Smart Working: What is it and How to Do It? A Guide to Clarify

What does it mean and how do you work in smart working? A guide to help you regain your productivity even when working from home

What does it mean to work in smart working? Here’s a guide to help you understand and regain your productivity, even when working from home

Smart working, if there were a prize for the hottest topic, it would win. There are indeed so many questions and doubts surrounding this topic: what does smart working mean, how to do it better, how long will it last, how to improve productivity while working remotely. Smart working is among the most searched topics on the internet and one of the most discussed on social media; borrowing the language of social media (particularly Twitter), we could call it the 2020/2021 trending topic. Indeed, many workers in Italy (and around the world) in the past year have had to change their routine, finding themselves working from home or remotely. The coronavirus pandemic has inevitably caused an exponential acceleration of the process of modernizing work models. Companies were forced to quickly review their protocols, given the new and unexpected need to abandon traditional offices. The digital revolution of work suddenly became a fact for many companies. But as we said, it wasn’t just a novelty for businesses: even workers, especially employees, discovered a completely new way of facing their workday. And like with all novelties, this also came with adaptation problems and frustrations. So here’s a guide to help you clarify things and to discover all our tips and the best tools to work in smart working productively and efficiently.

What does smart working mean?

Smart working has been part of the public debate for several years: in 2017, law no. 81 of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies recognized it as a way of carrying out a subordinate employment relationship and outlined its characteristics. Through smart working, the worker is free from time and spatial constraints and can carry out their activities by organizing their work by phases, cycles, or objectives. It’s a way of working designed to increase productivity thanks to the freedom given to the worker to self-manage, balancing private life and work. Adopting smart working means embracing a cultural change that leads to a new redefinition of leadership styles and performance evaluation methods. With smart working, everything is focused on results: it doesn’t matter where or when you work, what matters is achieving the goals in the best way possible, both in terms of time and personal well-being. It goes without saying, therefore, that smart working provides the same pay treatment as office work: no pay cuts or missed bonuses or incentives because what matters isn’t the actual working hours or being in the office, but bringing results home.

How to organize your work in smart working?

To be able to achieve the desired results by making the most of your productivity without getting lost in distractions and wasting time, a good smart worker needs to define their own method. This will help them make the best use of their peak efficiency moments and recognize the right times to take a break. So we want to give you some tips to help you build your smart working routine.

1. Make a deal with yourself. Start with your goals and set daily tasks. Commit to sticking to your responsibilities and to achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself. A sense of responsibility will help you organize your days effectively without losing focus and will keep your drive for success high.
2. Take it easy. Taking a break means doing a favor to yourself and your mind. Identify the moments when your attention starts to wane and use them to recharge with a coffee, a phone call, a look at the latest Instagram posts or, why not, even with a nap. But be careful, try to limit these moments of leisure and distraction to when they’re truly needed: avoid always having your social media pages or WhatsApp chat open, the risk is to end up wasting precious time.
3. No pain, no gain. “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today,” goes the saying. Procrastination is only counterproductive, it increases anxiety and decreases productivity. Not being constantly supervised and being able to self-manage can lead to the trap of “I’ll do it later,” without ever actually doing it. It’s important, therefore, to be self-disciplined and try to stick to your schedule, even in the face of difficult and complex tasks.
4. Survival kit. Make sure you always have close by and in perfect working order everything you need to do your work comfortably: a fast and reliable wifi connection; earphones for meetings or to listen to the music that helps you concentrate; your computer and phone chargers; your graphic tablet; your planner or notebook for notes; the latest updated versions of the software you use; a water bottle, tea, or coffee. Choose what you need to work efficiently and effectively.
5. Beauty matters. Create around you or find a comfortable environment to work in. Whether it’s a corner of your home or a desk in a coworking space, make sure it’s a pleasant and suitable place for your needs where you’ll spend your hours.
6. Alone, but together. Working in smart working can make you feel isolated. That’s why it’s important to nurture relationships with your communities and take time to connect with your colleagues or exchange ideas with other professionals you’re in contact with. So keep your Skype window, LinkedIn chat, FaceTime app, or Facebook group about the latest news in your sector open, and when you feel frustrated or demotivated, exchange a few words with someone who can help you find your motivation again. But remember, distractions are just around the corner: better to turn off notifications and use these tools only when really useful.

The prize for managing your days best will be the chance to enjoy the rest of your hours doing what you love most: thanks to perfect time optimization and high productivity, you’ll have much more time and, above all, a fresher mind to devote to your hobbies, your family, or to enjoy a well-deserved rest!