Design Your Personal Operating System for Remote Work

Audio Transcript Auto-generated

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  Hi there, Marie Crutchlow here from Envision I am a

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  senior experienced designer on our people team and I have

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  the pleasure of thinking about ways to engage and support

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  are fully remote workforce at envisioned day in and day

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  out. So today I'm really excited to share with you

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  how you can design your own personal operating system to

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  ensure your successful in your remote environment.

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  So first things first, remote life is great.

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  It provides us a ton of flexibility in our day

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  and really true authorship and how we leave together work

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  and life.

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  But it can be challenging to find your groove and

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  then and find a healthy way to integrate work and

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  home. So today I'll be walking you through some key

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  elements to think about as you designed your personal operating

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  system for remote work and ensure that you are successful.

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  So to get started.

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  First up on my list is creating your physical space,

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  so were greatly influenced by our physical surroundings.

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  The think back to the places you've worked over the

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  last few weeks, maybe our kitchen countertop, your couch.

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  Maybe you have a dedicated desk space and really reflect

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  on where you felt the most productive where you felt

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  the most energized, where you felt the most grounded and

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  confident and start to think about those different places and

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  what elements around you made you feel that way.

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  So if you go to create your space for a

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  where you typically want to be working while you are

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  remote, think about those elements and how you might include

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  them. Another important call out here is ergonomics, so it's

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  super easy to correct the laptop, settle into your couch

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  and knock it up again for new hours.

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  But sometimes that's not very healthy for our bodies.

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  So you sure that you're tuning into how you're feeling

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  physically as well as mentally.

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  I should plan your space one.

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  We're not here.

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  As you wrap up the end of the year day

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  kind of really productive work day.

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  Be sure that you're setting yourself up to have a

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  productive off hours day as well.

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  So tuck your laptop away somewhere where it's not super

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  easily accessible.

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  It is quite easy to see it out of the

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  corner of your eye and say, Oh, I'm just going

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  to do that one more thing before I'm done for

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  my day and before you know it, you've been on

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  your computer for a few more hours, so make sure

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  that you put your laptop in a space where it

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  will not be a distraction in your off hours.

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  Lastly, approach appear on creating your space.

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  Embrace nature.

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  It brings some great color into your space.

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  You could bring in a plant or maybe some flowers,

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  and that fresh air is great for you as well.

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  Studies have even shown that house plants can make you

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  more productive in your work.

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  So go find one today.

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  So next on my list of ways that you can

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  design your personal operating system is being really intentional about

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  how you spend your time.

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  So again, think back over the last few weeks is

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  you've been working remotely and take a look at your

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  calendar. Maybe you're a project load the different tasks that

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  you created and start to bucket thes out into, like

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  the main types of tasks or activities that you were

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  doing. So for me l use myself as an example.

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  I spend my time in about four different ways.

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  So the 1st 1 being facilitating workshops and course is

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  very much like this.

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  The next heads down creative design work, also collaborating with

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  my teammates in meetings and then finally, administrative tasks like

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  checking email.

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  We're getting caught up on instant messaging, so think about

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  that for yourself.

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  And once you know how you're spending your time, those

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  buckets of time think about how much time you need

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  to dedicate to getting these done in a really great

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  But so think about what you can squeeze it in

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  between meetings and think about where you need bigger blocks

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  of time to do quality work.

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  So for me, it's really easy to check the melon

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  instant messages between meetings where I need definitely more dedicated

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  heads down time to do great creative design work.

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  So each week I look at my to do list

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  and put blocks of time on my schedule to reflect

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  those tasks that I need to get done.

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  So once you have laid out your tasks and you

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  know how they might align with the other tasks you

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  are completing that week, think about when you personally feel

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  most productive.

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  Are you a night owl?

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  And that's energizing for you or you more of a

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  morning person.

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  So whatever it may be, think about that for yourself

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  and try to align your deep thinking tasks to when

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  you are gonna feel most motivated to get them done.

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  Last note here similarly, to how we talked about storing

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  your laptop away.

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  At the end of the day, we encourage you to

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  apply the same thoughtfulness and intention to how you're spending

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  your spending your time off works when you're not working

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  here, um, really related to work.

