Working from home provides some nice conveniences, but it can also cause problems depending on your situation. For example, you could struggle with motivating yourself to work when you’re home. If this sounds like something you have problems with, you should try out these tips to help motivate yourself when you need to work at home.
Create a Dedicated Workspace
Sometimes, you need to give yourself a specific workspace to help you focus and motivate yourself. Doing so creates a boundary between your work and home, which can help you subconsciously separate the two from each other. This is because you realize you work in one part of your home and relax in another area.
This also helps you to avoid temptations when you need to work in your home. For example, if you work in your bedroom, then you could lose your motivation since you will want to relax or sleep. This means you should make a dedicated workspace to help you separate your work and relax mindsets from each other.
Declutter and Organize Your Office
Once you have a dedicated home office space, you should focus on decluttering and organizing it. Read on for some tips from Catherine Galvin on how you can declutter and organize your home office.
If you have paper all over your office desk, then you should move it or find a place to put it all. Do your best to remove any clutter from your office to make it look clean and nice.
When you declutter your office, you make it more inviting, which can make you feel motivated to work. On top of this, if you keep your office organized, you will know where everything is, so you won’t feel as stressed out when you need to find something. This will then motivate you to work since you won’t waste time looking for what you need.
Keep Your Phone Away When Possible
While phones are valuable resources that allow you to communicate with others, they can also create unnecessary distractions. For example, if you get a text or call while you work, you may feel the need to immediately check it. This distraction could cause you to lose motivation since you want to look at and use your phone instead.
However, if you keep your phone in a separate room or on silent, it won’t be as much of a distraction. On top of this, you shouldn’t put it on vibrate since you can still hear it whenever it goes off. If you need to use your phone for work, then this might not be an option, but it’s a good tip to follow otherwise.
Have Separate Devices
It also doesn’t hurt to use separate devices if you can afford to do this. For example, you could have a personal computer you use for web surfing and another one you leave in your home office for work. This separation will help you get into the mindset of work when you use your office computer.
You can do the same with your phone if you have the resources for it. For example, if your work gives you a work phone, you could get a personal phone to use separately. This way, you can keep your work phone on you while keeping your personal phone outside of your office when you work, minimizing distractions.
Communicate With Others in Your Home
If you live with other people, you need to explain your work situation to them. Otherwise, you run the risk of people talking to or bothering you when you try to work. This could then cause a serious distraction from your work and make you lose your motivation since you’d rather talk with someone than do your work.
On top of this, you don’t want people to invite you to activities when you try to work since that may distract you when you realize you can’t go. This can then cause you to take a hit to your motivation, making it harder for you to complete the work you need to complete. Make sure people understand where and when you work to avoid these problems.
Identify Daily Milestones
Sometimes, you need to set goals you can attain if you want to keep yourself motivated. Otherwise, your workload may seem too large to tackle, which could cause you to lose some motivation. You should create multiple daily milestones you need to reach to keep yourself motivated as you work.
Depending on how you like to work, you could create either time-related milestones or ones in relation to your accomplishments. For example, if you are an accountant, you should either work for a certain amount of time or complete a specific number of forms. Once you reach a milestone, you can take a break and stop for a bit.
Take Breaks as Needed
Going off the last point, you should make sure you take breaks regularly when you work from home. If you don’t take breaks as needed, you can end up facing burnout by the end of the day, causing you to slow down and lose motivation. This means you should figure out the ideal times to take breaks.
This should include small and long breaks. For example, if you work eight hours a day, you should decide how many small breaks you plan to take and the times you should take them. You should also take at least a half an hour for a meal break, so you can eat and relax. This will vary depending on your schedule and situation, so pick the best option for you.
Stick to a Schedule
You can get used to working at home when you create a schedule and stick to it. This way, you will get used to working during those predetermined times while avoiding unnecessary downtime. For example, if you get used to working in your home office from nine to five every week day, you may increase your motivation to work during those times.
When you don’t stick to a schedule, you make it harder for yourself to work. This is because you could end up procrastinating your work, which will lead to longer work times that can cause you to feel less motivated. Do your best to create a schedule that lets you work during the time of day where you feel the most alert and energized.
Get Plenty of Rest
Providing yourself with motivation involves making sure you’re in the mood to work. If you wake up exhausted, then you won’t want to spend time working in your office, so you should do what you can to get enough sleep. This will vary depending on your body, but at least eight hours of sleep should help you feel rested in the morning.
If you tend to stay in bed for a while, then you should go to bed sooner whenever possible. This way, you can lay in bed but still get enough sleep since you have some extra time to fall asleep. This always depends on the person, but you should keep this point in mind when you work at home.
Working at home requires you to motivate yourself, which some people will struggle with. If you find yourself getting distracted or sitting around when you should be working, you should try some of these ideas. They can give you that extra boost in motivation to accomplish everything you need to for your work.
