12 Tips on How to Stay Motivated When Working from Home
Posted by. Disrupt Tech. July 28, 2021
A study done by 451 researchers revealed that 67% of businesses that expanded remote working policies for COVID-19 are planning to continue it even after the pandemic. Those who prefer to Work from Home (WFH) will surely be happy knowing this fact.
However, working from home is awesome until your cat throws up on your computer! Or all power tools and noisy machinery of the construction areas start firing up beside your home. The study shows that 91% of employees face moderate to extreme stress while working remotely.
When remote work is looking to stay for a long time, finding out the best ways to keep yourself motivated for remote work is a must. Read on to find the ways you could use to keep yourself motivated during remote work and make the best use of it.
1. Make Sure You Love Your Job
Gallup poll revealed that only 34% of Americans are engaged at work. This fact shows that most people spend most of their time doing things that they don’t like.
The question is – what parameters should we analyze to know whether we are doing our preferable job or not? Let’s have a look at the following checklist so that you can identify your right track.
✔ You’re using your natural gifts, strengths, and talents in your work
✔ Your work is aligned with your core values.
✔ When you do it, time will fly by. You can do it for long hours and still feel energized.
✔ You enjoy it so much that waking up early doesn’t seem tiring to you.
Following these steps will help you to find out your desired work. So, don’t settle before finding it out!
2. Develop a Positive Mindset
People who love to work in an office environment can find it difficult to concentrate on work while at home. They feel isolated and sometimes frustrated about the home office. It kills the motivation for work.
Changing your perspective towards things can make you feel happy. Remote working saves your transport cost, time, and the associated exhaustion. It allows you to give more time to your family.
Just like these, there are many other benefits of WFH. To keep your motivation alive, go ahead and make a list of advantages that WFH has provided you!
3. Create a Morning Routine
After waking up in the morning, we should perform few activities. In case you are not aware of the morning tasks, you can follow the following checklist to perform yours.
✔ Getting up early in the morning
✔ To wake your body up, perform some exercise like jumping, running, or just a walk.
✔Have your breakfast to fuel up your body with the energy from food.
✔Your clothing should not be too casual when you sit for office work. Ensure the normal clothing that you wear when working from the office.
4. Practice the Art of Decluttering
Research revealed that people were less productive when they were exposed to excessive clutter. They had a harder time focusing on their work. You can manage it by following ways.
✔ Set up your home office in a separate room or place where family persons have no access when you work.
✔ Ensure some ergonomic home office equipment such as a high-quality chair, a laptop stand for your laptop, or a good desk for your computer.
✔ Practice minimalism. Keep the essential things only on your table. Try to maintain it also for your desktop.
✔ Clean your e-mail. Go through your inbox and archive to verify if any important mail is there. Delete the unnecessary ones.
5. Make a Schedule
Based on the prioritization of work, you should work on a schedule. It will help to optimize your time. Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can make your schedule.
✔ Document the thing that you must get done that day. You can create it in the morning or in the evening before the next day.
✔ Create the list of tasks chronologically from the first task in the morning to the last task at the end of the day.
✔ Break large tasks into smaller steps for your convenience
✔ Put a sign like a star to the tasks that require high priority
✔ Work in a small block of time. It can be from 15 minutes to 30 minutes for each step.
6. Know Your Peak Energy and Slump Times
Each of us has a different energy level at different times of the day. You have to know when you have the most energy and when your energy levels tend to be lower and organize your work accordingly.
It is not like when you have less energy to complete a work, you will not do the work. At that moment, you can experiment with different strategies.
You can practice the ‘10-minute Rule.’ Tell yourself that you have only 10 minutes to complete a task. If required, you can repeat the process with breaks until the task is over.
You can go through the following infograph of chronological worklists that will help you to have an overall idea about doings for being motivated.
7. Practice Regulating Your Emotions
Research shows that we tend to put off tasks that make us feel uncomfortable. It hampers our motivation for work and also productivity. Instead of fearing the emotion of comfort, we have to face it. We can make ourselves believe that after completing the task, it will be done. You won’t have to worry more about it!
8. Reward Yourself, Challenge Yourself
Rewards are the best motivators. It boosts our mental and physical energy when we look forward to something. Rewarding yourself doesn’t mean you have to reward yourself with something expensive. That can be distracting!
Always reward yourself after completing a certain number of tasks with a cup of coffee, a plate full of noodles, or watching a TV show, whatever you like.
9. Practice Good Self-Care
Loving yourself is the main power that helps to keep you motivated. Take a step back every once in a while and ask yourself what you should do to take care of yourself. Proper self-care helps to make the right decision at the right moment also.
Get enough sleep and do physical exercise regularly. It will help you to boost your inner strength and keep you motivated for your work throughout the day.
10. Take Regular Breaks
Working productively doesn’t mean you have to work without any break. Taking a break is not cheating until you take it for the whole day. Taking a regular break boosts energy and vitality.
Take a short break of 5 to 10 minutes after each hour. Engage yourself with family members, your pet, drinking water, or a simple walk. Don’t forget to repeat it every day and every hour of your work!
11. Socialization
Remote working doesn’t allow us to gossip or spend quality time with colleagues. So you have to do it by yourself. Make some time at a particular point of the day and connect with your colleagues, your boss.
Line up an accountability buddy from colleagues. With him, you will share your work progress and ask him about his work. It will help you to work in competition and be motivated for productive work.
12. Pick a definitive finishing time
WFH has blended personal time with professional work. Don’t allow yourself to work all day and night. Know the limit of your work. You need not stop working at exactly the ending time, but don’t invest too much time that you should have given to your family or yourself. Preparing a working schedule and day-long effective work can help to manage time efficiently.
When our lives are at risk in this pandemic, then getting the chance of remote work is nothing but a blessing. So we should keep ourselves motivated for our designated work. Following these 12 tips will help you to be motivated and productive and enjoy your remote work.