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  So think about how you want to receive your notifications

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  in your offline.

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  Ours said something that stresses you out.

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  Or does it make you feel prepped and ready for

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  the following day?

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  Figure that out for yourself and then structure that in

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  your personal operating system.

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  Finally, pro tip here with how you spend your time,

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  be sure to even put brakes on your calendar.

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  I know this sounds a little bit silly, but I

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  have heard many stories from folks working remotely who sit

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  down at the beginning of the day, and then they

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  don't get up again until they're ready to sign off

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  for the evening head.

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  They have had no brakes, and that is a really

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  great recipe for burnout.

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  So be sure that you're giving yourself some space to

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  take breaks throughout your day To make sure you feel

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  energized throughout next year.

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  Let's talk about building a routine so you have your

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  physical space considerations figured out.

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  You're being really intentional about how you want to spend

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  your time.

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  Let's leave it together and talk about building a routine.

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  So we've all heard the expression match.

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  Humans are creatures of habit, and that includes good habits

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  but also includes not so great habits.

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  We, as people tend to repeat patterns of behavior that

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  help us feel really comfortable and in control and a

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  routine of a great way to be thoughtful about how

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  we do that, building healthy habits that ensure we're setting

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  ourselves up for success and completing our goals.

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  So take working in an office, for example, you probably

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  wake up in the morning, maybe grab a bite to

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  eat exercise, get ready for your day, hop in your

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  car commute, arrive at your office and settle into your

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  day and so on and so forth.

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  So when you're working remotely, it's easy to skip almost

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  all of those steps you could really roll right out

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  of bed and hop on your laptop, but don't do

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  it. That is not great for you from a mental

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  perspective to settle into your day.

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  So I encourage you to create a routine for yourself,

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  even in your remote environment.

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  So maybe you wake up early and have a cup

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  of tea or coffee get caught up on the news.

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  Maybe that looks like an early morning meditation.

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  Maybe you are getting some exercise outdoors with your pet,

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  Whatever that may be.

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  Make sure that your structuring a routine for yourself so

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  that you have space to settle into your day and

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  same thing for winding down once you've had a really

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  productive work day as well.

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  So just to wrap here routines are fantastic.

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  Thio keep you aligned to your healthy habits and help

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  you achieve your goals and a protest with routines.

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  Um, make sure that you are including time for some

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  authentic connection with your teammates.

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  Those water cooler conversations or moments of running into each

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  other in the hallway don't exist in our remote environment.

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  You have to be really proactive and scheduling those, and

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  I encourage you to do so.

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  So put some time on a teammate's calendar to chat

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  over coffee.

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  You can catch up on work, or you could even

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  talk about their weekend or your latest and greatest passion

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  projects. Whatever it is, this is a great time for

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  you to personally recharge, but also build deeper bonds with

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  your teammates and great team.

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  Connection just helps you all be more productive together anyway,

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  So it's really a win win.

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  Finally, you have your space.

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  You know where you want to be.

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  Spending your time.

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  You know how you want to be spending your time

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  intentionally. You've got to a routine nailed down.

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  Try this out for a few days.

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  This is your new personal operating system.

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  See how it goes, and if it's not going well,

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  change it.

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  So that's really the beauty of design.

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  You can put something out there, you can try it,

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  you can learn from it, and then you can change

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  it and make it even better.

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  So I encourage you to do that for yourself.

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  And once you find your best recipe for your personal

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  operating system, be sure to share that with your team

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  and your manager so they can support you in sticking

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  to that, but also so they know what activities you're

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  planning to do for your day.

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  And they can best connect with you when it makes

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  sense for them to do that.

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  Well, so that's around you now know how you can

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  decide your personal operating system to be successful in remote

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  work by thinking about your physical space, how you could

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  be really intentional with your time and how you can

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  set yourself up for success with a routine.

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  So I'm really thrilled for you to go out and

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  try this.

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  Thank you for tuning in.

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  If you have any questions at all or would like

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  to chat more about designing your personal operating system, please

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  find me on Langton.

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  I would really love to chat more.