Last updated: March 23, 2025
Ever spend your ‘work from home’ day stuck in back-to-back Zoom calls, barely getting anything done?
Welcome to the paradox of remote working: turns out, working from home can still burn you out.
But remote working isn’t the problem. How we do it is. And when done right, it’s not just a perk. It’s a productivity superpower.
People aren’t ditching the 9-to-5 because they’re lazy.
We’re done missing dinner with our kids. Done burning out on someone else’s schedule.
Remote work gives us what really matters. Flexibility. Autonomy. Balance. A life on our terms.
36% of us would rather work from home than get a raise. Think about that for a second. Let that sink in.
We’re not just chasing money anymore. We’re chasing meaning, time, and control.
80% see remote working as a perk, and two-thirds want it permanently—while companies lose $600 billion a year to office distractions.
Remote working isn’t just popular—it’s profitable.
But flexibility has a dark side: Our focus, boundaries, and sanity are often the first to go.
Struggle to focus? Rewriting the same email three times? Still replying to Slack at 10 p.m.? That’s not flexibility. That’s burnout in disguise. And that quiet chaos we barely notice? It’s not just annoying, it’s silently stealing our momentum. Remote work burnout doesn’t explode, it erodes. Quietly. Every day.
The good news? We can fix this.
Time to stop surviving remote work—and start thriving in it. Break the burnout. Build our rhythm. Take back our time.
TL;DR: – Remote Working Quick-Start Checklist:
- Set up a real workspace (not your bed or couch).
- Define clear boundaries with housemates and kids to avoid burnout.
- Work during your peak hours. Track when you’re sharpest.
- Get regular feedback to keep your performance on track.
- Schedule casual human connection (Zoom coffee counts!).
- Over-communicate. Assume no one knows what you’re doing.
- Set working hours, take real breaks, and learn to say NO.
- Take care of your body. Sleep, move, eat real food.
1. Make your workspace a focus zone, not a nap trap
When working from the office, your work area and desk aren’t something you pay special attention to. They’re simply there, always clean and well organized, to help you stay focused and effective.
Avoid the bed and couch. Run from them, even. Set up somewhere that feels legit.
Your remote office should (ideally) be in a separate room in your home, prepped with basic work supplies, a comfy chair, and a clean, uncluttered desk.
If a whole room’s not an option, carve out a quiet corner with minimal distractions. A friend of mine turned an empty closet into a quiet workspace using a $60 folding desk, a lamp, and noise-canceling headphones. It can be as simple as that.
And look, we all know that keeping everything together while juggling remote work and parenting is nearly impossible.
You can’t kill all the chaos, but you can gate it off with structure.
Remote chaos isn’t the enemy. Lack of structure is.
2. Boundaries or burnout, pick one
Working from home is all fun and games until:
- Your teething toddler chews everything in sight,
- Your first grader declares a homework hunger strike,
- Your dog howls like it’s opera night, or
- Your roommate breaks down over a breakup (again)…
Without firm boundaries, remote work becomes everyone else’s emergency hotline.
The best you can do to avoid such scenarios is to set clear boundaries with the people around you.
For parents, this could mean watching your kids in shifts with your partner or getting help from a babysitter.
If you share a place with other adults working from home, share schedules and claim quiet time when needed. This way, you can ensure there won’t be any unnecessary interruptions.
Put a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on your door during focus hours. Set Slack to ‘Away’ at lunch. And say no—early and often.
Boundaries aren’t rude. If you don’t protect your time, someone else will waste it.
3. Work during your most productive hours
Not everyone thrives at 4:30 a.m. Some of us need coffee and three false starts before anything makes sense.
Some of us are more productive on an entirely different schedule and usually need a couple of hours (and a couple of coffees) after waking up…so we can even remember that we have a lot of work to do.
Lucky for us, 80% of companies now offer flexible working hours—so let’s use them.
When remote working aligns with your natural productivity cycle, you bypass the stress that can occur when you simply can’t complete a task because your brain is ‘frozen.’
When you align work with your brain’s peak time, tasks that usually take 3 hours can take 30 minutes. That’s not hustle. That’s rhythm.
Not sure when you’re most productive? Track down when you feel most alert or foggy, patterns emerge fast.
If your company has set working hours, identify your most productive times and reserve them for demanding tasks. And don’t forget to take a break so you can recharge.
Don’t fight your rhythm—follow it.
4. Ask for regular feedback
When you’re not in the office, it’s easy to lose visibility into how your manager or team sees your work. Don’t guess. Get regular feedback to stay aligned and improve faster.
Here’s what that can look like in real life: I once went 3 months with no feedback and assumed I was crushing it. Turns out I was over-delivering on the wrong stuff. One quick check-in saved a ton of wasted effort.
Set a 15-min monthly check-in with your manager or send a quick ‘How am I doing?’ email every two weeks.
This keeps your performance on track, helps you prioritize effectively, and reinforces your role in the bigger picture. You stay visible, valuable, and one step ahead.
Visibility isn’t vanity—it’s career insurance.
5. Stop the isolation spiral
Isolation kills motivation faster than a dropped Zoom call.
