How to convince your boss that you're productive working from home

Fast Company

3 days ago

Half of remote workers run errands on the clock, and over a quarter skip full days altogether—so it's no surprise some bosses have grown wary of their employees working from home.
But that doesn't mean remote work doesn't work. We're all different. While some people thrive while surrounded by colleagues, others excel in the quiet and comfort of their home office.
Most employers will recognize that rigid rules won't produce optimal results, but convincing your boss that the office isn't the right environment for you will still take some hard work: managing your time, delivering consistently, and giving it your all.
Here's how you can demonstrate that while remote working might not work for everyone, it is working for you:
1. Quantify your productivity
Most remote workers don't manage eight hours of focused work—but neither do those in the office. From chitchat between colleagues to frequent coffee breaks, there are constant distractions. You just need to prove to your boss that you're not spending all of your time running errands and watching Netflix. Work flow tracking apps—such as Rize or Toggl Track—are a great way to quantify your productivity. Integrating with hundreds of common tools and automatically tracking your activity across your apps and browser, you can effortlessly create reports showing what you've done, when, and how long it took. With the right data, you can prove that you're actually achieving more from the solace of your home office.
2. Respond with strategic urgency
You might mute your notifications to focus, but to your boss, this silence is suspicious. Are you getting on with your to-do list or running errands, having found a way to trick the employee tracking system? You don't need to live on Slack, but be ready to respond to urgent requests, whether for critical issues or deadlines that can't wait. It's not about being constantly available; it's about being reliably responsive.
3. Highlight 'invisible' tasks
When working remotely, your behind-the-scenes efforts often go unnoticed. Nobody sees you supporting your junior colleagues, updating spreadsheets, or fixing broken processes, but that doesn't mean they aren't important. Don't let your impact slip under the radar. During check-ins, highlight all your contributions with confidence—not as 'small tasks' but as essential work that keeps the office ticking over smoothly.
4. Bring energy to every meeting
If you're half awake, barely dressed, and mumbling through early morning meetings, your boss will assume that's your default setting. You might work from home, but you still need to show up. Get out of bed, jump in the shower, and put on something workplace-appropriate—you need to show you mean business. When your manager might only see you for 15 minutes a day, making the right impression makes all the difference.
5. Present your progress
Your boss can't see you glued to your screen or tapping your keyboard. For all they know, you're heading to the shops or learning how to bake the second you switch your camera off. Telling them you've been busy is one thing, but showing them? There's no arguing with evidence. Start the week with a Zoom call to define your goals, share your screen, and walk them through what you've been doing. Log them in a tracking tool such as Weekdone or Teamwork, and end the week with a visual report that shows just how hard you've been working. Over time, that visibility and transparency will build trust—and your boss will stop worrying about what you're working on and where you're working from.
6. Share your schedule
If you want to build trust, transparency is the fastest way to earn it. Most calendar apps will let you share your schedule with your boss, which nips any doubt about where you are or what you're doing in the bud. If your calendar is full of team meetings and client calls, there's no question whether you're deep in your workload or buried under your duvet. But you need time to work, too, and you should block it off just as you would an important call. Just avoid vague labels such as 'focus time.' Be specific and make it goal-oriented—'Brainstorming: Q2 marketing ' or 'Writing: Leadership blog post'—so your boss isn't second-guessing whether you're really at your desk.
7. Beat your deadlines
Do you constantly deliver work with seconds to spare before the deadline? At best, your boss will assume that you're managing your time poorly while working remotely. At worst, they'll suspect you're deliberately holding back finished tasks to sneak in some extra downtime. The best way to squash these doubts? Deliver work before it's due. You don't need to keep ahead of your schedule constantly. However, the occasional early delivery tells your boss you're working autonomously effectively and wouldn't benefit from them hovering over your shoulder.
8. Use saved time to upskill
You could hit snooze and sleep away all that time you're saving by not having to commute, or you could invest that time in yourself. What challenges are slowing your team down, and which skills are in short supply? By filling those gaps, you're not just benefiting your own career but providing additional value to your boss—which will make them more accepting of your remote setup. If they're still not convinced? Well, your sharpened skill set will open doors to companies that recognize and value the benefits of remote working.
If you're clocking in, doing the bare minimum, and then sneaking out to run errands, your boss has every right to be concerned. But if you're putting in the effort and producing the results? Any doubts about the effectiveness of your remote working setup will fade fast. No decent boss wants to force you back into an environment that stifles your productivity—they simply want to ensure you aren't spending your workday on social media, shopping, and catching up on sleep.