9-5, Monday-Friday, in-person office work are all relics of the past. This thoughtful newsletter helps you reflect on your current way of life and create actionable steps for a more intentional future. Let's revolutionize how you live by changing how you work.
Read this to transform your remote work experience
Welcome back to another issue of Remotely Interesting! We recently celebrated the 2nd birthday of this newsletter
- 2 years
- 35 issues
- 0 to 2,399 subscribers
Just want to take a moment to say thank you for all your support!
I will forever appreciate the time you take to read, reply, and share my work. Every time I considered stopping, a kind comment came my way and kept me going. You all are the best!
Here's to continuing the journey of revolutionizing how we live by changing how we work.
Where should I start?
With 35 articles to choose from, it might be hard to find what you're looking for. Here are my specific recommendations targeting common remote work concerns:
TLDR below 👇 | Read this on the web | Subscribe
If you're looking to build healthy, fundamental remote work habits, I recommend starting here:
If you're struggling with too many meetings, check out these articles:
If you're dealing with burnout, you need to read this:
If you want to upgrade your workday, start the journey here:
Remember: Transforming your remote work experience doesn't happen overnight. Instead, it happens by experimenting and taking tiny incremental actions to gradually build your best work-life. Hopefully, these articles give you some ideas on actions you can experiment with.
Quote of the Week
In Other News
What does work-life balance mean in a changed work world?
'“There was this change where people realized it’s possible to also prioritize family or private life, even during work hours,” says Lupu. “Because if work intrudes on your family life – on your non-work time – why shouldn’t the opposite be OK?”'
Tech Holdouts Are Making Life Hell for Their Colleagues
'“The reason they want to have people back in the office is ‘fill in the blank,’ but usually it’s about how they feel like they don’t have their finger on the pulse of the organization, especially given the economic situation,” says Elliott, who heads Future Forum, an initiative launched in September 2020 to help companies grapple with the pandemic-accelerated shift away from an office-centric work culture. “But they’re missing out on the conversation because they’re not in the tools where people are having that conversation.”
He’s referring not only to messaging apps such as Slack, but also to collaboration tools including Google Docs, Microsoft Teams, Airtable and others tailored to specific industries. People were using these before the pandemic, but now, at many companies, universities and nonprofits, they’re the primary platform for communication and culture-building.
It’s leaders who aren’t using those tools who you’ll often find lamenting the post-pandemic decline in engagement and drop-off in productivity. Many of these bosses, depending on age, have never experienced forging a complex, trusting relationship online. They didn’t have AOL Instant Messenger or Tumblr friends; they can’t imagine meeting the love of their life on OkCupid or Tinder—just as younger workers might not be able to fathom building a friendship (or falling in love!) through snail mail.'
The Flow State Boot Up Sequence
"The Boot Up Sequence is a fixed set of actions and environmental cues that mentally and physically mark the start of your work session. While it can be used for any work session, I find it particularly impactful and valuable in priming for a deep work session (daily focused work on the "most important thing"). The Boot Up Sequence is built around the five senses: Touch, Taste, Sight, Sound, and Smell. Engaging each of these allows you to quickly and consistently enter your flow."
In Case You Missed It
What if your company paid you to take off for 7 weeks?
In case you missed the last newsletter issue, I profiled one person's experience with doing just that. Here's the inside look into a 7-week sabbatical including how they prepared, what they ended up doing, and what it was like to come back.
February 6th 2023
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February 17th 2023
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February 23rd 2023
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Behind the Scenes
Shared why I don't dread doing my taxes:
February 16th 2023
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Shared my lessons learned:
February 24th 2023
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Work Forward Society Updates*The links in this section are only available if you’re a Work Forward Society member. Their support makes this work possible. If you're interested, join the waiting list to be notified when the community membership reopens.* 1. The latest Mission Monday is live! The switch from a meeting-first to an async-first culture doesn't happen overnight. Instead, it's built through small changes made over time. Make sure to check this channel each week for an idea of one small action you can take now to get closer to the async-first workstyle. 2. Free template access! My Recurring Meetings template for Notion is now available for free for all members. Check it out here 3. In case you missed it, Scott shared a new virtual whiteboard tool, Josh shared a new meeting notes tool, Pedro shared a video of his anti-win experience, and Sarah shared her energy audit lessons. |
What did you think of this issue? What do you hope you'll see in the next one? Feel free to reply to this message or DM me on Twitter @mar15sa.
I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this. Hope you have a lovely day!
Marissa
Founder, Remote Work Prep
P.S.
- Struggling with a remote work problem? Book a coaching call.
- If you liked this, consider supporting this free newsletter by sharing this issue.
- Also, don't forget to check out my new recurring meetings template!
Remotely Interesting
9-5, Monday-Friday, in-person office work are all relics of the past. This thoughtful newsletter helps you reflect on your current way of life and create actionable steps for a more intentional future. Let's revolutionize how you live by changing how you work.
Hey there, We're back after a 3-month hiatus. Hope you are well and apologies for my absence! While the media has been busy proclaiming "remote work is dead", my business has been growing like crazy. Haven't had a single free moment to write over these last couple of months 😅 Today, I'm back with the much-requested topic of why standups are outdated. This is a two-part issue. First, we'll discuss why standups suck and what you can do instead. Then, in the next issue, I'll dive into one of the...
Welcome back to another issue of Remotely Interesting! This week, we have something different. I'm kicking off a new series this year on uncommon but innovative benefits. In case you missed it, we did a series of Work Style interviews last year, profiling people with untraditional workdays. This latest series will be similar in that it will be occasional features over the next year with the goal of helping you see what unique benefits are out there and spark new ideas. This first benefit...
Hey there, quick note, thank you to everyone who registered to join the Work Forward Society, a community for people who want to end bad meetings and explore working async-first. Doors have closed to the founding membership. I was aiming to have 10 people join, but instead, we have 28 amazing founding members 🤯 If you want to be notified when the membership reopens, you can sign up for the waitlist here. When I ask people about the differences between remote and office work, they typically...