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If you’re lucky enough to be a remote or hybrid worker, then you know all about the benefits that come with that type of profession. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows — there are instances where managing your jam-packed inbox, Slack chats, daily tasks and more can become a bit overwhelming.
I can attest to feeling a bit burned out at times when I have 10 tabs open and not knowing where the latest direct message notifications alert came from while I’m busy trying to churn out another quality article.
Put these tips into practice, and I guarantee you’ll avoid burning out and become the best remote worker you were meant to be.
Tap into Gemini and other AI tools to manage your inbox better
I’m pretty sure you’re already using Gemini for Google Workspace every time you open up a new message in your Gmail inbox. Everything from brief updates to lengthy explanations from your boss/coworkers can quickly be summed up in a few bullet points thanks to Gemini’s “AI Overview” feature.
You can also tap into Gemini and other AI chatbots like Flowrite and MailMaestro to draft up responses in a specific tone and even utilize message templates that’ll help you fill in the blanks while reflecting the particulars of your role.
Sorting out your emails and getting through all the clutter can be done with AI apps like Superhuman Email, Buzz Mail, and Clean Mail, while Boomerang is great for sending you reminders about the most significant messages you urgently need to reply to if you haven’t already.
Utilize Otter Meeting Agent to automatically transcribe meetings
I've found the Otter Meeting Agent to be pretty useful thus far for taking notes on everything said during a crucial work meeting (I always have to kick it out of my Google Hangouts when I’m just having a casual conversation with one of my coworkers, though).
Besides Otter, there are plenty of other useful AI tools that transcribe everything that’s being said during your professional digital meetups. The best ones I can think of are Blue Dot (a free Chrome extension), Maestra AI (can transcribe interviews in over 125 languages), and Hedy AI (suggest follow-up questions mid-interview while transcribing).
Let AI turn your daily tasks into an actionable focus plan
My Google Calendar is jam-packed with events to keep track of — it becomes a bit of a chore keeping track of all the multicolored tasks lifted from all my shared calendars. What I’ve started doing is writing down all my daily assignments and meetings, transferring them as an easy-to-follow list into whatever AI I happen to be using, and using this prompt: “Organize this into an 8-hour deep-work schedule with breaks.”
ChatGPT has helped mt out immensely in that regard by grouping similar tasks based on their level of importance and creating time blocks for my lunch breaks. Save all that energy for your actual work instead of using it all up on trying to remember what you’re supposed to do for the day ahead.
Summarize your documents and charts by inputting them into AI
Another part of my Google Workspace that’s filled to the brim is Google Docs. I can’t even fathom how many company how-tos, articles in need of editing, super detailed suggestions from my editors, project updates and charts have overcrowded my Docs. I’ve resorted to using AI to help me find the finer details in those documents by attaching them and letting my cyber assistant summarize them as bullet points.
I also have to applaud Slack for including a “Recap” feature that offers quick blurbs about all the conversations happening across my various work channels.
Draft up important messages in a professional tone with AI, then refine
Sometimes, I’ll open an email from a PR representative who wants to set me up with an interview for a potential article. Other times, I’ll be treated to messages from co-workers that ask me for an update on an article in the works or a friendly reminder about something due soon. AI helps me out in those cases by generating first-draft responses that I can then edit in my own voice.
Here are two examples of the sort of prompts you can use to do the same: “Draft a professional but friendly project update” and “Rewrite this to be clearer and more concise.”
Generate messages that create clear boundaries
Thankfully, I haven’t encountered any issues with my coworkers to the point where I need to tell them to give me some space during work hours. If you happen to be dealing with such an issue or just want to prepare for it, let me suggest using AI to draft up the sort of cordial messages that set boundaries, respectfully decline meeting requests and opportunities from PR representatives and reposition deadlines you see as unrealistic.
Protecting your peace and time trumps being stressed out over work issues that decrease your productivity levels.
Ask AI to help you reset your goals for the week ahead
Once your work week has come to a close, it’s always best to reconvene with your AI companion. I tend to do this by listing all of my future tasks for the week ahead and asking AI a simple question: “What should I prioritize next week?”
ChatGPT has come through in the clutch the most whenever I’ve put that prompt to good use — it ranks my most important responsibilities and gives me a clear view of what I need to prepare over the weekend to be on top of everything.
Bottom line
Feeling overwhelmed and stressed out as a remote worker may sound unreal since most folks think you’re just sitting at home, drinking coffee at all times of the day and handling all your work with nothing but a laptop/desktop at the ready. But that’s nothing but a misconception — there’s a lot that comes with working efficiently and staying in a good mental state all the while.
Put these seven tips into action, and you might just see an uptick in your output while also feeling less stressed over everything your job entails.
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