Many people are currently adapting to working from home long term. Part of this adaption involves focusing your mind and getting used to a very different working environment. For some, working from home may be quieter, whilst for those with young children it may be a lot noisier with a lot more distractions. Either way, you need to find what works best for you, so that you can work efficiently and effectively.
Here’s 11 tips that will help you to stay motivated when working from home.
- Get the right set up
Technology and IT experts, Netstar, note that getting the right IT set up is arguably one of the most important factors when it comes to successful home working. This includes having the right tools and technology at your disposal. If you feel as though your IT set up is lacking, simply ask your employer. Most employers will be willing to provide laptops, keyboards, monitors, PCs, webcams, software etc. if it means that their employees can working efficiently and effectively.
Getting the right set up also refers to the physical space that you’re in. Having a complete computer system is no good if you don’t have a suitable, desk, chair and room to use it in. Try and mimic your office working space as accurately as possible, aiming for a spacious, bright and quiet working environment.
- Start your day with your most difficult task
Procrastinating and putting off difficult or lengthy tasks will only stunt your productivity and hold you up from completing other tasks later down the line. Reserve the first 30 minutes – 1 hour of your day for completing the tasks that you’re least looking forward to. Once these are out the way, you’ll find that it’s much easier to carry on with the rest of your day and be productive, without the prospect of these less desirable tasks looming over your head.
- When you start to feel unmotivated, take a break
If you feel as though you’ve been staring at the same screen for hours and not really getting anywhere, it’s probably time to take a break and have a quick change of scenery. In these instances, it’s important to recognise that your motivation is lacking and do something about it rather than ignore it. Take the chance to make a cup of tea, have a snack or take 5 minutes in the sun. You’ll find that when you return to the task at hand, you’ll feel refreshed and motivated to continue, ultimately being more productive than if you hadn’t taken the break.
- Break big tasks into smaller, tangible ones
If you’ve just taken on a huge project that will take months to complete, it’s unrealistic to expect yourself to accomplish large chunks of it each day. Instead, break the whole project down into small, tangible tasks that fit within the time frame for completion. For example, a novelist would never set themselves the task of writing an entire novel in one day. Instead they would split this huge project into smaller tasks, e.g. researching context, planning chapters, and writing paragraphs. This logic can be applied to every job in every discipline; being able to set and complete realistic goals will mean that you’ll feel accomplished at the end of the day, boosting your motivation and satisfaction.
- Schedule your day
Every morning, write a list of things that you need to complete for that day, with a rough guide as to when you’re going to complete them (factoring in times for breaks and ad hoc tasks). As mentioned above, these tasks should be realistic and achievable. Similarly, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t complete every task in a day, often other ad hoc duties arise, meaning that restricting yourself to a schedule is impractical. Instead, view your schedule as a rough guide for what you want your day to look like. Completing it will make you feel great, but if you don’t complete it you should be able to explain why, e.g. task X and Y came up unexpectedly which I needed to prioritise, meaning I couldn’t complete task A and B.
- Reward yourself at milestones
Once you’ve completed an important task or performed extremely well – reward yourself! Tailor the reward to the difficulty of the task, for example if you’ve completed a task that took you a day or two you could treat yourself with a chocolate bar. Whereas if you’d just completed a novel you could reward yourself with something a bit bigger!
- Communicate regularly with colleagues
Maintaining company culture and a sense of teamwork will help you immensely when working from home. Daily catch ups with your team are also a way to hold yourself accountable for completing tasks, as well as finding out what your teammates are doing (as you’re no longer sat next to them to see for yourself). Collaboration technology, like Microsoft Teams, is an excellent tool for connecting with others through video, chat and audio functions.
- Make a list of goals and reasons why you want to accomplish them
Separate your goals into long-term and short-term achievements. For example, a long-term goal could be to achieve a promotion within the next year. Whereas, a short-term goal could be to exceed your KPIs for that week. Once you’ve established a list of goals, record the reasons that you want to achieve them. Referring to this list will help you to stay motivated and remind you why your goals are so important.
- Plan things to do before and after work
Planning things around working hours will stop your days from becoming repetitive. Now that you’re not commuting to work every day, why not replace this time by doing something else. For example, you could use the mornings before work to exercise, meaning that you start the day refreshed and refuelled. You could use the evening time to practice your cooking skills, experimenting with healthy dinner options that you wouldn’t have had time to cook if you were commuting home from the office. Whatever you choose to do, adding these extra activities around the working day will help you to maintain a good work-life balance and stay motivated during the working day.
- Avoid distractions where possible
This may be easier for some than others, but it’s important to try and avoid distractions when you can. This includes letting your family or housemates know that you’re busy working during the day and not to disturb you. You can also try locking your mobile phone in a drawer until the working day is over or playing music in the background to help you to stay focused on tasks.
- Dress as if you’re going to work
Staying motivated is largely psychological. If you roll out of bed at 08:45 in your pyjamas to start working, you’re very unlikely to have a productive and fulfilled day. Whereas, if you shower and get dressed into business wear as you would usually, you’ll be in the right mind set to have a productive, motivated and successful day.