You might think remote work is just for tech companies. But it’s becoming a reality for all kinds of businesses.

Just look at illumin8 Partners, who documented their Director’s 17-night trip to Sri Lanka with his family. He signed documents on the beach and even took conference calls from the top of Sigiriya Rock.

This isn’t a fantasy. It’s what happens when you have the right systems. Whether you want to work remotely in Malaysia or just from your home office, this guide covers the essential working remotely tips and tools you need to build a professional and sustainable setup.

Our CTO, Callum, took a similar trip with his young family, spending six weeks in Singapore and Malaysia. We’re a flexible team by nature and 100% cloud-based, so we’re already starting on the right foot when it comes to remote work. All of our files and information are completely accessible from the cloud, and great tools like Skype and Slack mean communication is easy. But six weeks is a long time. How can we ensure that projects are progressing and tasks are being handed off correctly over that time? 

Here are our tips for how you can prepare for a working holiday or period of remote working, plus a look at the tools we personally use to make working remotely a success. 

 

How to Make Remote Work, Work for You

Go cloud – Remote work is made 100% easier by having all your primary systems, tools and documents in the cloud. Find tools that integrate with each other, like SuiteFiles and Xero, for smoother workflows and better access to the right information. 

Have a plan – Are there common tasks or events that might be affected by remote work? Have a plan for how you’re going to handle the change and stick to it. 

Set up and test your tools – Particularly if you’ve introduced new tools to make remote work possible, ensure that all your staff know how to use it and that it works like you expect.  

Make it a positive experience for everyone – Remote work doesn’t just affect the one or two staff who do it – it affects people in the office too. Make sure that everyone goes away happy by agreeing on expectations and following through on them. 

Use tools with a phone app and/or desktop notifications – This isn’t necessary, but it certainly is helpful. Many cloud tools will have an accompanying mobile app and/or the ability to send you push notifications. These can help you respond to work or messages in a timely manner. 

Don’t rely on email – It’s easy to default to using emails when trying to communicate with remote staff, but this is the best route to an unmanageable inbox. A dedicated tool like Skype for Business or Slack are better options for video conferencing or talking to your team.  

 

Creating a Personal Routine and Workspace

The biggest challenge of remote work isn’t always the work itself, but creating an environment that helps you focus. Without the structure of an office, it’s up to you to build a framework for a productive day. This means being intentional about your time, your tasks, and your physical space. The goal is to create clear boundaries that allow you to be fully present for work when you’re on the clock, and completely disconnected when you’re not. It’s this separation that makes remote work sustainable and enjoyable in the long run.

Establish a daily routine

The freedom of remote work can feel like a trap if you don’t give your day some structure. Treating your workday like you’re heading into an office can make a huge difference. Start and end your work at a consistent time each day. This creates a clear mental boundary between your professional and personal life. Having a simple “start of day” ritual, like making coffee and reviewing your schedule, can help you transition into work mode. Similarly, an “end of day” routine, like tidying your desk and closing your laptop, signals to your brain that it’s time to switch off.

Plan your daily tasks

Before diving into your inbox, take a few minutes to outline what you need to accomplish. A great way to prioritize your work is to identify the three most important tasks for the day and focus on those first. Try to tackle the most challenging items when your energy is highest, which for many people is in the morning. When your files and client information are organized in a central document management system, you can spend less time searching for what you need and more time focusing on these key priorities, making your plan much easier to execute.

Set up a dedicated workspace

You don’t need a separate home office to be effective, but you do need a dedicated workspace. Claim a specific corner, desk, or even just the end of the dining table as your work zone. The key is to create a physical separation that helps you mentally associate that space with work. Keep it as organized and comfortable as possible. This small act of creating a designated area helps maintain the crucial boundary between your work life and your home life, making it easier to focus during work hours and unplug when the day is done.

Minimize distractions in your workspace

Your home is full of potential distractions, from household chores to family members. It’s important to set clear boundaries to protect your focus. Let others in your home know your “office hours” and when you shouldn’t be disturbed. It’s also about managing your own digital distractions. Consider putting your phone on silent and in another room, or using an app to block distracting websites during your core work hours. Respecting your own work time is just as important as asking others to respect it, and it’s a skill that gets easier with practice.

Health and Well-being

Working from home offers incredible flexibility, but it can also blur the lines between work and personal time, sometimes at the expense of your well-being. It’s easy to spend the entire day sitting in one spot, forget to take breaks, or feel disconnected from your team. To thrive as a remote worker, you have to be proactive about your physical and mental health. This involves consciously building healthy habits into your daily routine, from moving your body to staying connected with your colleagues on a personal level.

