, a small business should always remember to protect its website against hacker attacks and remind employees that they should always use antivirus software on all devices (including mobile).

Hackers are targeting SMB websites all the time precisely because it’s most relaxed about cybersecurity! As a result, 1/3 of data breaches target small business and 30,000 SMB websites are hacked per day. If you think that’s not you because you’re a legit site, think again. Those are precisely legitimate small business websites that unbeknownst to their owners have malicious content attached to them.

Some of the most accessible anti-hacker protection measures for websites include security plugins, SSL encryption, and Google Analytics and Search Console’s “Security Issues” tab. More advanced features, such as safeguarding against XSS attacks and SQL injection demand some tech help.

Summary

• Understand the importance of cybersecurity for small business and make it known to your team
• Regularly send instructions on cybersecurity via email
• Inform your team on the types of websites to avoid when using personal devices for business
• Instruct team members on using VPN and antivirus products
• Download only verified mobile apps and avoid freeware
• Download only reliable business-reviewed cloud tools 

Finally, don’t be afraid to sound nagging and even boring with company policy reminders and rules! It’s better to remind an employee how to encrypt data five times in a row than once suffer a cybersecurity attack that will cost your business thousands of dollars in legal fees.

We’d love you to know that for all small business owners, MightyCall created a phone system that prioritizes cybersecurity and privacy. Our special 50% off offer makes it even easier to join. Check it out below!

The post 7 Cybersecurity Statistics for Remote Workers first appeared on MightyCall.

To get the job done in the midst of a national crisis, countless household distractions (“Sorry honey, daddy needs to work now!”, “Um, did you forget to walk the dog…again?”, “I told you not to come in when the door is closed!” etc.) and no external motivation you need to cultivate the kind of grit you once only dreamed of.

So what makes working from home so attractive and successful for some people while making it miserable for others? The difference comes down to habits. What I mean by that isn’t the habits you’re born with, but the habits you acquire. Just like a plant grows tall and strong through watering, weeding, and fertilizing, so does your business resilience grow each day you consciously cultivate it.

Below, we’ll take a look at the major skills and habits which will empower you to work from home effectively and with minimal stress.  And since we live in a digital age when technology has the super-power to encourage habits, this conversation wouldn’t be complete without digital tools for cultivating each skill.

Habit #1: Beating the urge to multitask

Multitasking may seem like a superpower. In reality, for 98% of people multitasking is proven to decrease productivity by 40%, increase errors by 50%, and lower IQ by 15 points. On the contrary, setting concrete goals makes you 10x more effective, and writing them down makes you 3x more prone to succeed.

When you get into the habit of focusing on goals, the good thing is, it will spill into all areas of your life, and most importantly your work/life balance. Even if you go back to working in the office a few months later, you’ll see a terrific boost in productivity.

Productivity tools to avoid multitasking

In the wide array of productivity tools out there, there are some that are focused primarily on stopping your urges to multitask.

• Serene is a terrific MacOS tool that helps you set a specific goal for the day and focus on getting it done. Once you set your daily goal(s), you can set the app to block distractions like social media sites, have it silence your phone while you work, update messenger statuses, and more. All it costs is $4/month with a free 14-day trial.
• Week Plan is a tool based on the book The 7 Habits of Highly Succesful People. It’s a special planner that lets you set a weekly schedule with set priorities, goals, and deadlines. Perfect for work from home people, managers, and small business owners. Now $8/month with 50% COVID-19 discount and 7-day trial.
• Tomato Timer is based on the classic Pomodoro technique of focusing on single tasks for several 25 min periods with breaks in between. Set this free online timer and complement with a free browser extension like StayFocused that blocks tempting sites (think social media, blogs, etc.)

Habit #2: Becoming a good communicator

One of the driving forces behind remote work is team communication. Unfortunately, it’s also the most problematic aspect of working at home (shout out to you, fellow introverts!), says the 2019 State of Remote Report.

Keep in mind that virtual communication isn’t the same as in-office communication. A misunderstanding in a virtual environment can lead to a late discovery of the problem and set off a chain reaction of complications.
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The best remedy? Ask your team and/or managers questions whenever you have a shadow of a doubt about anything. Overcommunicating won’t make you pesky! Undercommunicating will make remote work frustrating.

