Working from home can be difficult, and it can be made even more so by distractions made by our spouses, children, and our pets. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have been forced to work at home, and for the foreseeable future, we will all be doing so.
Working from home can, if the conditions are right, be very beneficial and conducive to a better quality of work. It can be easy, however, to become lazy, fall behind on work, or to not work at all. This page will tell you seven effective ways to stay motivated while you are working from home.
Here they are.
01. Read a Self-Help Book
Sometimes, the best way to motivate yourself and to dedicate your time to your work is to read a self-help book (when you are not working, of course!) Self-help books can do a lot of good and can motivate you to work much harder when you may do at home. It is very easy to fall into bad habits, and no matter what we do, we still may not be able to motivate ourselves. Self-help books are very successful, and if you cannot motivate yourself on your own, finding other options is essential. There are many self-help books on the market that are available for all purposes. Finding one dedicated to helping you to stay motivated while at home will be helpful and if you can manage to get through the book, will likely change as a person by the end of it.
02. No Entry
No entry signs, while a little extreme, maybe the best way to keep your family from disturbing you while you are working, and to keep your pets out. When you are working at home, family members will not be able to help themselves from barging into your office and disturbing you and distracting you from doing your work. A no entry sign will deter family members from coming into your home office and will reaffirm to them that you are working and not hanging around for pleasure. Be sure to remind them all individually, also, that they must stay away from your office and not come in to disturb you, otherwise you will not be able to complete your work on time and dedicate more time to them.
03. Fixed Mealtimes
Having fixed mealtimes is a great way to make sure that you do not become distracted while working from home. It can be very easy, when working from home, to slip away from your work and disappear off into the kitchen to raid the snack cupboards; thirty-minutes later, you are sitting in your favourite chair, your chest speckled with crumbs and your television set is on. Having fixed mealtimes and not leaving your office until those times come in is a great way to boost your productivity and ensure you do not waste your time idly on food and other pursuits.
04. Cool Environment
With this summer predicted to be one of the hottest in many years you have to keep cool. When you are working in an office this is not a problem as most offices have air conditioning, but at home, air conditioning is unlikely. Keep the windows open, have a fan circulating, and turn the dehumidifier on. Keeping yourself cool will keep your work flowing.
05. Stay in Touch
Staying in touch with colleagues and employers and keeping them updated with the progress of your work is a great way to motivate yourself. Keeping in touch with the ‘real world’ as it were, will reaffirm quite what you are doing, and why. It is easy to become disenfranchised when you are isolated and working at home, so keep in constant communication and maintain frequent contact to ensure you never forget your purpose.
06. No Surfing
Working at home can mean nobody is around to watch you, which may mean you end up surfing the net and playing online video games idly. This is not conducive to a good quality of work and will distract you more and more in the future. Be sure to focus on your work and not get distracted.
07. Be Comfortable
Working from home often means working, perched on a stool, with paperwork strewn all over our dinner table. Be sure to invest in a desk and a chair and put them in a quiet space when you can continue to work undisturbed and comfortably. Sitting in the kitchen working is an invitation to unwanted distraction.
Now you know a few ways that you can work undisturbed from home, and not get distracted. Working from home has become normality now, and adjusting to it is crucial.