Remote work is most definitely the future, and is something that all companies should consider, particularly start-ups. 

I have recently been telling my friends that being able to work a remote job at Adviserly has proven to be one of the most positive aspects of my day-to-day life. 

Naturally, this statement had gotten them curious and asking all sorts of questions: 

“Is it because you avoid waking up early to commute in that godawful traffic?” 

“Is it the fact that you can manage a more flexible work schedule?” 

“Or is it simply just because you get to wear whatever you want?” 

Yes! Would have been my response to all of the above, but there’s also much more to it… 

The mental state 

Working from home gives you the potential to strike that perfect work-life balance. 

It means that I get to skip the stage where I have to repeatedly wakeup and slap that snooze button; to then panic about finding my clothes and somehow making that hour and a half journey on packed public transport before ending up late. 

Just thinking about it all makes me nauseous! 

Instead, I now get to wake up half an hour before so that I can have a quick shower, a small breakfast, and then surf the news to get my mind up and running for work. The fact that there is so much less stress in the morning means that I am better able to consider and assess various tasks. 

The flexibility of it all is just fantastic because it allows me to maintain an optimistic and positive approach to my work. Whenever I need a break from feeling exhausted or want to go eat because I ended up getting hungry, I can simply start my one-hour lunch break at any given time. Having that control to do what I want when I want helps keep my productivity in check. 

At the end of the day, I end up feeling as organised and accomplished as Christian Wolff from The Accountant, as opposed to confused and worn out like Bruce Nolan from Bruce almighty. 

The day to day remote work routine 

My day usually starts off with a 30-minute Zoom call with Robert (my manager and the founder of Adviserly). During this time, we begin discussing any changes and improvements needed in relation to the previous day’s work. The next step is to plan out the tasks we each focus on during the day; and potentially end the discussion with a talk regarding the future of Adviserly. 

Once the meeting is over, I am essentially trusted to be on my own and free do to whatever I like. 

You know what that means right? 

It means it’s the perfect opportunity for me to go back to sleep for a few hours, play some video games, and watch a movie on Netflix. 

WRONG! 

If some of those things came to mind at one point, it’s fine and we all do that from time to time. But if you actually contemplated it being a good idea, you are gravely mistaken. Not only should you do the obvious (respecting your employer’s trust in you, and complying with the terms you agreed to), but you should also use this window of opportunity to begin demonstrating your strong work ethic and high quality of work. 

For example, I started off knowing there was space for me to improve my understanding of the legal field. So, I spent a few days researching rules set out by different professional regulation authorities. I compiled that research into an excel spreadsheet which outline rules specific to various jurisdictions around the world. Completing that task taught me the significance of consumer and business rights, and how they were to be protected. 

During other days, I was able to focus on the marketing aspect of the business and so I learned about formatting and sending monthly emails, writing weekly blogs, using WordPress, and managed to enrol myself in a few online webinars relating to networking and business. 

These are the reasons why remote work can be something amazing. Especially in the case of start-ups and smaller companies. Not once have I felt fatigued, bored, or uninterested. The level of trust and responsibility given to me has permitted me to work smarter and more effectively. 

So whats it like working remotely for Adviserly? 

Remote work for Adviserly has proven to be mutually beneficial. Adviserly is a newly founded company, and I’m somewhat new to the world of remote working. This creates room for massive potential, which is extremely exciting. I am essentially provided with an opportunity to grow with the company since its inception. 

The company has provided me with the opportunity to take up multiple roles. These range from marketing to administration and research, enabling me to expand skills and learn about new fields of work. In turn, this cuts down on the company’s costs to have more employees or pay fees for digital marketing. 

It does of course have some drawbacks, such as the lack of one-to-one connections. To counter this, we spend one day per week working together in person at different locations. 

At this stage, some could argue that Covid has slightly been a blessing in disguise. Especially in the case of digital nomads, where 77% of remote workers have mentioned that the potential for remote work has made them more productive. 

I for one can concur with the remote workers in saying that my level of productivity has significantly increased. This is why I believe the concept of remote work should be more widespread and adopted by all potential companies. 

By Amirali Khezrey 23/08/21