Team communication tools for working from home

If your team is working from home for the first time, decide which communication tools everyone’s most comfortable with. Don’t go for more than two at a time and make sure your whole team has the tools downloaded to both PCs and mobile phones. (And if on Monday morning you’re feeling like the guy in the meme, don’t worry, there’s always messaging!)

• Skype for Business– A business app for chats and audio calls with colleagues and clients throughout the day. Avoid using Skype for video chats with clients if you don’t want the frozen connection to impact your professional image. Skype for Business Basic is free. The regular version is priced $2/month per user.

• Zoom  — HQ video conferencing (use for clients and team) that doesn’t freeze like Skype when on call with clients and multiple users. Has free and paid versions. Definitely worth investing if you talk to clients via video.
• Slack — Advanced platform for business messaging. Best for remote teams that are already experienced with Slack. Has free and paid versions.
• Facebook Workplace — Individual social platform for companies small and large. Employees can create groups based on projects/departments, instantly discuss projects, message and call each other, schedule virtual events, etc. All-in-one solution to keep your team on the same page. Has a free version.

Habit #3: Being extra committed to clients

When working from home, your customer service needs to be on par with what you provide regularly, in the office. If solopreneurs got this covered, teams that aren’t used to communicating with clients from home have to adapt to a variety of new remote tools. As a result, a considerable gap in customer service may arise.

For business owners and managers, being committed to customer service while working remotely means providing everything your team needs to contact existing clients from home, gain/store new leads, and delegate tasks to each other. Importantly, this process has to stay streamlined but human, so colleagues can take full charge of customer service with home technology like mobile phones and laptops.

MightyCall business phone system with built-in CRM

As you’re about to set up customer service from home, you’ll need a business phone system that works across multiple home devices, is simple enough to use, and includes a built-in CRM that all of your employees can have right on their phone.

Sounds like too good for just one tool? Well, MightyCall is a virtual phone system (in other words, cloud-based telephony) that’s like a treasure chest stuffed with features to make your customer communication simple.

Here are just a few things you can do with MightyCall’s virtual phone system:

• Get business calls forwarded to your team’s mobile phones (it doesn’t matter how many employees you’ve got!)
• Tweak after-hours settings (custom greetings, voicemail, special call forwarding for VIP clients, etc.)
• Use the built-in CRM feature that lets any team member save business contacts and add notes about clients in the shared contact book. Business Contact Book with mini-CRM is auto-synced to all your team’s devices so any colleague can follow up on a business lead according to notes left.
• Integrate your business social media accounts into your phone system, so all business DMs and calls are visible right in your MightyCall dashboard.
• Collaborate on client communication from a single cloud dashboard, delegate tasks to each other, and get performance reports.

Habit #4: Collaborating in the cloud

Nothing saves time like good systematization. So if you find yourself emailing back and forth, copying and pasting, downloading and editing, saving endless document versions and seeing your personal laptop turn into a massive storage bin, it’s time to change things around. Unless in a massive clean-up crisis, you press delete on what turns out to be an urgent project!

Bottom line: even if your home isn’t a Home Living example of neatness, your projects and documents certainly need to be!

Cloud project collaboration tools

When you’re working from home (i.e. from your personal laptop), forget emails and Microsoft Word and make it a rule to collaborate on all projects — files, spreadsheets, presentations, tables, designs, etc .– using cloud tools.

Here are just a few favorites that let you collaborate online:

• G Suite for Business — A terrific cloud alternative to Microsoft Office, G Suite will organize your projects, ideas, tasks, and storage so your personal laptop doesn’t become cluttered and your head remains clear. Find out about GSuite features and pricing.
• Canva — indispensable for design projects, including for teams that do the design work themselves. With Canva, your team can register in the system for free, share projects and comment on them right in the web app. Great free version.
• Evernote — My go-to app for grabbing and saving information off the internet. Be sure to download the Evernote browser extension which lets you instantly clip and save articles/info from the internet, save it to Evernote, share, and edit/comment. Great free version with best features.

Plus, as we mentioned earlier, with MightyCall you can also take your business phone system into the cloud and share a single dashboard for business contacts, calls, and tasks with your team!

Habit #5: Staying punctual in virtual environments

Being punctual and on-time is hard enough when you’re in the office. Now, when working from home, you already have hands full of responsibilities and chores, including unexpectedly filling in for someone. This means your work agenda has to be doubly planned and automated.

