Introduction

Megan Eddinger is the Director of Learner Experience at Workplaceless. With over 10 years of experience working, leading, and training in distributed workplaces, she has served as a pioneer in remote best practices by introducing new tools, technologies, and methods to make remote teams more successful.

Her inspiration lies in seeing the success of the learners, and regularly challenging herself to integrate these best practices into the design, development, and implementation of learning experiences that drive stronger results for the learners.

Current Location?

Middletown DE

Current Gig?

Director of Learner Experience at Workplaceless

Where can we follow you on the Internet?

LinkedIn

Tell us a little bit about your background & how did you get started with remote work?

When I first started my career, I worked on a hybrid team within the Training and Development department. In this role I not only designed and developed asynchronous learning programs, I also helped classroom facilitators convert their content to a VILT (Virtual Instructor Led Training) format.

I loved the work that I did and the people that I worked with but eventually the demands of my role and the 45 minute commute each way took a toll on me. I pursued an opportunity that was much closer to home but eventually determined it was not a good fit for my career.

That’s when I found remote work.

I started providing my services to different companies as a contractor through Upwork and eventually found a role and a team that was not only a good fit for my career progression, but also my work/life balance.

Take us through your typical weekday?

Morning: Workout, get the kids ready for school, eat breakfast, get to work. I usually try and take my mornings to prioritise my tasks, if I didn’t do that the night before, and review and respond to communication channels (email, slack, clickup, etc.). Then, it’s time to dive in.

Noonish: Lunch break. Sometimes I will meet a friend in town but most days I just heat up some leftovers. If the weather is nice, I’ll take my dogs for a walk.

I really try to make it a priority to leave the house at lunch time 2-3 times per week.

Afternoon: Check in to communication channels (email, slack, clickup, etc.) get back to tasks and projects.

Late afternoon: The kids start getting home between 3:30 and 4. Most days I’ll work straight through until 5 just taking a quick break to greet them and hear about their day. I usually take the last 15-20 minutes of my day to assess my progress on my tasks and set my priorities for the following day. Once I’m done for the day, I will set myself to “away” in Slack and put my computer to sleep for the night.

What’s your workspace setup like?

I’m lucky to have a dedicated office space in my house so I can shut my door and disconnect from the rest of the house.

This also helps me to set a clear boundary between “work time” and “family time”.

We also recommend getting a proper schedule and follow the best tips t0 work from home effectively.

I work from a laptop however I have it connected to a 25 inch monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse so its much more ergonomically correct. Plan on getting a standing desk to take care of your health and a good pair of headphones to let the tunes flow while you are working from home.

What apps, gadgets, or tools can’t you live without?

My fitbit! When you work from home, you don’t have cues from other co-workers to look up from your screen or to take a break. My fitbit alerts me at 10 to the hour, every hour, if I have not achieved a certain number of steps.

We also just recently rolled out ClickUp as a project management tool and it has been a game changer when it comes to managing my tasks and workload.

How do you keep track of what you need to prioritize?

We use ClickUp as our project and task management tool. It works best when everything is listed here. So whenever I have action items from meetings, or teammates ask me for help with their projects, it all goes into ClickUp with a due date. This helps me keep myself organized and ensures things don’t slip through the cracks.

How do you recharge or take a break?

I love to spend time outside. I try to take lunch breaks by taking a walk outside or just enjoying my food in my sunroom or on my patio. For longer breaks, I love to unplug at our family cabin in the Adirondack mountains or spend time at the beach.‌

What are you reading currently? What do you recommend?

I am currently reading The Joy of Movement by Kelly McGonigal and I highly recommend reading it.

Advice for someone who is looking to switch to a remote job?

Understand that switching to remote work is not as easy as just taking your laptop from your cubicle and working from home. Your team and organization must be ready to support you with the proper policies, procedures, and tools in place.

Start small by working remotely one or two days per week and grow from there as you work through the bugs and earn the trust of your team. If your organization is not willing to explore remote work and you’re open to a change.

Start looking for remote jobs at various boards like DailyRemote, to start working remotely, because it is indeed the future.

What do you like to do in your free time?

In all seriousness, my schedule is full between work and having 3 active kids who all participate in extracurricular activities. I make the time to teach group fitness classes between 3 and 4 times per week and I also really enjoy listening to podcasts.

What according to you are the pros and cons of remote work?

Pros: Flexible schedule.

Being able to easily adjust my work schedule to my family’s needs is so important to me as a working mom.

My kids are old enough to entertain themselves but not quite old enough that I can leave them home alone for long periods of time. Sick days, snow days, teacher professional development days, holidays, etc. will suck up all of your vacation time and then some.

Cons: Isolation. If I go more than a day or two with no meetings, I can notice a change in my energy.

Finding ways to connect with the people you work with and even finding ways to be social during your work day like going to the dog park or taking a group exercise class can make all the difference. However, it’s up to the individual to make these things a priority.

Want to work remotely like Megan? Visit DailyRemote and apply to your dream remote job. Start preparing and keep in mind to avoid the common mistakes while applying for a remote job. Get started today. Finally, join like-minded people in our LinkedIn and Facebook community.