Remote Working Tips For A Self-Employed Summer

Being self-employed means it’s likely that you’ll be remote working at some point this summer. Being in a different environment, however, can cause productivity issues.

This doesn’t have to be the case. Here, we’ve put together some valuable tips for ensuring effective remote working.

Guarantee access to good WiFi

So much of the modern working world involves the internet, and there’s nothing worse than finding yourself somewhere with a poor WiFi connection when you need to communicate with clients or send and receive work. This may be unavoidable if you’re away in a rural location, but in most areas you can ensure satisfactory WiFi beforehand.

All you need to do is check. If you’ll be at a hotel or summer business event, most websites will give you the necessary information. In the case that this isn’t available, contact them directly to request their WiFi speed. If it’s insufficient, look elsewhere or find a nearby café where you can plug in for a few hours.

Keep everything in the cloud

Landing in an area and then discovering the files you need are on a device back home is far from ideal. Keep organised by ensuring everything is kept in the cloud – even when you’re at home. This means you won’t ever have to worry about not being able to access anything.

Google Drive gives you the ability to store your files online, and has the added benefit of being able to collaborate with others. This and other apps are great for time management. You can even do your Self Assessment online with cloud-based tax software.

Plan your day effectively

One key way to increase your productivity is to take breaks. Whilst it’s tempting to work all the time, this’ll only result in you being less efficient in the long run. So, make sure that you at least spend some time enjoying yourself on your summer trips away.

If you’re working from home for an extended portion of the summer, you can schedule in regular breaks to increase your productivity. This can be as short as fifteen minutes, but it’ll be enough to give your brain the refresh it needs. Make sure you do something that’s not work-related in your break – checking emails won’t help.

Reduce your homeworking costs

An advantage to remote working from home rather than elsewhere is that you can lessen your outgoings in a variety of ways. Whether you’re renting or you own your property, you can claim either rent or mortgage interest as an allowable expense. You can also reduce the amount of tax that you owe by offsetting your utilities.

This includes gas, electricity, water, repairs, telephone and internet. All but the latter two can be claimed via a flat rate, which is much more straightforward than dividing the usage between home and business.

Simplify tax with Self Assessment software

Whilst using flat rates will make the tax side of things simpler, it can be made even more so with tax software. You can input data from wherever you are, and it’ll instantly adjust to show the up-to-date amount of tax owed. To assist you further, GoSimpleTax provides tax-saving suggestions and allows you to submit your Self Assessment directly to HMRC too.

To discover how GoSimpleTax could help you with your tax obligations whilst you’re remote working, register for a free trial of our Self Assessment software today.

Blog content is for information purposes and over time may become outdated, although we do strive to keep it current. It's written to help you understand your Tax's and is not to be relied upon as professional accounting, tax and legal advice due to differences in everyone's circumstances. For additional help please contact our support team or HMRC.