For personal tasks, like daily to-do lists, keeping a notepad on your desk works really well, since you can keep the phone away or on airplane mode — and save yourselves from any notification temptations! But for tasks that involve team and client collaboration, you’ll need a reliable scheduling app that will save time on numerous emails for setting up “convenient meeting time” for everyone involved.

Scheduling tools for teams and clients

• Calendly is a scheduling app that lets your clients and/or team members schedule an appointment (including virtual call). Calendly is especially useful for working with customers who can basically choose any time slot that works for them, based on the availability preferences you previously set up.
• Doodle is another scheduling app that’s similar to Calendly but more visual and team-oriented. Users can check off time on their calendars when they’d like to book a meeting. It also has a useful poll feature for larger groups/teams to decide on meeting time.
• Spacetime.am is an add on for Slack and a must for nationally and internationally distributed teams and clients. Connect your network to skip not only the embarrassing “accident” calls at 4am, but to stop bothering colleagues during off-hours.

Habit #6: Dedicating time to peace of mind

It may seem paradoxical for the innocent spectator who thinks work from home is sitting back in your pajamas with a laptop propped up against the pillow — but burnout is top on the list of problems people working from home experience. That’s because working from home is about constant multi-tasking.

To avoid stress, a feeling of isolation, and being unable to separate personal time from business, workers from home are in need of special attention to their health habits and psychological health. Once again, these habits aren’t something we’re born with, they’re something anyone who’s undergone a major switch of work routines needs to consciously advocate.

Health and wellness tools

Taking care of your health is proven to increase attention spans, control anxiety, improve your memory, and boost productivity. In the midst of even the most hectic workday, find several minutes to wipe stress from your mind and reconnect to the natural world.

If you’re in for the no-fuss tools, use the regular health app on your phone to track your daily activity. For example, set the goal on your daily walking/running routines and stick to them diligently. Or check out these great health apps:

• DailyYoga — With this free yoga app, you can do workouts with a specific goal in mind like: boosting your immune system, relieving stress, yoga for a good night’s sleep, strength training, and more.
• Centr — If you want some extra glam, this is a celebrity workout app from Australian actor Chris Hemsworth teamed up with award-winning trainers, this is a workout, nutrition, and lifestyle app all in one.
• Headspace — Among the features of this popular meditation app are meditation reminders to unplug you after several hours of work, so you come back invigorated and 2x more productive.

Final word

As we’ve seen above, working from home is a crash course in motivation, self-organization, and beating procrastination. Whether it’s your piece of cake in the long run or not, you can add a whole lot of indispensable habits to your career baggage by learning to work on your own, in a challenging environment in the midst of crisis.

Find out more about the wonders a virtual phone system can do for a business that works from home. And grab some fantastic savings on business communication below, while they last!

The post 6 Power Habits for Working From Home + Tools to Nail Them first appeared on MightyCall.

For me, a seasoned telecommuter, remote work is about flexibility, self-discipline, saved commute time, and … that hilarious video with the politics guy. You know, the analyst doing a live Skype interview on BBC when two of his toddlers spring into the room? (Go ahead, watch it  again. Because we all need an extra smile right now.)

Today, when due to COVID-19  lots of businesses are switching to remote work, the question “how do we do this right?” matters like never before. As a matter of fact, the key to nailing remote work isn’t avoiding “embarrassing” moments like your dog’s tail getting caught on a video call (let’s admit — those do happen and that’s OK). Chances are, your boss won’t even notice, or will think it’s incredibly cute. All they’ll be really concerned about is whether your output is as productive and your mind as bright on the couch as in the office cubicle. 

Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to 10 amazing business owners from various industries and share their experience of going remote. Whether you’re hopping on the telecommute as we speak or are looking for more best practices to adopt,  jump straight to their insights for every industry.

1.Work in blocks of time 

Psi Bands CEO Romy Taormina isn’t just a business owner with over 13 years of experience. She’s also a mom to two teenagers who balances managing a bustling business with the demands of family life. Before the COVID-19 crisis, Romy and her team effectively balanced between remote and office work but in the last weeks, all five team members have transitioned to full-time remote work.

Romy says that working from home effectively doesn’t mean being negligent about any other regular duties. Instead, she suggests allotting blocks of time to different activities.  “Set aside what hour(s) [work] will be and commit to it. Then, during your break, go do the laundry or take out the trash. But the laundry and trash don’t dictate or interrupt your work time. Working in blocks will allow you to stay focused and get the job done.” 

