Ah, autonomy. Isn't it grand? No defined time when you lot have to make it at the office. No guilt over having to leave early for your kid'due south recital. And if yous're not feeling well or the roads are bad, no problem -- just work from habitation.

But is it e'er really that simple? Afterward all, other things become more than salient when you're working from dwelling house, similar that pile of laundry that needs to get done, or a plethora of mindless daytime TV viewing options. That's 1 issue with autonomy -- it'south entirely upward to yous to become your stuff washed. Yous take to gear up your own deadlines and hold yourself accountable to deliverables, because no 1 is looking over your shoulder.

Perchance it'due south just a mixed blessing. According to the National Workplace Flexibility Study, 98% of managers who implement a flexible work schedule meet no negative drawbacks. Rather, they see results like improve advice, interaction, and productivity. So, information technology'due south not that simple -- managing a flexible schedule requires a strong balance of managerial trust and personal accountability.

Merely what does the latter look similar? How can y'all still manage to get stuff done with the boundaries that many of the states became accepted to before we had this kind of autonomy? As it turns out, information technology'due south more than possible -- and we've got a few tips.

(P.S. - Speaking of flexibility, we just launched our annual Year in Review, detailing a twelvemonth of flexibility in our people, product, and identify around the world. Cheque information technology out here.)

The Art of Managing a Flexible Schedule

ane) Maintain a Routine

Hither at HubSpot, our culture promotes a healthy dose of employee autonomy and flexibility. So when it came time to evaluate the all-time methods for managing a flexible schedule, my colleagues seemed like a expert resources.

Chelsea Hunersen, our social media marketing manager, emphasized the importance of having consequent daily habits. "First every day at the aforementioned time, with the same routine, fifty-fifty if you have to do unlike things after that," she explained. "For example, I start each day reading for 30 minutes."

People frequently insinuate to the benefit of having a routine, but picayune has been done to explain why it'south and so good for us. Co-ordinate to psychologist Wendy Forest, there'due south a reason why we form habits -- "Nosotros find patterns of behavior that allow us to reach goals." Maintaining a daily routine helps united states to plant a foundation that helps us achieve productive goals, like getting our work done or started by a certain time. So even though my manager doesn't have any specific parameters for what information technology ways to get to work "on fourth dimension," I established my own and accept a routine planned around it. That way, I can concord myself accountable to making certain I take enough time to get all of my tasks done, even without a schedule dictated past my employer.

two) Care for Information technology Like A "Real" Work Twenty-four hours

Here's another place where the benefits of a routine come in. As noted above, we form habits that volition assistance us accomplish a goal -- good or bad. When you have a flexible work schedule, treating it similar annihilation other than a "real" work solar day tin can throw you off-course and cause you to send yourself the message that your deadlines don't thing as much.

So in improver to starting every solar day with the same routine, says Thinkgrowth.org Editor Janessa Lantz, care for every day with equal importance, even if your schedule varies.

"If yous're working from home on a regular basis, information technology's good to become into a habit of showering and getting dressed," she says. "You're really but doing it for yourself, and I'm not fifty-fifty sure that it makes you more productive, merely information technology does provide some parameters that say, 'work day has begun!'"

As silly as it may sound, sending yourself these signals tin achieve a lot for your outlook and approach to your work. In fact, researchers accept institute that dressing formally correlates with a person's ability to engage in abstract thought -- that's specially practiced for marketers and other artistic professionals. That's not to say you should sport full evening attire when you're working from home, merely you should still follow the steps that y'all would with a structured piece of work schedule. You lot'll probably find that it shifts your state of mind in a mode that prepares you for and signals the work day alee.

3) Accept a Hard Stop on the Workday

Past that same account, you besides need to know when to call information technology quits. Having an unconventional work schedule, especially a remote one, tin often leave people without ambient signals -- similar people going home -- that the work day is over.

Merely equally getting dressed in the morning sends the internal bulletin, "The piece of work day has begun," says Lantz, you lot also "put your pajamas to communicate, 'work day is over!' Otherwise, you volition forget what time and somewhen day it is, and that'due south scary."

When working remotely, I've been known to keep plugging abroad long after dark when I'm actually absorbed with my piece of work. And with no other signal than the dog whining to be fed, I don't take any parameters to indicate that it'southward time for me to plow off my laptop and focus on my non-work life.

