Any pointers on how to keep myself motivated while working from home?

Question

I always thought this would be the ideal situation. My company's local office closed down, and now we all work from our homes. It's hard to stay focused and get things done. Any suggestions or any sources I can turn to help get myself organized and on point?

Answer 1

Once you get going on something its pretty easy to stay in 'the zone'. First of all you need to make sure you have a comfortable place to work thats as free from distractions as possible. Even better is if your work space is out of view from the rest of the house. Studies have shown that people are actually MORE productive when there's music on, so having that isn't too bad an idea. Headphones block out the sonic distractions, too.

Getting work done during the day is a *****, you have the usual 'house' things, like chores, the phone, pets, roommates...I get a lot more done at night than any other time of the day. 10PM rolls around and thats when I get down to it. No distractions. If I have to be up early I'll have a nap around 5PM or so.

I usually give myself an hour and a half in the morning to shower, make coffee, check personal e-mail, blogs, maybe news. Other not-so important stuff. Once I'm awake enough to be coherent and social I contact everyone I need to contact, but the real work is during the quiet of night.

I figure even when I was a wage slave there were distractions and days I didn't get much done, so one or two of these days is OK. If I'm really bad, I reset my home page to that client site or what I should be working on if I'm tempted to surf. Depending on what I'm working on I disconnect from the internet entirely, though as a web designer this isn't often an option.

I always figure something is going to take at least twice as long as I anticipate for various reasons. This means I develop a sense of urgency early on in the project.

Oh, yeah, this means SET DEADLINES. Most people won't set them for you. Set your own deadlines and stick to them as if it were an all-important rush job. No one should be left waiting on you no matter how low-priority it is. If its all done, you can live the rest of yiour life without a sense of guilt.

That said, I should be working on comps right now. : /

Answer 2

I suggest setting up an office in your home. An area that is made just for you to work. Put a radio in there if you need back ground sound. Fill it with thing the at you used to have on your desk at work. Put in your mind that every day at 8 am or 9 am you are going to work. Dress code is flexible but you need to go in and work as if you are in an office again. Take time as if it's still a normal workday. Tell your self you only get and hour or maybe two for lunch and then go back to work in your office and work for another few hours. It's hard I know but put your self in your office state of mind. Just a little nicer.
Good luck and E-mail if you need any help.

Answer 3

Honestly working from home isn't for everybody. It does take dedication and commitment, and if you can't manage that I recommend you to look for a more structured job.

But to be able to handle it better. I'm not sure what your day is like, but if you hvae flexibility also in what hours you work, I would say just don't feel guilty about not being productive at a particular time. If you feel like you're not getting anything done, just get up and go do something else for abit, and then when you come back to your desk, sit down and concentrate again. Another thing which I find works for me is to call up one of my co-workers and ask a few workrelated questions. Gets me right back into the swing of work again.

I would also recommend a time management class and creating very clear specific To-Do lists for each day.

Answer 4

Your question is an excellent one for many of these "I want a home business" questions being asked over and over again to read. As you NOW know, the grass isn't always greener. It is now an issue of self motivation because you used to be able to yap with the person next to you and now there is no other person. The refrigerator is there. The television is there. The phone is there. The only thing that I can suggest is to get another co-worker who shares your feelings to share space in your home office. Keep each other sane.

Answer 5

From my experience as an Assistant, working from my home;

1)Get up at 6am, and work as long as you can without family distractions. Take however much time you need to get everyone up and out the door, then return to "work" for a minimum hour
2)Keep a written record, like a timecard, of the time you are working. Make yourself stop at 8 hrs total time.
3)Keep a list of everything you do and whomever you speak to for the job. I kept legal notepads handy, and wrote everything down. It was great to go back and look up who had called, what day, time, etc...
4)Use Post-Its to clarify deadlines, pending correspondence, bills, etc... Color code them - it will liven up your desk space and help keep you focused on tasks.
5)When you are not working, you are NOT working - don't get drawn into the trap of "home office" means you're always available. (This was one of the main reasons I left my position, my boss wasn't respectful of my time or family.)
6)Get organized - drop files, baskets for inbox/outbox - use creativity for bins and such...
7)Plan your personal time - Set a time in the morning (i.e. 10am) to do laundry, watch a favorite tv show, eat breakfast, etc..

If given the opportunity, I would do this job again. But I didn't enjoy the tax situation for independent contractors so I haven't pursued it as a job.

Good luck....

Answer 6

You worked in an office before they closed..I take it. So..keep the same kind of hours and set up your home work area conducive to your job. Give yourself break times to stretch and get something to drink. Take a regular lunch. And get dressed before you begin your day so subconsiously you are in a mind set to work. You do not need to study how to organize since you know how from the office work.

Motivate yourself with the pay check and the pride you find in doing your job well even from home. Afterall..you still have the weekends and nights off..so dig in and get to work!

Answer 7

Great question!

Motivation, goals, self-talk, positive thinking (and doing) success etc. are so important to so many of us. Makes no difference what arena we work in.

Information regarding the best training source for all these areas and so many more (all the training is done over the Internet) can be found at:

http://TopFreedoms.com

If you go there, you will want to fill in all 5 lines on the brief form. You are going to get excited. It is possible to get a lot of their materials free and also actually enroll in several of their courses free. Good luck and success to you.

Answer 8

You have to get up and act like you are leaving to go to work. You have to shower, get dressed, put on your make-up. Sometimes actually leaving to get a cup of coffee helps too.
You definitely have to have a room dedicated for a home office or you will definitely get distracted. Also, tedious, mindless, administrative work should be saved for when you really feel distracted, or have your lull in the day. I hope this helps!

Answer 9

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Check it out as it collects the information from many sources and updated every day.

It is very helpful.

Answer 10

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