Without regular human connection, remote working can turn into a solo survival mission. That’s why you need to create intentional moments of casual connection with your team—no agenda, no spreadsheets, just people.
Host a Friday coffee chat. Drop into a virtual happy hour. Slack a meme. These small rituals rebuild the camaraderie that office life gave us for free.
Remote work needs real relationships—and real relationships need time, not just tasks.
6. Over-communicate, always
Grammarly’s State of Business Communication Report states that poor communication is one of the most common causes of stress, reduced productivity, and decreased work satisfaction.
Transparent communication is harder during remote working—but way more important.
Here’s how to stay clear and connected even from your couch:
- Run weekly check-ins with your team or manager, don’t wait for them to reach out.
- Use project management tools (like Notion, Asana, or Trello) to track work visibly.
- Check for blockers daily, and speak up early if you’re stuck.
- Write short, clear messages, no walls of text.
- Speak up about your needs before stress piles up.
- Default to over-communicating. Assume no one knows what you’re doing until you tell them.
Clear is kind. Unsaid is unsafe.
7. Set clear working hours and take regular breaks
One of the many unexpected things people experience with remote working is the work-from-home guilt.
In an office, work hours are fixed. At home, they’re often flexible so the routine quickly goes out of the window.
Work-from-home guilt makes people work longer than they should, and burn out faster.
I once worked through lunch for a week straight, thinking I was being productive. By 3 p.m., my brain was toast and everything took twice as long.
The fix?
Set a clear work schedule and protect your most productive hours. Use tools like Google Calendar or Clockify to block time.
Try the Pomodoro Technique (25 minutes of work, 5-minute breaks) to stay focused.
Still feel guilty when you take a break? Knock out 2–3 high-priority tasks first, then earn your rest guilt-free.
Once your working hours are set, you can schedule other activities right after you’re done for the day, like dinner with your family (so you also don’t feel guilty for not spending quality time with them).
Structure your day, or burnout will do it for you.
8. Your couch + junk food = productivity killer
Last but not least, the key factor for being (and staying) productive—taking care of our mental and physical well-being.
The fridge, the couch, and Netflix? Great for weekends. Deadly for productivity. And when those temptations team up with a no-sleep schedule, your productivity doesn’t stand a chance.
These small unhealthy habits may seem irrelevant, but they can quickly add up and affect your well-being and productivity.
Skip sleep, eat junk, skip workouts, and watch your stress soar. This will leave you feeling incapable of performing your tasks at work and your everyday activities.
On the other hand, people who take care of their well-being have developed stronger stress-management skills and see a boost in output and energy.
Try to create a self-care plan to apply healthy habits and take care of your well-being.
Sleep. Move. Eat real food. Or don’t, and watch your energy, clarity, and career flatline. Choose well-being like your job depends on it—because it does.
Recap the rules of remote: Guard your time. Guard your focus. Guard your well-being. Everything else follows.
Your brain’s a tool, not a trash can. Sleep, move, and fuel first, then perform.
Remote Working Tools That Actually Help
Want your setup to do some heavy lifting? These tools cut friction, boost focus, and keep your day on track—without drowning you in dashboards.
Focus:
Serene, Brain.fm – block distractions, zone in, and flow faster.
Time-blocking:
Clockify, Google Calendar – map your day, own your hours.
Collaboration:
Slack, Notion – stay visible, stay synced, skip the chaos.
Breaks & energy:
Stretchly, Headspace – move, breathe, recharge like it matters (because it does).
The right tools don’t just organize your day. They protect your focus, energy, and sanity.
FAQs
1. What bad remote work habits should I drop and how?
- Working from your bed? Try setting up near a window with natural light. Your brain knows the difference.
- Skipping breaks? Set a timer every hour to move, stretch, walk, and breathe.
- Eating junk all day? Keep snacks prepped and visible—fruit, nuts, real food.
- Multitasking during meetings? Mute notifications, close extra tabs, and listen like you mean it.
- Ignoring your calendar? Time-block your day in chunks so priorities don’t drown in busy work.
2. What’s the #1 struggle with remote work?
Lack of structure. Without it, your day blurs, focus drops, and burnout creeps in.
3. What are the perks of remote work?
- No commuting
- Flexible schedule
- Save money (and sanity)
- More time with family
- Fewer office politics
4. What sucks about working from home?
- Isolation
- Constant distractions
- Harder to focus
- Trouble unplugging
- Communication breakdowns
Let’s digest it
Remote working isn’t perfect. But it’s powerful.
When done right, it boosts morale, saves time, and helps people live better—not just work harder.
But ignore the downsides (distractions, burnout, isolation), and it’ll drain more than it gives.
The fix? Structure. Boundaries. Habits that protect your time, energy, and sanity.
Remote working works—if you make it work for you.
Own your schedule. Guard your focus. Treat well-being like part of the job.
That’s how you win.
This week, pick one habit from this list and build it into your daily routine. Start small. Track the change. Build your structure, and everything else falls into place.
Ema is a writer, editor, and content strategist with 10+ years of experience. She helps brands turn vague traffic goals into content that connects, not just ranks.