Remote workers, how do you stay productive while being isolated?

Hey Nika,
Totally get that feeling I’ve been remote for over a year now. What’s worked best for me is scheduling 2 “virtual coworking” slots weekly with peers (we just hop on Zoom, mute, and work side by side). It adds light accountability without draining energy. Also, I theme my days e.g., Mondays = strategy, Thursdays = calls so my brain knows what to expect. For the isolation bit, I replaced random scrolling with 15-min “walk & call” catch-ups with old friends. Tiny rituals, but they really helped blend work and life in a way that feels human.

When I joined Atlas, I joked that my days of saying "huh, lots of meetings, hard to advance" were over, since I don't overlap with my team for at least half the day! And this actually helps me stay productive!

Jokes aside though, my real drivers are always liking the product I'm working on and having clear objectives and responsibilities. There is something exciting about believing in what you do and knowing that the team relies on you.

And in terms of connections... I don't think not seeing people in person impacts my performance, but I sometimes miss the connections you build in person. When you are in an office, it's very easy to find moments to create these connections: eating together or even just going to meetings together as a team creates a feeling of belonging. But I have come to realize that you can still "fabricate" these moments from remote, you just need to be more conscious and set up moments where the objective is connecting.

I love working remotely, but I do have a couple of activities that keep me socially active to compensate for the lack of interaction with colleagues:

• going to events/meetups weekly

• working with friends who also work remotely, either from my place or theirs, or from a cafe

• working from coworking hubs - great for meeting freelancers/solopreneurs/remote workers

Aaand to make it enjoyable, I try to integrate work as much as possible in my life (not trying to achieve the work-life balance thingie, but accepting that work is part of life and adapting my schedule to ensure it mixes a little bit of work with a little bit of me time).

I don't think productivity is a problem but there are tasks that need collaboration! Also, the isolation bit can be overcome by going to co-working spaces or meet-ups. The latter is even better as it exposes you to new ideas and thoughts and inspires you.

With the exception of a few client engagements, I've always worked remotely - that's almost a decade of remote work experience under my belt!

I guess my tricks for not going mad are mostly:

• Having set working hours and being very strict about them - This took me years! Back in the day, I used to sandwich work between other activities and it was terrible for my health. It felt like my workday never ended. This is more common than you'd expect, especially in async-first environments (such as Postdigitalist, the company I co-founded).

• Leaving the house everyday - even if I don't "have to".

• Having projects, hobbies and many friends outside of work - and making time for them whenever possible.

• Timeboxing! - It's easy to overpromise if you don't actually visualize how much time things will take. Timeboxing allows me to have a realistic notion of my availability.

Hope this helps!

I have a “fake commute”—I go for a walk before and after work hours. It helps my brain switch between “work mode” and “me mode.”