Take regular breaks and move your body

When you’re deep in a task, it’s easy to forget to step away from your screen. Hours can fly by without you realizing you haven’t moved. Make a conscious effort to take regular breaks throughout the day. Set a timer to remind yourself to get up, stretch, walk around the house, or grab a glass of water every hour. These short pauses are not a waste of time; they help reset your focus, reduce eye strain, and prevent burnout. Adding small moments of movement into your day is essential for both your physical health and your mental clarity.

Pay attention to ergonomics

That temporary work-from-the-couch setup can lead to long-term back and neck pain. Investing in a proper ergonomic workspace is an investment in your health. A supportive chair is a great start, but also consider a laptop stand to raise your screen to eye level. An external monitor, keyboard, and mouse can also make a significant difference in your posture and comfort. Don’t hesitate to ask your company if they offer a stipend for home office equipment; many do to ensure their employees can work comfortably and safely.

Combat feelings of isolation

One of the most common downsides of remote work is the feeling of isolation. Without the spontaneous chats that happen in an office, you have to be more intentional about connecting with your colleagues. Use your company’s communication tools for more than just work updates. Participate in non-work-related channels, suggest a virtual coffee chat, or just send a message to a coworker to see how their day is going. Building these personal connections helps you feel like part of a team and can make your work life much more enjoyable.

Essential Tools for Working Remotely

Here are the top tools that we’ve been using to communicate and share work with each other: 

Skype for Business – Provides all the functionality of your old phone system and then some. Great for calling, video conferencing and internal messaging. We use it mostly for calling clients and internal video conferencing. You can get Skype for Business by purchasing an Office 365 license. 

Slack – This is now our main messaging tool, largely because it allows us to create different channels for different teams and to easily invite others to join who aren’t part of the internal company (like board members). Slack is particularly good because it has a great phone app and provides both desktop and mobile notifications. It also has a free tier! 

Google Hangouts – A free tool that lets you talk to anyone, anywhere. It’s a recent addition for us and we don’t use it often, but it’s a very handy back up if we just need to hop into a web browser and have a quick video call. 

SuiteFiles – SuiteFiles acts as the ‘one source of truth’ for all our documents. We’re able to access, work and collaborate on Office documents together, saving any and all changes back to the cloud. Alongside our communication tools, SuiteFiles is constantly in use to store, manage and work with our files. 

There are plenty of other tools that you could use in your business, particularly to help with project management or niche industry tasks.  

Others that we have tried and continue to use on an individual basis include Trello and Asana. 

We’re still learning a lot about remote work and how to make it a success for us. We hope these tips and tools help you if you’re thinking about embarking on a working holiday or on building a remote team! 

 

What has been your experience of remote work? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments below. 

 

Communication and Team Connection

When you’re not sharing an office, communication needs to be more intentional. Without the casual chats and visual cues of in-person work, it’s easy for team members to feel disconnected. Building a strong communication framework is the key to keeping everyone aligned and engaged, no matter where they are.

Overcommunicate with your team

In a remote setting, silence can be misinterpreted as a lack of progress. It’s important to make your presence felt digitally. Use chat tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams to stay in touch with your colleagues throughout the day. This doesn’t mean you need to provide a minute-by-minute account of your work, but regular check-ins show you’re engaged and available. Think of it as the virtual equivalent of being seen at your desk; it builds trust and keeps the team’s momentum going.

Provide frequent updates

Proactively sharing your progress helps everyone stay on the same page and reduces the need for your manager to ask for status reports. A quick message at the end of the day summarizing what you’ve accomplished and what’s next can make a huge difference. If you need to focus on a task without interruptions, let your team know you’ll be “offline” for a bit. This simple act of asynchronous communication respects everyone’s time and helps manage expectations effectively.

Connect on a personal level

All work and no play can make remote life feel isolating. Recreating those “water cooler” moments is vital for team morale. Encourage your team to connect on a personal level, whether it’s through a dedicated chat channel for non-work topics or virtual coffee breaks. These informal interactions build rapport and create a supportive environment where people feel comfortable reaching out for help, even for issues they might not bring to a manager.

Document Management Platforms

Having the right technology is fundamental to successful remote work. When your team is distributed, you need a reliable system to keep your files organized, accessible, and secure. This is where a robust document management platform becomes an essential part of your toolkit.

