While working from home is becoming a lot more common nowadays, you might have found yourself doing it a lot more than originally planned this year thanks to a little virus that decided to make an appearance. Personally, I went from working a few days a month at home, to working 5 days a week at home. One of the biggest issues for me since this change has been staying motivated while working from home.
As lovely as it is working from home, there’s something about an office environment that makes it a lot easier to stay motivated and productive at work. And moving to working from home 5 days a week has meant I’ve had to work out how and where to find that motivation again. Keep reading for some of my top tips.
Finding motivation when working from home
Keep checking in with colleagues/clients
Whether you’re working for a business or freelance, hopefully there’s plenty of people you can check in with while working from home. Luckily for me, I have a team around me with plenty of opportunity to hop on a video call and have a catch up. My weekly 1 to 1 check-ins with my manager has turned into twice a week, on top of plenty of meetings we’d usually have in the office.
I think it’s important to keep those calls going, and keeping them as video calls if possible too, making your working week as ‘normal’ as possible. A check in doesn’t even have to be work-related either. Sometimes it’s necessary to schedule in those random chats you have while making the tea round or bumping into a colleague on the office-floor, so don’t be afraid to book those into your calendar too.
Keeping conversations going will undoubtedly leave you feeling a lot better, ready to get back into work.
Schedule in breaks, and stick to them
When you’re working from home it can sometimes be difficult to know when or how to take a break. But you’re always going to be less productive and less motivated if you’re not giving yourself those breaks. Think about when you’re in the office – how often do you pop to the loo, make a tea round or just have a random chat with a colleague? At home, you need to make sure you’re recreating these breaks.
At the beginning of each day or week, schedule in those breaks. An hour break at lunch, and a 10-15 minute break for every hour or two of work you do too. Taking that time away from your desk can help you feel more refreshed and focused when you come back to it.
Go outside
It wasn’t until lockdown that I realised how much I appreciate a little bit of fresh air. Whether that be a full on walk outside, or just popping to and from the car throughout the day. Fresh air does the world of good.
It can be easy to get bogged down, tired and demotivated when you’re stuck indoors at a desk all day, so spend some time outdoors! You could walk to the shop, do a workout in the garden or go for a bike ride – any fresh air is good fresh air!
Get dressed
Yes, working from home does have it’s perks of getting to work from your PJs and not having to worry about brushing your hair (or even your teeth!, although I’d recommend you definitely do) all day. That said, if you’re staying in your PJs all day, you’re going to struggle to differentiate between chill time and work time.
Make sure you wake up and get dressed every morning. It doesn’t have to be a suit and tie – I like to work from comfy joggers! But as long as it’s not your PJs, you’ll find the motivation comes easier.
Create a good working environment
Creating a good working environment is possibly one of the most important parts – if you’re working from your bed or the sofa, you’re not exactly creating that office environment. Try and work at a desk or table, not in your bedroom, that’s tidy and with plenty of space.
What are your tops tips for staying motivated working from home?
Lucy x
