For many people who don’t work from home, it might seem like the ideal work environment. While working from home provides its fair share of perks (no traffic, pajamas all day), it has its fair share of challenges as well. One of the most challenging parts of working from home is the ability to remain motivated. When you’re not motivated to work, this can have disastrous effects on your ability to maintain employment and much more. In order to remain motivated, consider the following tips.
1. Start Early
Waking up early has so many benefits for your work-from-home life. Develop a morning routine that stimulates and inspires you. Read a chapter from a motivational book. Exercise for 30 minutes. Make a hot cup of coffee or drink a glass of lemon water for your digestive system. As you develop rituals that are associated with pleasure, it’s easier to remain committed to anything that fuels you. As the day continues, the distractions mount up as well. Interruptions from co-workers, family members, and friends, social media scrolling, and long Zoom calls can all impede on your ability to sit, focus and get a job done. In the early morning hours, you’ll decrease the interruptions and distractions drastically.
2. Track Your Time
When you’re at home, it’s a lot easier to think you can multitask. This is one of the worst things you can do for your schedule. Instead of trying to multi-task, focus on one task at a time. Don’t try to do the laundry while you’re reading emails. Create office hours when you work from home. When you allocate specific hours for work, you’ll get the work done within those hours. If you stretch the time, you’re more likely to procrastinate, get distracted, and lose motivation.
Time your process to see how long it takes you to get a particular task done. As you time all of your processes, you’ll get a better idea of how much time you’ll need to set aside in order to work from home. You can also use an employee time clock to track your hours. Sometimes, a boss doesn’t truly understand how long it can take to complete a specific task. By using an employee time clock, you’ll be able to track your hours, break down your tasks into smaller increments and accomplish more over time.
3. Celebrate the Small Wins
It is very important to celebrate the small wins in your life. However, people apply this concept the efforts like weight loss and other personal endeavors. Apply the same principle to your work life. If you’re able to hit your daily income goal before midday, make a big deal out of that small win. Consider what you did to accomplish that goal in order to make it a habit. Create a work journal that’s filled with highlights and accomplishments you’ve achieved over the course of any given day or week. As you’re able to celebrate the small wins, they become larger wins.
4. Reward Yourself
It’s okay to reward yourself throughout the workday. If you’re using a timed work schedule like the Pomodoro Method, you can always use your breaks as opportunities to reward yourself with something special like a quick run to your favorite coffee shop or a 20-minute nap to recharge yourself for the afternoon’s tasks.
5. Cultivate the Right Workspace
The right workspace can help you transition from relaxation mode to work mode. Even if it’s just a small desk in the corner of your living room, create a specific area for work. If you live in a noisy house, consider purchasing noise-canceling headphones that allow you to really drown out the noise. Try to develop a ritual around your work area. Whether you wear a specific cardigan or a pair of comfortable shoes, try to keep something near your desk that, once worn, makes you feel like you’re officially in work mode. Those smaller details tend to matter when you’re working on changing your habits and remaining motivated to continue.
If you want to remain motivated, understand that it’s a process. When you build systems around this goal, you’ll set yourself up for success. If you’re solely reliant upon willpower to pull you through, it’s going to be extremely difficult to sustain a work rhythm that leads to success. As you build the right systems, include these habits in your arsenal. They’ll help you so that even when you’re not motivated, you’ve developed the habits that make you get the job done anyway.
