Obviously not all of us is allowed to work remotely as some vocations require people to be at their employers premises or travel to perform their tasks in person. But for those of us who are allowed to work remotely then I thought it would be useful to share what I have learned and offer some practical guidance by writing and publishing it on the net with the sole objective of providing useful shortcuts for adapting to remote working or supervising remote workers.

I can tell you that there are many self proclaimed ‘gurus’ on the web who will try and sell you information for vast sums of cash, believe me you don’t need to do this.

I am lucky enough to be able to work wherever I choose and just about everyone who asks me what job I do wants to get details of how I manage to work remotely. Don’t misinterpret me I am still refining the art of remote working as everyday I discover persons on the net who tell me about new knowledge and I am always discovering new software and processes that make my life easier and increase my productivity.

Throughout the past seven years I have steadily adapted my working methods to let me to do just about all of my work remotely with a portfolio of web tools and unfaltering self management. One early morning whilst surfing the net I came across Quickbooks online and this got me thinking about what just might be possible. The encounter with ’cloud’ based ‘on demand’ small business accounting software was a ‘light bulb’ moment for me and the launch pad of my ‘remote working career.

I must mention up front that proficiently working remotely is as much about the systems as it is about self discipline. Working remotely also means teaching your co-workers, managers and clients as to what they can expect and how they will keep in touch with you.

In ‘Remote Working Part 2 – Tips on self management’ I write about how to focus.