Setting boundaries and making those respected is another vital part of working remotely. If you’re working from home, Romy says you should “make it clear to your household that you are at work when the door is closed and unless it’s an ER, you are not to be interrupted.” To help your family remember, put up a sign for what time you’ll be available again.

2. Rethink your video communication practices 

When you’re working remotely, suddenly a lot of your communication is audio/video conferencing. While for smaller teams it’s no problem to get everyone online at the same time, nationally distributed teams have to cope with time-zones and schedules.

With his incredible software for remote workers, Prezi CEO Peter Arvai is helping the world do online presentations and conferences right.

Contrary to intuitive opinion, Peter says not all meetings have to be live. “At least ¼ of video meetings should be asynchronous (videos that can be watched anytime) [You can] cut down meeting time by sending the video presentation portion in advance [since] significant portion of meetings is spent with someone presenting the “jumping off point” information.” Another best practice is to keep video conferences short and to the point. “The average mind wanders after 18 minutes [so] hour-long video calls should be a thing of the past,” Peter points out.

3. Expand your online activity base 

As founder and CEO of HousePaws Mobile Veterinary Service, Lisa Aumiller has 106 employees under her wing. All telecommute at least part-time.  The mobile mindset, vital to the business’s vision, has blossomed into a strategy that encourages managers to remote-work for “complicated, time-consuming tasks that go more efficiently without interruption.”

Speaking to businesses worried of changing their regular routines to remote ones, Lisa encourages bridging the gap with technology. “Be flexible and just do it!  [At Housepaws] instead of canceling all of our classes, we started doing some via teleclassrooming…We have also started using an app called TeleVet where clients can have a telemedicine consultation with our veterinarians […] People love interacting online and learning.” 

Even if you’ll transition back into the office as soon as the crisis is over, the online experience will be a huge boost. For Lisa’s team, teleconferencing already brought up meeting attendance from 60% to 95%.

4. Be your own strict boss 

Matthew Zajechowski of Digital Third Coast  is no stranger to remote and office work. But when his Chicago company’s 17-person team went fully remote from March 13, 2020, “in the best interest for the health of employees”, it was a change some employees still needed adapting to.

When working from home with little prior experience, you’ve got to avoid household distractions and be your own strict boss.  “Plan out your schedule before you start working for the day. This includes start and end times, scheduled breaks and what you plan to accomplish today [and] pretend like your boss is looking over your shoulder,” Matthew suggests. 

Being strict with yourself doesn’t mean working day and night, though. In fact, overwork is one of the leading causes of burnout for first-time remote workers. The answer? Balance. Matthew reminds us that sticking to regular hours and knowing “when to sign off at the end of the day” is non-negotiable.

5. Save time with remote work hardware and technology 

As schools transition to virtual environments, most educational businesses follow suit. Even when your company is an interactive educational summer camp. 

Already a month before official COVID-19 measures, Meghan Gardner of Guard Up’s Guardian STEM Adventures lost no time in transitioning 20 employees and all kids’ activities to Google Classroom. This included getting  “platforms up and running, tested, and staff trained on it”. As a result, by the end of March, her business runs 100% remotely.

To businesses who’ll be doing a lot of online talking with clients, Meghan recommends investing in hardware essentials like “headsets to cut down on ambient sound”, and software such as free or low-cost second phone number to avoid talking with business clients from your personal number.

Read more: Six Reasons to Use a Separate Cell Phone Number as a Business Line

6. Don’t use email for setting tasks

If you’ve been thrust into the remote work scene unexpectedly, the current time can be a crash course in productivity. Being locked up inside one house with kids, pets, or roommates is the right time to learn key tasks like self-discipline and beat procrastination for good.

Jackie Minchillo, co-owner of Pineapple Development, an eCommerce web development agency, knows what it’s like to manage a 14-person distributed team. “My co-owner, our CEO (who also happens to be my husband) and I have spent more than 5 years … honing the remote work process as our team has grown, ” she says. 

What helps Jackie’s team stay effectively remote is discipline, plus knowing what tools to use when. “Assign tasks to each other (or yourself) in Asana (or whatever project management software you choose) for smooth workflow … and maintain status updates somewhere other than email. Email is “no bueno” for organization [purposes].” Jackie says. If you’re not familiar with productivity software, use a check-list (like Google Keep, part of G Suite) where employees can check off tasks in real-time.

