A Week That Works, Part 1
Most managers have a structure for the job. Very few have a structure for themselves.
I keep coming back to this idea. It grew out of my research on how remote work affects experienced professionals, and it explains a pattern I see repeatedly. Capable, committed managers build careful systems for their teams and their deadlines. Then they run their own day on whatever is left.
This series, A Week That Works, is about changing that. We start with the foundation: your health.
What the research says about remote work and your well-being
On paper, remote work looks good. In a well-known experiment, staff who worked from home performed 13 per cent better and were happier in their jobs (Bloom et al., 2015). Look closer, though, and part of that gain came from working more minutes in each shift, with fewer breaks and fewer sick days.
When the pandemic sent millions of people home, the pattern grew. One large study of digital work patterns found that the average workday stretched by almost 49 minutes (DeFilippis et al., 2020).
That is the catch. Flexibility alone does not protect your well-being. Without structure, those extra hours quietly take a toll on your health.
Four signs your remote day has no structure for you
You will recognise at least one of these.
Your workday ends only because your body is tired. There is no clear finish line, so you stop when your energy runs out rather than when you planned to.
Your mealtime is all over the place. The day keeps moving, and you never built in a break to replenish your energy. Lunch becomes a late afternoon snack at your desk.
Isolation creeps in. You support everyone else, and you carry a lot on your own. Nobody sees it, because nobody is in the room.
You lose control of your routines. Over time, the habits that kept you well fade, and sometimes so does your sense of self.
This is a support problem
If those signs feel familiar, please hear this. Nothing is wrong with you. Remote work asks for a kind of support most of us were never given.
The office used to do some of this work for us. A commute marked the start and end of the day. Colleagues heading to lunch reminded you to eat.
At home, those cues disappear, and the job expands beyond normal hours.
What changed for me
There was a stretch when I did not eat lunch until late afternoon. I was beginning to feel the effects, starting with low energy by mid-afternoon. So I made one quiet decision: lunch by 1:30 p.m. at the latest. I did not announce it. I simply kept it, and that one change became a habit.
I did not figure this out all at once. I learned, adjusted, and refined as I went. After more than 30 years in the field, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic changed how so many of us work, I am convinced that remote work has to begin with self-care and structure.
Start with one protected block
Your structure doesn’t need to be elaborate. Start with one part of your day that your job cannot take.
- Choose one block. Your lunch break is a good place to begin. So is a clear stop time in the evening.
- Book it like a meeting. Put it on your calendar with a name, start time, and end time.
- Keep it five days in a row. Consistency matters more than length. Twenty protected minutes beat an hour you skip.
- Notice what changes. On Friday, look back at your week. How did your energy feel on the days you kept it?
That one protected block is the first piece of a structure built for you. Your body is one of your most important assets, and how you care for it shapes how you think and how you lead.
Build a week that works
Over the coming weeks, A Week That Works moves from your health to your boundaries, and then to your workflow. Each part adds one more piece to a structure that supports you.
This is also the work we do together inside the Remote Managers’ Network. Members build a week that works for them, with group coaching and a community that understands remote leadership.
Founding membership is open until Friday 11 December 2026.
Founding members join at $37 a month, and that rate stays locked for as long as your membership stays active.
Remote Work Starts With Self-Care.
Sources
Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., and Ying, Z. J. (2015). Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165 to 218.
DeFilippis, E., Impink, S. M., Singell, M., Polzer, J. T., and Sadun, R. (2020). Collaborating during coronavirus: The impact of COVID-19 on the nature of work. NBER Working Paper No. 27612.