Centralize Your Files

For remote teams, having a single source of truth for all documents is crucial. A platform like SuiteFiles helps by combining document management, email filing, and secure client communication in one place. This ensures everyone is working from the most current versions of files, which streamlines workflows and reduces confusion.

Leadership and Goal Setting

Managing a remote team requires a shift in perspective. Instead of focusing on hours worked, the emphasis moves to results and outcomes. Effective leadership in a remote environment is built on trust, clear communication, and a genuine commitment to the team’s well-being.

Trust your team and focus on results

Micromanaging is never effective, but it’s especially damaging for remote teams. The foundation of a successful distributed team is trust. As a leader, your role is to provide your team with the resources and support they need, then step back and let them do their best work. Focus on the quality of the output, not the number of hours spent at a desk. This approach empowers your team and fosters a culture of accountability and ownership.

Set clear goals

When your team isn’t in the same room, clear goals are what keep everyone moving in the same direction. Using a framework like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can be incredibly helpful. This method connects individual and team goals to the company’s broader objectives, ensuring that everyone understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture. When people know what they’re aiming for, they can work more autonomously and make better decisions.

Encourage creative problem-solving

Give your team the space to experiment and find their own solutions to challenges. This autonomy not only leads to innovative ideas but also gives team members a stronger sense of purpose and engagement. When work feels less like a checklist and more like a series of interesting problems to solve, people are more motivated and invested in the outcome. This is especially important for remote workers, as it helps them feel more connected to their role and the company’s mission.

Managers should check on well-being

It’s harder to notice when someone is struggling when you’re not physically together. That’s why managers need to be proactive about checking in on their team’s well-being. Make time in your one-on-one meetings to talk about more than just work. Ask how your team members are doing personally and create a safe space for them to share any challenges they’re facing. Supporting your team’s mental health is just as important as managing their workload.

More Helpful Remote Work Resources

‘5 Key Essentials for Leading a Remote Team’ – Timely 

‘Travel and Work – 7 Tips to Remote Working’ – Illumin8 

‘Yes, We Have No Office – Why Remote Working is a Strategic Advantage for Now’ – Michael Hyatt  

‘The Most Common Questions About Building a Remote Team (Answered)’ – Groove

 

  

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I stay focused when my home is full of distractions? The key is to create clear boundaries for yourself and for others in your home. Start by establishing a consistent daily routine, including set work hours. Communicate these hours to your family or roommates so they know when you shouldn’t be disturbed. It also helps to have a simple ritual to start and end your day, like tidying your desk, which signals to your brain that it’s time to switch gears.

What’s the single most important change a business needs to make for remote work to succeed? Moving your documents and primary systems to the cloud is the foundational step. When everyone on the team can access the same files from anywhere, you eliminate confusion and create a single source of truth. This isn’t just about storage; it’s about creating a central hub for collaboration that makes workflows smoother and information accessible, which is the backbone of any successful remote team.

As a manager, how can I trust my team is productive without micromanaging them? This requires a shift from focusing on hours worked to focusing on results. Set clear, measurable goals for your team so everyone understands what they are responsible for delivering. When expectations are clear, you can trust your team to manage their own time and tasks. Regular check-ins should be about offering support and removing obstacles, not monitoring their every move.

I’m starting to feel disconnected from my team. How can I combat the isolation of working from home? You have to be intentional about building connections. Don’t wait for conversations to happen; initiate them. Suggest a virtual coffee break with a colleague or start a non-work-related channel in your team’s messaging app. Making time for these informal chats helps recreate the spontaneous social interactions of an office and reminds you that you’re part of a team of real people.

Do I really need a separate home office to work effectively? Not at all. While a separate room is nice, what you really need is a dedicated workspace. This can be a specific desk in the corner of your living room or even one end of the dining table. The goal is to create a physical zone that you associate only with work. This helps you mentally switch on when you sit down and, just as importantly, switch off when you pack up for the day.

Key Takeaways

  • Build Boundaries with a Routine: To make remote work sustainable, you need to separate your professional and personal life. A dedicated workspace and consistent work hours are the best way to create this distinction.
  • Communicate Proactively to Stay Connected: Without an office, you have to be deliberate about communication. Provide regular updates on your work and make time for personal chats to build strong team relationships and avoid feeling isolated.
  • Rely on a Single Source of Truth: Effective remote teams need one central place for all documents and information. Using a cloud-based system prevents confusion and ensures everyone has access to the right files, no matter where they are.