Read more: G Suite: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives 

7. Try a virtual coworking space to stay connected

Remote work is about taking control of your whole day, starting from the moment you wake up and up to your after-hours. With lots of temptation to switch schedules frantically around, many employers appreciate a virtual coworking space where the connectedness of teamwork isn’t lost.

Taylor Jacobson, CEO of Focusmate, uses their own virtual co-working space for his globally-distributed remote team based from NYC to Oregon to Vietnam. “When you’re alone, it’s easy to drift into housework, snacking, or YouTube…We find it helpful to use a virtual coworking service like Focusmate to create structured blocks of time for deep work.”

Add to that a healthy morning routine like a stand-up call “to mentally and physically transition” in the absence of a commute and office, and you’re ready to be productive.

8. When 1% in doubt, communicate 

As a virtual business coach, Debra Dinnocenzo of Virtual Works! knows what first-time telecommuters struggle with like no one else. 

If you’ve just gone into emergency “remote mode”, it’s easy to misunderstand a task, timeline, or key instruction from your boss. To avoid any disruptions, Debra says your tool of choice should be communication. “This is not a time to under-communicate. Rather, remote workers and leaders should reach out using telephone, text, email, and video links where possible to convey a sense of ‘virtual presence’ that lets team members know they’re not isolated or forgotten.”

To help both the ‘instant’ telecommuters and distance leaders who are unexpectedly working remotely, Virtual Works has made “Emergency Telecommuting” available for free download in response to the COVID-19 outbreak (and the ‘telecommuting outbreak’!) 

9. Transition your mindset beyond industry confines 

The current crisis is forcing businesses that have so far avoided the digital realm to swiftly change their mindset. But for the live entertainment sector, doing so can be especially challenging. 

In strict social distancing conditions, Denny Daniel, founder and curator of the Museum of Interesting Things, has been forced to adapt his team to new environments — from a place far from virtual reality.  “Our whole point was that it was a tactile live presentation, not even Powerpoint [but] I am a show must go on kinda person,” Denny explains. “A school asked this week if we could do a virtual presentation and scheduled one already for this Tuesday.” 

To everyone who finds themselves novices in the virtual realm, Denny gives a few key pointers. “Redefine your purpose so it fits the virtual world and update the website, FB and IG immediately. Send an email blast to introduce the rollout when ready and take pics of the first time and post them.” By quickly adapting to changing environments, your business can stay on the crest of the wave while others hit bottom. 

10. Connect with your family during the day 

Parents who’re unexpectedly working from home due to the COVID-10 outbreak find themselves juggling households and remote work. For households with children, this can be especially tough since your family should never feel isolated or abandoned — even if  “mommy is busy with work” more than the norm.

Elaine Taylor-Klaus, co-founder and CEO of family-first company ImpactADHD.com manages a team of parents working digitally. Elaine reassures parents who feel worried that their home will never be the picture-perfect ‘home office’. “It’s absolutely okay to do a load of laundry (or three) in the middle of the day. Make this work in your life [but] create a consistent structure for yourself in terms of when you’ll wake up, and when you expect yourself to be ‘at work’.”

Now is also a very important time to put family first. “If you have kids, schedule clear time to take a break in the afternoon and connect with them about their day,” Elaine says. Your family should never feel like they’re of secondary importance to your job, especially during stressful times like these.

Coronavirus response

Whether you’re a solopreneur or a team, we know you’re undergoing challenging times right now. That’s why we’d like to support you by offering remote business communication for free. Right now, we’re offering MightyCall’s virtual phone system at a 100% discount to healthcare providers, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and municipalities. Sign up or grab some of our other savings below.

The post Keep Calm and Work Remotely: 10 Best Practices as Shared by Pros first appeared on MightyCall.

An Allianz survey shows more than half of Americans haven’t gone on vacation in a year, and almost 4 in 10 haven’t taken a vacation in two years. And this despite the overwhelming benefits of frequent traveling such as reduced stress, boosted creativity, and even a lower risk of heart disease.

For small business owners, traveling is a particular challenge. How do you manage your business remotely for a week, or two, or three, when letting go for an hour feels like shattering a dozen balls you’ve been juggling at the same time?

