I have been working remotely for over 16 years. My mother had a successful career from home for most of my childhood. I hope the things my mother taught me and that I continue to do may be useful to you:

Build a clear set of routines that shape your day
Have a clear start and end to your day, get up, get dressed. If possible, have a distinct place to do your work (preferably not the bed or a sofa).

Plan your ideal* week
Your schedule should be based around your most important commitments and fit your energy patterns. If you don’t know what good looks like, you won’t be able to achieve it. What does your ideal week look like? Include regular breaks, that includes a longer one around the middle of the day (lunchbreak??) and a decent walk outside. You can use this template to draw it out.

Chunk your time
Break down your tasks into achievable chunks. The human brain can only really focus for max 40-50 minutes in one go.
Where you had co-worker distraction to remind you to take a break, now you could use your children's boredom levels, they have a natural focus rhythm.
When my daughter was younger, I would start her on an activity and at around the 40 mins mark she would come in and ask to do something different. That was the time we would sit and have a break. I would set her up again and the next hour carried on that way. This only works obviously with children you can leave to their own devices. It does sometimes work if you are sitting with them as they see your focus and can often get on as you are role modelling the behaviour, they act accordingly.
Or give yourself reminders (the pomodoro technique may be your friend).

Be realistic
Humans are not machines; your brain and body can do deep focussed work for ~4 hours (probably less) and we all know that work fits the time you give it (Parkinsons Law).
Leave the rest of the day to recharge, be with your children or have scheduled social time.

Do your 'one thing'
Productivity is not being busy, it is about doing the right things with the right effort. Plan your day to ensure you do the most important thing that will progress you forward, first. Perhaps, releasing the pressure may mean you get to do your second thing too.

In these unprecedented times, focussing on our family as well as holding down a job, we need to give ourselves a break and feel proud that we achieve one thing a day!.
*Ideal is a dynamic concept that shifts as life changes.

To go about creating your own structure, you can go through it step by step on this webinar - https://youtu.be/cyFQxBvIJcU

You may enjoy our Being Brilliant and human newsletter, where we curate and share human, practical and realistic approaches to life and work for those who are following their own path and are juggling multiple projects or streams of focus.

A smiley welcome from the owner? A personal connection? Knowledge of you or your family outside work? Genuine warmth and care? Or perhaps it’s free Italian ice cream?

Okay, so not every business can offer the ice cream…. But my local Italian restaurant- Barracuda based in Amersham can… and the 2 brothers who own it Esatteo and Marco offer all of the above. I was there yesterday for lunch with my family and we are all fans… not only is the food great, it’s all locally sourced and freshly made on site by one of the brothers… There is nothing like being greeted in a friendly way by the owner of a business who genuinely cares…. And the ice cream…. Well of course my boys love that, helped that they have an enormous tub of sweets they offer all their young customers.

Why am I telling you about yesterday’s lunch that my family and I loved? Well I’m currently reading Fanocracy by the brilliant and inspiring father / daughter team: David Meerman Scott and Reiko Scott and it got me thinking about why we love going to Barracuda. It’s because they have all the ingredients that David and Reiko talk about that make businesses a success…. They have thought about what will make their restaurant more than a simple restaurant, they have thought about what will make their customers love them, come back, recommend them and be fans… just by being human and reaching out to their customers in a way that everyone wants to be treated.

In Fanocracy David and Reiko talk about the fact the secret to success is to think beyond the product a business is selling and think about the customer experience first…. The way the customer is made to feel, their emotions and what they want, will help make your customers into fans…. They can explain it best: “Fanocracy means turning fans into customers and customers into fans. Fanocracy means an organization that puts the needs and wishes of fans ahead of every other priority. Applying the strategies in Fanocracy will make your company more likely to dominate your category and win business.” You can read the first chapter of the book here:  https://www.fanocracy.com/.

Of course, I’m always talking about the importance of client care and how by listening to your customers, acknowledging them as people and understanding their needs you can garner loyalty, trust, repeat business, recommendations and hopefully they will become your advocate or better yet – your fan…. Who doesn’t want fans?!
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I must admit, I’m only half way through Fanocracy, but after my lovely Sunday lunch followed by the beautiful Italian ice cream and the welcoming smiles from Esatteo and Marco – I couldn’t wait to write this piece and let you know about Fanocracy – read it, embrace it and become a fan! Oh, and if you are anywhere near Amersham – go to Barracuda! You won’t regret it!

Remeny Armitage 
​Turning your clients into advocates.

Will things get easier?
Will it be simpler?
Will you know more?
Will you have more time?
Will your kids be older?
Will your savings account be fuller?
Will you enjoy it more?
Will you be less afraid?
Will you have paid off more of your mortgage?
Will you have more to lose?
Will you be happier?
Will it take longer than expected to get going?
Will it be harder?
Will you have more to lose?
Will you learn more?
Will you be better?
Will you be worse?
Will you be more scared?
Will you have more support?
Will it be quicker?
Will you have less?

​You may enjoy our Being Brilliant and human newsletter, where we curate and share human, practical and realistic approaches to life and work for those who are following their own path and are juggling multiple projects or streams of focus.

Ghilaine Chan
​Activating people to work better together and flourish. Working on interesting projects with people I like to work with, strengthening how you motivate yourself and collaborate with others.

Everything you do, is a choice. There is very little that you have to do. Breathe, eat, drink, sleep. These are the things you have to do, you are compelled by your biology to do. Pretty much the rest of it is a choice you make.
Every day.
Life can suck and you feel compelled to make certain choices because of the people you have in your life and how they rely on you. So if you are compelled to do certain things from respect, courtesy or duty, you may not feel you have a choice about what you do, but you can have a choice about how you feel about it.
Just by viewing everything you do as a choice, can allow you to re-frame the way you think about it. It is amazing how in control you can feel about your own destiny. It can make you view the actions you take through a different lens and consider certain activities differently. Sometimes you may even go out on a limb and do something you didn’t even feel possible. Like saying no to someone, for example.
It is amazingly enabling to think about all you do and consider what choices you have made to get to where you are. Would you make different ones if you did it all again?
For me the biggest impact on me was something my father told me about a couple of the jobs he held. He told me that he wished he had given one of them up sooner, but he had a family of 4 children to feed. After he told me that, I promised myself I wouldn’t stay in a job that made me miserable.
It took me a few months into a situation at a previous role to realise that I was doing exactly the same thing as my father, just because it paid the bills. Once I realised that, the way I was being treated and felt was a result of a choice I had made to stay, I realised I had to go.
It was one of the most freeing decisions. I now look at all situations as a result of a choice I have made and not something that has been foisted upon me. They may not be the best choices, but they are mine. And when I make a bed, I know I have to lie in it!
In the simplest terms, I support people to prepare to profitably scale. What you do with a room full of people is very different to how you do it when they cross cities, continents or oceans.

​You may enjoy our Being Brilliant and human newsletter, where we curate and share human, practical and realistic approaches to life and work for those who are following their own path and are juggling multiple projects or streams of focus.

Ghilaine Chan
​​Activating people to work better together and flourish. Working on interesting projects with people I like to work with, strengthening how you motivate yourself and collaborate with others.