The future for many is certainly looking to be within a more remote working lifestyle and this comes with many benefits too – the extra free time given without the commute, the flexibility of choosing your own working schedule, and even the possibility of a little extra free time at home too. There’s a lot of things to do with this time, and whilst it may be enticing to turn to your new favourite past time in gaming through online genres like these which are available despite regulation change like Gamstop, but there’s certainly other paths you can take too. With the recent announcements that a four-day work week could become more commonplace too, self-improvement could certainly be a goal for many.

Improvement for work – There are a huge number of resources available online for learning a number of different skills related to either hobbies or jobs – this could be within learning some design skills for photo or image editing, learning a little bit of code to help problem solve, or even following some courses for gaining a better understanding of your most commonly used programs. If you have a little extra free time in your day from the shift to remote working, you can certainly improve your job prospects by investing a little time into yourself and develop or improve a new or existing skill, and whilst doing so from the comfort of your own home. A little time learning something new can certainly make you stand out and make you more vital in your current, or in your new position.

A focus away from work ­– Self improvement doesn’t only need to be limited to skills you can only use at work, however, as the free time can be used in other areas – working remotely may provide you with opportunities to travel around and work from wherever you’d like to as many have chosen to do so already – you may be able to use this time of self-improvement to learn a language of a dream destination or plan around how you could make travelling whilst working viable, particularly if you aren’t in a more facing job that requires a lot of video calling, this may certainly be an exciting possibility. Taking the first big step is key, but once you’ve done so you may never look back, and with so many tools for support, it’s much easier than it has ever been before.

You could of course choose to use the extra free time for a bit of extra sleep or some more free time in your mornings and evenings which is a huge benefit in itself – but if you’re already tied to an early start and late finish routine, finding ways in which you can benefit the most may certainly improve your work/life balance, and with an unprecedented opportunity ahead the freedom now is certainly your own – for many going back to the regular office working paradigm may not happen again as the value of remote working has certainly been shown, and the future of working as a whole is starting to look different.