Fear not — with smart tools and some wise planning, managing your business while savoring memorable moments with family and friends is possible for absolutely any type of business. You don’t even have to call it a “vacation” — it can be your new mode of life.

The key is to not shame away from travel as a small business owner. It’s to create a mobile mindset first, and mobile workplace second. Try it once and you may enjoy the experience so much, you’ll consider doing it all the time.

Here’s how to get started.

Drop the guilt and step into a mobile mindset

For small business owners, any outings and trips can get challenging because of the overwhelming sense of responsibility.

“How long can I safely manage my business in a remote way?”, “How will my team handle it?”, And the worst: “What if something goes wrong?” — Fears like these make it easier for business owners to keep working through the fatigue than learning to balance.

The long term results of overwork, however, are the real slow bombs behind failures of all kinds. The consequences of improper work/life balance are poor morale (68%), burnout (41%) and loss of productivity (36%). (Entrepreneur)

For a business owner, such numbers can make all the difference between a thriving business and a closed business.

Talk with your family, clients, and team

As soon as you’re ready for the decision to make your business less desk-dependent and manage business remotely, talk it out with everyone who will be impacted by this shift most: your family, clients, and employees. Discuss the kind of work/life balance you’re planning during the trip to avoid any conflicts down the road.

Here are some things to bring up:

• Will you work a full-time shift, part-time, or just keep an eye on your business during the trip? Talking this out with family, clients, and employees will stop confrontations/misunderstandings later on (like when everyone’s running to the beach, but you’re on a conference call).
• Do you want to leave a business partner/employee in charge, or will manage everything long-distance (with digital tools we’ll talk about below)?
• Does anything about this arrangement make your family, clients, or team anxious? Address all of these issues before leaving.
• How will you handle a business emergency or challenging situation when away? If you have a team, talk this out ahead and leave clear written instructions.

Create a mobile workplace to manage your business remotely

Once all the questions are settled, you need to create a mobile workplace for yourself. If you’ve been doing most of your work from a home office, local office, or other permanent working space, setting up a virtual office will take just a few simple steps.

A virtual office is exactly what it sounds like — an office that’s always with you, wherever you are. Even if you travel once a year, you’ll probably enjoy your mobile workplace so much, you’ll keep using it throughout the year for plain convenience.

The best thing about a virtual office is that it’s ‘located’ completely in the cloud. The only hardware you’ll need is the one already at your fingertips: your laptop and mobile phone. Here’s more about the tools you can use to manage business on the go.

Communicate with clients

How do you currently talk to clients? Is it by phone, online (email, social media, web), or in-person? For most businesses, the answer will be a combination of two or all three channels.

While email, live chat, and forms are all internet-powered, and thus can be handled even by a traveling solopreneur, phone support, making up to 48% of communication, can be a bit of a challenge. If you usually talk to clients via office phone, how do you make that mobile?

A great and budget-friendly way to make and receive calls to/from your business number while traveling is through a virtual phone system for business (VoIP). A VoIP phone system will route calls to various devices and team members, according to your own settings. For example, if you’re a solopreneur and don’t want to miss a thing during travel, route business calls to your mobile phone, iPad/tablet, or laptop. In other cases, just tweak settings so calls are routed to your team members. And if you enjoy total peace of mind, route VIP clients to your phone and the rest to your team.

Communicate with your team

The way you communicate with the team depends on your business and industry. While some businesses are used to working with a distributed team, local business is often built on a foundation of live interaction.

If this is your first time managing a business remotely, you’ll need a chat and audio/video app that’s free and that everyone on your team is familiar with. For small teams, Skype or WhatsApp are a great choice. Because they’re so popular, there’s no learning curve or need to download extra apps. While more advanced tools like Slack, GSuite, or Microsoft Teams are useful, keep in mind they work best for teams who’re already familiar with these tools.

Whatever communication app you choose to stay in touch with the team, avoid introducing any new technology shortly before leaving for your travel/vacation. If in doubt, go for the most simple tools like Skype. It will usually guarantee you the fastest communication.

Organize your time

Combining business with travel involves multi-tasking, so you’ll need extra organization to enjoy both your trip and not skip any important business tasks.

When planning online meetings with your clients/ team during travel, always use a scheduling tool that auto-syncs time zones (e.g. Outlook Calendar/ Google Calendar/ etc.) to keep everyone on the same page.