4) Use Your Calendar as a To-Do Listing

When y'all're granted a loftier amount of autonomy, information technology's also easy to lose rail of the amount of time you spend on a single job. When your hours aren't dictated past your employer, it can be piece of cake to think, "Oh, I accept plenty of fourth dimension to work on this," only to look at the clock and realize that the day is almost over. Trust me -- I've been there.

That'southward why Hunersen suggests using your agenda equally a to-practice list. By creating agenda invites for the tasks you lot need to attain each twenty-four hours, y'all're achieving two things:

  1. Existence reminded of your tasks, especially if you schedule them with an alert.
  2. Managing your ain time and dictating the amount of fourth dimension you can allot to each job.

We also suggest scheduling breaks and the aforementioned "difficult stop" in the same way. I've written before about how I employ this technique. It'due south called "time blocking," which means I put appointments in my agenda for practically everything -- work projects, exercise, and fifty-fifty shutting downward my electronics earlier bed. Do I ever stick to that exact schedule? Of course not. But by having it right in front of me, it reinforces that those are things I need to practise.

v) Keep the Lines of Communication Open

It'southward been said that one of the biggest barriers to more employers providing a flexible work schedule is the hesitancy of management. Many believe that if they can't really see their employees, they're not actually working.

And even if that's non the instance, it doesn't hurt to maintain good advice with your boss, fifty-fifty if you're not in the same physical location. Keep her updated on your progress and deliverables -- that will help to establish trust, and provide the reassurance that yous're not watching hours of Netflix when you should be working.

That said, if you do need to break at any point in the solar day for not-work obligations, like a doc's appointment, plan ahead for it, and let your manager ahead of time that you'll be offline. And when you're away from your desk for other activities, brand certain you're still reachable -- even with a flexible schedule, information technology's probably not a skilful idea to disappear for two hours to run errands and leave your squad unable to contact you in example of emergency.

6) Understand How Screwed Y'all'll Exist If You Put Things Off

"Procrastination" is a word that I'd exist happy to never see or write over again. Merely that won't happen, because it's such an epidemic that there's now an entire bookish research heart dedicated to it.

As nosotros've covered in the tips above, when you take a flexible piece of work schedule, it can be like shooting fish in a barrel to experience somewhat allowed to time. And without pre-established hours, thoughts like, "Certain, I can finish this project on Sunday," start to occur naturally.

Information technology's what the Procrastination Inquiry Group calls "self-defeating behavior," and yet, near 90% of us do it at least one time a twenty-four hour period. Simply non giving into the temptation to put things off, especially in a somewhat unique professional person situation, is a challenge. Information technology requires a lot of willpower, but it's not impossible.

Kickoff, remind yourself -- over again -- virtually the purpose of this flexibility. It's designed to let you more time across nights and weekends to dedicate to self-care and family. So, do you really desire to write that monthly report on a Sunday afternoon? If you lot'd really prefer to have a few extra hours on a Wednesday instead, go for it. Only be honest with yourself, and genuinely evaluate how you want to classify your gratis fourth dimension.

Also, ask yourself how often things really go according to plan. Between now and Sunday, for case, what are the chances that something is going to come up or become pushed aside, putting even more responsibilities on your to-practice listing? As I mentioned before, even when I use time blocking to schedule my week down to the minute, other things e'er come up. Therefore, when I put things off, I inevitably terminate up -- for lack of a better word -- screwed.

So before yous decide to procrastinate, carefully consider your priorities. Endeavor not to give in -- unless you're putting something off for a remarkable obligation or event, you'll probably be glad y'all didn't.

Flex Those Productivity Muscles

Information technology's true -- you can notwithstanding get stuff washed with autonomy and flexibility. Managers and employees, take note: It can exist accomplished, often to the benefit of you lot both.

But as we've seen, without the right approach and protocols, information technology'south not something that can exist perfectly executed. It requires mindfulness, communication, and the power to prioritize strategically. That doesn't hateful it can't or shouldn't exist granted. It just means that information technology requires good judgment.

Then if you don't already have a flexible work schedule -- but y'all want one -- here's some helpful data to present to your manager when making the instance for this setup. Address her potential concerns and outline how you'll mitigate them. And if yous're one of the lucky ones who already has this kind of autonomy, now you can fifty-fifty better apply information technology to your reward.

How do you manage a flexible schedule? Let us know in the comments.

Year in Review 2016

Originally published Feb 22, 2017 6:00:00 AM, updated July 28 2017