Need your team members to do specific tasks and get the result in real-time? Using free tools like Google Keep will save your time on emailing back and forth, so you can instead enjoy time with your family.

Manage your business remotely

Most of the business management tools companies now use are based in the Cloud. This makes it super simple to work with your communications, finances, sales, inventory, marketing, etc. from anywhere in the world.

A week before leaving, make a list of all the apps/tools you’ll be using to manage your workflow and that of your team. If you usually work on an office PC, you’ll need to install these tools on the laptop you’ll be taking along on the trip.

If so, remember to download/sign in to all the cloud tools ahead of time. Don’t leave this for the last moment, as a forgotten password or other problem with access can result in unneeded stress when you’re already thousands of miles away.

Set up a schedule that fits everyone (and stick to it)

Remember one of the first questions we discussed — talking with family and employees about managing your business remotely? This is where you’ll need to implement those answers into a schedule that guarantees two things: stability and availability to everyone involved.

• Stability — Based on your travel schedule, business requirements, and family needs, set up a working schedule that you will mostly stick to. For example, if working part-time during your travel, specify the hours you’ll be off-limits to family, and the hours you’ll be off-limits to your team members and clients.
• Availability — If you have a larger team, you may keep everyone in the same virtual office with a cool digital tool like Sococo. It shows remote team members’ availability in real-time by creating a virtual office workspace for the whole team. For smaller teams, simply keep your Skype status updated and ask your team to do the same.
• Time-zones — Even when traveling within the U.S., you have six time zones to consider. Keeping in mind these differences, plan out a daily schedule and confirm it with all parties — family, clients, and employees, ahead of time.

Key takeaways:

• Avoid chronic burnout and stress by making your business mobile. You can keep an eye on it as little or much as you want with the help of digital tools.
• A virtual phone system ensures that you’ll never miss a business call, in any part of the world with internet or Wi-Fi.
• Don’t use your trip as a trial period for fancy team communication tools. Simple messengers like Skype or WhatsApp will guarantee you the fastest team communication.
• Plan your working/leisure hours in advance (taking time-zones in account), and draw up a daily schedule. Confirm it with your clients, team, and the family/partner going on the trip with you.
• Prioritize organization and use scheduling tools/reminders that sync with different time zones.
• Update your live status (Available/DND) in Skype, so employees back home know when you’re available/off-limits.

In conclusion

We’re out to prove that you can have the cake and eat it too! Modern digital tools and a thoughtful work strategy are a great team. They guarantee that entrepreneurs can manage business remotely and efficiently, and it’s just a matter of your will.

So go have fun! And before you fly/drive off, remember to look into our fantastic VoIP offers for small business. We promise these will work anywhere — even a desert island with Wi-Fi.

The post How to Travel More and Manage Your Business Remotely first appeared on MightyCall.

But what IS telecommuting, exactly? What are the benefits? The drawbacks? And what do you need to get started?

Here, we’ll be addressing all of those questions so that you can get up to speed on telecommuting from home.

What is it?

Telecommuting comes from the Greek prefix “tele” (meaning “far, far off”) and “commuting” which is regular travel to a location and back.

But of course, telecommuting doesn’t literally mean “far, far off travel”. What telecommuting is is the modern concept that you don’t have to spend 9-5 every weekday in an office. To put it simply, telecommuting is working from home, or really, anywhere that isn’t the office. While usually it’s done from home (and, as we’ll discuss below, that’s often necessary for multiple reasons), some offices make clear that they don’t mind if you work from a cafe or other locations. If you aren’t sure, just ask!

What are the benefits?

The benefits to telecommuting are quite numerous:

• Save $$$:

Telecommuting means saving money on travel. Whether you normally drive, take a train, or pay for other means of transportation, your wallet will definitely thank you.

• Save Time:

After money, time is right there on the list. Telecommuting means no more spending hours in traffic jams or standing in a hot, overcrowded train for what seems like way too long.

• Work in a comfortable environment:

Sure, offices may not be the least comfortable places ever, but you know what’s even more comfortable? Your own living space. Work from your own desk, eat at your own kitchen, use your own bathroom.

• Work/Life Balance:

While telecommuting requires just as much work, it’s undoubtable that every office has downtime. Instead of sitting in your swivel chair waiting for the next assignment, you’re at home! Do laundry, take care of the kids, get dinner ready. Heck, if you’ve gotten enough assignments done and have tons of time, go for a walk around your neighborhood or buy groceries!

• Cleanliness:

Can’t get sick from coworkers if your only coworker is your dog.

What are the downsides?

Of course, every good has a downside, and though the benefits definitely outweigh the costs, there’s definitely a couple:

• Less Socializing:

Let’s face it- some people actually look forward to water-cooler convos. Working from home means that, short of conference calls or video chats, your conversations with coworkers will be pretty much limited to emails.

• No Immediate Responses:

If you’ve got a quick, burning question that you need someone on your team to answer, unless you spam their phone your best shot is to wait for an email response. No knocking on their door or coming ‘round to their cubicle!

• No Office Parties:

Everyone loves those, right?

So how do I do it? What do I need?

In order to telecommute properly, you’ll need a couple basics. Much of the hardware, your computer should already have (like a microphone, webcam and speakers). However, depending on the quality you may need to upgrade those- but not to worry, because you can find all of them in basically any electronics store. However, you’ll probably need some software too. Oftentimes your place of employment should help cover the cost for any of these products, but you’ll wanna make sure to check with them first:

Skype:

It’s simple, it’s (mostly) free, and it might actually already come on your computer (depending on whether you use Windows or Mac). Skype allows for free video calling and (if you have money on your account), incredibly cheap international calls. It’s rapidly becoming a staple of modern offices, and for good reason.

TweetDeck:

While this tool is more specific to those whose jobs require social media usage, TweetDeck is a phenomenal way to keep track of all the different twitter accounts you need to keep an eye on. You can either use a web-browser form or download it.

Slack:

Slack is an incredibly useful instant messaging app that allows for private group conversations between individuals. You can share screens, files of nearly any kind- and its free!

MightyCall:

If you’re working from home, you should probably consider using a virtual phone system – and you can’t go wrong with MightyCall!

MightyCall enables you to purchase virtual phone numbers through multiple different plans, and then make or receive calls from that number on your mobile phone, browser, or a softphone. For someone working from home or running their own small business, it’s a must have.

Learn more: Popular Telecommuting Jobs

The post The Ins and Outs of Telecommuting first appeared on MightyCall.

And the center of all that is telecommuting.

Dictionary.com defines telecommuting as “working at home by using a computer terminal electronically linked to one’s place of employment.” Now, though this definition may sound straight out of the 1990s, it captures the essence of telecommuting: the idea that technology has improved to a point where there’s no need for you to trudge all the way to the office.

It isn’t hard to see why telecommuting is growing in popularity. For employees, it means they can work from the comfort of their own homes and don’t need to worry about spending money on gas or waiting in traffic. For employers, they don’t have to worry about refilling the coffee machine every other day or constantly having to physically monitor employees.

I’m in- where can I start?

The good news is that most fields are starting to include telecommuting work. Language tutors, nurses, writers, customer service workers- all are starting to make the switch. Here’s some ways to nail these jobs down:

1. Start in the most obvious place- the listing itself:

Many telecommuting jobs may include phrases like “remote work” or “telecommuting opportunity”. Websites like Monster, Glassdoor, Indeed, and many more have thousands of job listings- many openly saying that they include telecommuting.

2. Look a little deeper:

Even if it’s not listed in big bold font, some companies may talk about having had telecommuting incorporated into their way of life on their websites.

3. Be honest in your interview:

As telecommuting becomes more popular and more and more people adopt it, the idea that it’s a lazy way to not do work is rapidly disappearing. This means that if a potential interviewer asks you about any interest in telecommuting, say yes!

4. Make sure you have the right tools:

Will you require a headset and a home computer with certain functions? Will your new job/potential employer provide you with the necessary equipment, or will you have to purchase them on your own?

Popular Telecommuting Jobs

While again, telecommuting is becoming hugely popular across all fields, there are some particularly notable positions where telecommuting is happening- sometimes in positions you might not have thought, like:

1. Nursing
2. Travel Consultant
3. Language Teachers (or teachers for any subject!)
4. Product Marketing Consultant
5. Copywriter
6. Videogame Tester
7. Executive Assistant
8. Social Media Analyst

So hop online and start working on working from home!

Learn more, how MightyCall can help working from home.

The post The Top Jobs for Telecommuting first appeared on MightyCall.